water retention and exercise

vk2929
vk2929 Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have read that it's possible to mask weight loss after adding an exercise regime due to water retention for muscle repair. I lost around 30 pounds using diet alone but have recently begun exercising. This has been essentially all cardio (I know I need to add strength training as well but haven't yet!).

I know strength training is key to building muscle and thus may result in water retention that masks weight loss a bit, but can this happen with cardio as well? My assumption is that cardio does not build nearly as much muscle as strength training (probably not too much at all!), but is it enough to see this kind of effect too? My suspicion is probably not... If cardio CAN lead to water retention, however, is this an ongoing thing or does the body adjust after awhile?

After doing some research, I realized that I had probably been eating far too few calories for awhile and I'm trying to find the right caloric balance, but my weight loss has stalled after adding cardio (which seems really odd!). Any help would be much appreciated; thank you!!

Replies

  • mallen404
    mallen404 Posts: 266 Member
    your diary isn't open.. water retention can be because of foods you are eating..
  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
    You can't build new muscle with a calorie deficit, so cross that off the list. You can retain what muscle you have currently through exercise and making sure you're eating enough protein. New work out routine in general, whether it be cardio or weight training can cause water retention and as a pp suggested foods can cause retention as well (like things high in sodium). Make sure you're drinking plenty of water :)
  • paintlisapurple
    paintlisapurple Posts: 982 Member
    You can't build new muscle with a calorie deficit, so cross that off the list. You can retain what muscle you have currently through exercise and making sure you're eating enough protein. New work out routine in general, whether it be cardio or weight training can cause water retention and as a pp suggested foods can cause retention as well (like things high in sodium). Make sure you're drinking plenty of water :)

    From what I had read on the subject, there are actually very few people who cannot lose weight while making at least small muscle gains. Most people have adequate fat storage from which the body can pull from before turning to muscle for energy. I would suppose that the person's body fat percentage would have to be very low for that to happen.
    Dang...my son hit the reply button while typing sorry.
  • CoachDreesTraining
    CoachDreesTraining Posts: 223 Member
    If you're new to exercise, cardio will be strength training for you.
  • vk2929
    vk2929 Posts: 8 Member
    Great points everyone, thank you for the suggestions!

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