Myth or Fact - Exercising Swells up the body?

dxtra30
dxtra30 Posts: 498 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I was told that constant exercising is swelling up the body and so if you weigh after your done exercising (day or night) that your body is in swelling mode so you will weigh more if you step on the scale afterwards.. Is this a myth or is this a fact? How long should you weigh yourself after exercising??

Replies

  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
    Well muscles do hold water in order to perform repair.
  • bmqbonnie
    bmqbonnie Posts: 836 Member
    I find this to be true, especially if I'm not drinking ridiculous amounts of water.. If I take a day or two off I drop in weight and it goes up again when I start up again. I even feel a bit bloated toward the end of a workout.
  • Shock_Wave
    Shock_Wave Posts: 1,573 Member
    *
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    Yes, it is true and sometimes that effect is cultivated by body builders.
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
    Fact.
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    I'm swole...
  • jdaley90
    jdaley90 Posts: 259 Member
    fact
  • Rivers2k
    Rivers2k Posts: 380 Member
    Got to say I love it when people respond to the title of the post with out reading the whole post.

    Yes your body could swell but it would not wiegh more. My ankles and feet swell but that is from blood and other fluids going from one part of my body to my ankles and feet. But weighing more I call Myth! There is no possible way this could be true. Think about it where is the extra weight coming from? Nothing is entering your body during a workout. Unless you are consuming water during your work out then yes that water in your body would weigh more but that is not from swelling.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I don't swell, but my muscles retain water for repair. I hope one day those same muscles will swell though.
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
    I gained 6.5# the day after I started exercising.

    I was going from zero exercise to jogging and lifting though - probably a bit traumatic for my poor old body. :)

    One of my MFP friends said that it had to do with "DOMS" (delayed onset muscle soreness) and would be temporary. After a week and a half - I'm back to where I was.
  • caribear1984
    caribear1984 Posts: 203
    I am a daily weigher and I can say that personally, if I am sore I will weigh 1 to 2 pounds more. So typically the day after a hard workout I am up, but it goes away with the DOMS. I have weighed myself right after exercise, though, and typically weigh less than I did beforehand. That's probably because I sweat like crazy when I work out, and have heard other people reporting the exact opposite to be true for them. So I guess the short answer is, it depends.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I don't notice any visible or measurable difference, but if I'm sore from exercise, I weight more.

    Soreness = inflammation. Inflammation = fluid retention. Fluid retention = a temporary increase on the scale.
  • svgarcia
    svgarcia Posts: 592 Member
    For me, I notice when I lift -I'm up on the scale the next day, if I do cardio, I'm down.
  • Hmmcglothl
    Hmmcglothl Posts: 51 Member
    This is incredibly true for me. I hold water VERY easily. Yesterday I weighed 166...... this morning I weighed 162. ( I knew I was holding water because I had done some tough resistance training) This is why the scale can be such a let down to people if they don't know how much their weight fluctuates.

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