DOMS and water retention

SaltNBurnBoys
SaltNBurnBoys Posts: 170 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Is there any connection?

I had a really hard work out on Thursday, and when I went to weigh myself yesterday, I was up three pounds. I know that that's all water retention for healing my muscles. But my question is whether the soreness I have is any relation. Like, should I wait to get on the scale again until my muscles stop hurting, or is there a period of time after which that DOMS or not, water retention stops being an issue?

Replies

  • dawnr2
    dawnr2 Posts: 29 Member
    The first time I tried kettlercise I couldn't walk without pain for 5 days and I put on 2 pounds that week but lost it again the following week. I googled it at the time and apparently the body retains fluid to help the muscles recover, hence the weight gain
  • SaltNBurnBoys
    SaltNBurnBoys Posts: 170 Member
    The first time I tried kettlercise I couldn't walk without pain for 5 days and I put on 2 pounds that week but lost it again the following week. I googled it at the time and apparently the body retains fluid to help the muscles recover, hence the weight gain

    That doesn't really answer my question. I know that water retention is what caused the gain. What I'm asking is if DOMS is in any way related to that i.e. if I'm experiencing DOMS, does that necessarily mean my body is retaining water?
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    DOMS is caused by microscopic tears in the muscle and lactic acid. The water weight you are seeing is from your body replenishing the glycogen stores in the muscle, because glycogen needs water. I've seen glycogen/water gain on the scale without having DOMS. But if I've worked hard enough to have DOMS, it's pretty much a guarantee that I'm going to have water weight gain from the glycogen.

    tl;dr: If you have DOMS, you will most likely see glycogen/water weight gain as well, but you can have glycogen/water weight gain without DOMS.
  • SaltNBurnBoys
    SaltNBurnBoys Posts: 170 Member
    DOMS is caused by microscopic tears in the muscle and lactic acid. The water weight you are seeing is from your body replenishing the glycogen stores in the muscle, because glycogen needs water. I've seen glycogen/water gain on the scale without having DOMS. But if I've worked hard enough to have DOMS, it's pretty much a guarantee that I'm going to have water weight gain from the glycogen.

    tl;dr: If you have DOMS, you will most likely see glycogen/water weight gain as well, but you can have glycogen/water weight gain without DOMS.

    Thank you =)
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
    Yep, I learned from the beginning that if I wake up sore, dont be surprised by the extra pound or two on the scale that day. Definitely nice that it is predictable and explainable! It actually makes me happy to see that extra pound - it means I worked out hard and my muscles are growing :) Very different feeling from being upset by weight gain!
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    If I wake up sore I don't get on the scale - no need to see the number go up even if I know it's water retention. I usually wait a couple of days.
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
    Yep, I learned from the beginning that if I wake up sore, dont be surprised by the extra pound or two on the scale that day. Definitely nice that it is predictable and explainable! It actually makes me happy to see that extra pound - it means I worked out hard and my muscles are growing :) Very different feeling from being upset by weight gain!

    In a deficit, you're not going to be gaining muscle (newbies to weightlifting have a smaaall window for tiny muscle gains in the beginning, etc but it's nothing appreciable, like women in a surplus can expect to gain like .25-.5 lb of muscle for every 1 lb under ideal circumstances in a surplus , proper amount of protein, good hypertrophy weightlifting routine).

    You can, however, gain a good amount of strength in a deficit with existing muscle and working those muscles and not losing weight too aggressively can help retain current muscle throughout weight loss. It's why resistance training is highly recommended during and after weight loss. ;)

    to answer the OP. I'm not sure about muscle soreness being tied to retention necessarily. This weekend I had bad DOMS but I actually have recorded two days of record lows during it. D: So, I dunno lol.
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
    I'd stop worrying so much about the scale. You know exactly what is happening, so you know that the scale is going to be affected.

    When your muscle stop being sore is probably the best time (and in the morning, that is always the best time) but if you are working out regularly that might not happen until you get more accustomed to the workouts.

    Just keep doing the right thing, the scale will take care of itself.

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