Running and gaining weight...??????????

Options
24

Replies

  • bpmartyr
    bpmartyr Posts: 141
    Options
    My only lower body workout has been running. My legs are muscular from it. Muscles can also hold a lot of water and glycogen that can attribute some weight gain. Don't stop running. Just give it time.

    The catabolic effects of running are more indicative of longer distances. Look at a marathon runners body then at a sprinter.
  • pattie317
    pattie317 Posts: 43 Member
    Options
    The exact same thing happened to me a few weeks ago! I actually gained all the weight I previously took off. However, I continued my run walk daily and I actually am back where I was now, a week and a half later. I really enjoy going everyday for that walk run and it truely provides stress release. I say keep at it and see what happens. I plan to!
  • Squidgeypaws007
    Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
    Options
    I gained 5Ibs when I started running. Then another 2 when I started running every day. Then I upped my calories, ran less and it all came back off pretty pronto :) I'm 5'5" and eat 1732 kcal a day (plus anything I burn over 300 kcal during week nights).

    A lot of it will be water, but make sure you're eating and resting enough! You spike Cortisol levels when you stress your body out by doing too much :)
  • geordiegirl27
    geordiegirl27 Posts: 307 Member
    Options
    I need to lose 13 lbs. I am 139 lbs and 5 ft 6.
    Is 1360 kcal a day too much?
    Also, how important is eating all the fat MyFitnessPal is recommending me to eat? It is quite a struggle for me to eat as much..I usually eat about half of that.

    pop along to the group Eat More 2 Weigh Less, I've been doing this for 3 weeks I'm eating more than ever, I've still lost weight and I have loads more energy for my running.

    Great effort on doing all that running as a beginner, but remember rest days are as important as activity days. Good luck with finding what you need to do to get the losses and with your running.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Options
    Reasons you gain weight after running:
    After running your body refuels and repairs itself by producing and using glycogen. This weighs weight and is not fat. Work hard give it a month and you'll see you'll look better. Take before and after pics. I didnt notice till i did that.
    Muscle is more condense then fat. If you put the same volume of fat and muscle next to eachother the muscle is firmer and weighs more.
    Your not refueling your body enough or working to hard and bodies tend to go haywire when that happens
    Your eating more then your TDEE

    I usually eat 1700 and on days I exercise I eat over 2000
  • fastforlife1
    fastforlife1 Posts: 459 Member
    Options
    I would say yes to the every other day with a rest day in between in general. 300 calories may be a bit on the high side, depends on your stats, speed etc but you could eat half the extra as a test - remember that any published or measured exercise calories is very likely to include the 50-80 calories per hour you would have burned anyway.

    Here's one article about "doing to much" - not sure it applies to you but worth a read anyway - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • fastforlife1
    fastforlife1 Posts: 459 Member
    Options
    Thank you so much for this link. You provide such good information on your posts. When I didn't,t lose any weight last week after averaging 1300 calories and 6 hours of exercise, I decided to stop my protein powder drinks and cut back on exercise. Most my friends here though that was crazy.
  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
    Options
    i have experienced this. I have been running for over 10 years and i can honestly tell you that i feel heavier when i run... ANother poster said that a little less running and a bit more food and you lose the weight - i agree with this, but the problem is that you get addicted to the 'runners high' and you awant to run every day!!! its an addiction.

    for me its a toss up, mental fitness or a few extra pounds.....
  • psec123
    psec123 Posts: 8 Member
    Options
    I would say yes to the every other day with a rest day in between in general. 300 calories may be a bit on the high side, depends on your stats, speed etc but you could eat half the extra as a test - remember that any published or measured exercise calories is very likely to include the 50-80 calories per hour you would have burned anyway.

    Here's one article about "doing to much" - not sure it applies to you but worth a read anyway - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

    Thanks for this article! Very interesting. I'll try to run every other day next week, hope that helps to solve my problem.
  • DeMayr
    DeMayr Posts: 67
    Options
    ....
  • DeMayr
    DeMayr Posts: 67
    Options
    You are entirely mislead if you think "running doesn't cause muscle gain". Running engages almost every muscle in your body, especially your legs, and core. Running doesn't just increase your endurance but strengthens muscles as well. Try measuring yourself... it very well could be muscle weight. If your clothes are feeling looser, but the scale creeps up, you don't have much to worry about. Being healthy isn't always a matter of losing numbers on the scale.

    Running doesn't cause muscle gain at all. Strength/endurance and muscle size/growth is irrelevant to one another.
  • Le_Joy
    Le_Joy Posts: 593 Member
    Options
    I need to lose 13 lbs. I am 139 lbs and 5 ft 6.
    Is 1360 kcal a day too much?
    Also, how important is eating all the fat MyFitnessPal is recommending me to eat? It is quite a struggle for me to eat as much..I usually eat about half of that.

    Well this makes more sense now. Your BMI is in the healthy range already. While you *can* weigh less than you do right now your body might disagree on your *need* to lose weight and any loss that you do have is likely to be slower than someone who weighs say 200 lbs.
  • nwhitley
    nwhitley Posts: 619
    Options
    Sounds like your body might be in starvation mode!? If you're running several miles you need to fuel that and complex carbs are going to do it.

    I assure you 2-3 mile runs do not need to be fuelled by anything complex!

    ^^^^RIght
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
    Options
    are you logging absolutely everything? and are your measurements accurate when you log?

    mabey add in some resistance work as well as the cardio
  • Docholiday11x
    Docholiday11x Posts: 27
    Options
    I plugged in my stats to that Tiger Fitness site and it said I need 3600 cals a day! That can't possibly be right, it's way too high. My doc has me on 1400 cals, but I think that seems low and I'm losing really slow. Any advice?

    3600 calories is way too high. most likely plugged something in wrong. that's one of the best calculators out there and ive had great results with it on myself as well as clients. but 3600 is too high. I am 6'1, 22 years old, weigh around 180 and i work out for about 5 hours a day. even with all that it says my maintenance is around 3300 calories. keep in mind this number is to maintain my weight, not lose weight
  • Docholiday11x
    Docholiday11x Posts: 27
    Options
    I plugged in my stats to that Tiger Fitness site and it said I need 3600 cals a day! That can't possibly be right, it's way too high. My doc has me on 1400 cals, but I think that seems low and I'm losing really slow. Any advice?

    Yea that site seems off according to their guidelines. Its pretty high for me too. I much prefer www.fat2fit.com and use the bmr calculator. My question is, how did your doctor determine your calorie goal? Did he do any testing? Or measure your body fat and understand your exercise and daily routine?

    I will say, unless your doctor has a background in nutrtition then a dieticien is a better person to go to. Its like how its better to see an eye doctor for an eye infection. A regular doctor might know some things but generally and eye doctor would know better.

    if the calculator is giving you high #'s then your not plugging in the info correctly

    I am 6'1, 22 years old, weigh around 180 and i work out for about 5 hours a day. even with all that it says my maintenance is around 3300 calories. keep in mind this number is to maintain my weight, not lose weight
  • Docholiday11x
    Docholiday11x Posts: 27
    Options
    You are entirely mislead if you think "running doesn't cause muscle gain". Running engages almost every muscle in your body, especially your legs, and core. Running doesn't just increase your endurance but strengthens muscles as well. Try measuring yourself... it very well could be muscle weight. If your clothes are feeling looser, but the scale creeps up, you don't have much to worry about. Being healthy isn't always a matter of losing numbers on the scale.

    actually running does not really build much muscle at all. unless of course you are doing anaerobic sprinting. jogging works the muscle but it does not build it. to build muscle you need to have a controlled movement focusing on contracting and squeezing the muscle.

    for example look at the body of a marathon runner versus a sprinter. marathon runners tend to be tiny with very little muscle mass, where as sprinters have massive muscles. its due to the difference in the way they train. larger mass is needed for the exposivity in sprints where as larger mass in a marathon run would just slow you down.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Options
    Listen and follow pretty much every post by psulemon!
  • Jenniferyeaman1
    Jenniferyeaman1 Posts: 8
    Options
    I had the same problem and went to the doctor cause I was gaining wt instead of losing I gained . My doc ran some blood work checked thyroid as this is the most common reason then when that was negative she said my body was in shock and was storing water and pocketing calories my metabolism had shut down! I was working out 2hrs a day 7 days a week and eating between 12 & 1700 calories a day! I was drinking 8 glasses of water Pluss some. My doc said cut back to 4 to 5 days a week at the gym and gave me phentramine pills to restart my metabolism I have lost approx 7 lbs in a week and a half! Mostly water weight!
  • lwagnitz
    lwagnitz Posts: 1,321 Member
    Options
    You are entirely mislead if you think "running doesn't cause muscle gain". Running engages almost every muscle in your body, especially your legs, and core. Running doesn't just increase your endurance but strengthens muscles as well. Try measuring yourself... it very well could be muscle weight. If your clothes are feeling looser, but the scale creeps up, you don't have much to worry about. Being healthy isn't always a matter of losing numbers on the scale.

    Its not misleading to tell someone they cant build muscle running, especially on a calorie deficit. Running increases the chance of depleting glycogen and being in a catabolic state. In order to gain lean body mass (new muscle issue) your body requires a surplus of calories to be anaebolic. Additionally to gain you lean body mass you need weight training.

    Now i am not talking fat loss or as some will call it toning. You can lose fst while running. But generally when people do long distance running, you also tend to loss lean body mass. If you want to confirm this track your weight and body fat.

    Now i should update my recommendation. If her goal is to run a 10k then cutting running down to two days can affect her results. But if her goal is to cut fat then weight training is imparitive to cutting fat as well as maintaining lean body mass.

    I'm not going to go into great depths because it's midnight and i'm tired, but it is possible, and I'm speaking from experience. I was an athlete the majority of my life until I was injured. I was in soccer, cheer, basketball, and almost any running event you can think of in track. I would gain muscle weight even if my body was at a calorie deficit. It also depends on your BF%

Categories