Gain weight after workout?

fireflyangel22
fireflyangel22 Posts: 85 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Why do I always gain weight the day after a good workout? Can't be muscle mass after only one session.
Example. I walk about 30 minutes 3 times per week on average. Yesterday I rode my bike for 1 hour. The day before I walked for 1.5 hours. I stayed within my calorie goal, eating back my exercise calories. Today the scale was up a pound.
Anyone else have this problem??
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Replies

  • juliapurpletoes
    juliapurpletoes Posts: 951 Member
    me too!!!!!!!!! :sad:

    up 2 1/2 pounds after hiking yesterday for 5 miles.....

    I workout in some form every day.............not a happy camper today at all!
  • Jillk1023
    Jillk1023 Posts: 121 Member
    hmmm.. intresting... bump
  • epj78
    epj78 Posts: 643 Member
    Our muscles hold on to water (basic water retention) when we work them out more. The scale will go down again. It just takes time for our bodies to adjust.
  • amoremama76
    amoremama76 Posts: 3 Member
    How do your jeans fit? Throw out your scale :smile:
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Water. Your muscles store water after intense exercise, it is a protective thing and it aids in recovery, in a few days your muscles will shed the water.
  • silvafan
    silvafan Posts: 147
    That usually happens to me too. But it usually happens the first two weeks of exercising after not exercising for a while. Maybe you had high sodium & retained some water?
  • faerybun
    faerybun Posts: 65
    As she said, our muscles retain water. Essentially, you're swollen, in a weird way. Your muscles burn because the lactic acid your exercise made you secrete is getting into the tiny tears in your muscles. It's only logical that your muscles would try to retain all the water they possibly could to heal quickly.

    Be sure to drink plenty of water and you should see your actual weight in two or three days. [:
  • dianichole73
    dianichole73 Posts: 32 Member
    I have experienced that a lot. It can come from you muscles being sore but the scale does go back down. After your muscles have recovered from the work out. My weight sometimes fluctuates after real hard work outs but I'm used to it. The scale is not always kind especially if you do weight training. You have to use other tools to measure your progress, such as clothes, tape measure and pictures.
  • rydn4h2o
    rydn4h2o Posts: 255
    As she said, our muscles retain water. Essentially, you're swollen, in a weird way. Your muscles burn because the lactic acid your exercise made you secrete is getting into the tiny tears in your muscles. It's only logical that your muscles would try to retain all the water they possibly could to heal quickly.

    Be sure to drink plenty of water and you should see your actual weight in two or three days. [:

    Ditto! It's frustrating, but it does get better!
  • SheehyCFC
    SheehyCFC Posts: 529 Member
    As has been said - water retention.

    But also, don't weigh yourself that often!! Our weights fluctuate too much for it to have any "significance". Once a week max.
  • fireflyangel22
    fireflyangel22 Posts: 85 Member
    Thanks all!!!!!!
    Makes me feel better knowing it is just water in my muscles, and that everyone goes through the same thing.
  • FitMomma0722
    FitMomma0722 Posts: 50 Member
    Drink more water...that will help with water retention.
  • parvati
    parvati Posts: 432 Member
    It's probably not your workout that has you up a pound.
    I had a quick peak at your diary & i would say It's more probably that it's your diet that has you up. Make sure you are drinking enough water & eating clean & healthy...
    :)
  • angelaplaxton
    angelaplaxton Posts: 61
    water retention?
  • Bviera
    Bviera Posts: 106 Member
    I started C25K a couple of months ago (I'm on the last week, week 9) and as my workouts increased in intensity, the number on my scale started getting stuck. I stayed at the same weight for about two weeks, before one day, it suddenly dropped 3 lbs. It's been steadily decreasing ever since.

    When you do intense workouts, your muscles retain water to help them heal, as others have pointed out. Somebody posted a great article about it a few weeks ago, but I can't find it right now. Maybe a fellow MFP-er who remembers it will kindly post it again. So, yeah, just be patient!
  • SheehyCFC
    SheehyCFC Posts: 529 Member
    I had a quick peak at your diary & i would say It's more probably that it's your diet that has you up.

    Good point, i just looked - and you have a lot of high-fat dairy and processed foods listed. Plus I am seeing <1200 on non-workout days. Make sure you are eating a balanced diet and hit those calorie goals - you'll be good to go!

    **EDIT - added last sentence.
  • pixieval
    pixieval Posts: 64 Member
    Great thread! I got on the scale this morning after a grueling weekend of painting my house, and was up 4 pounds! guess I will wait a few days before I get on the scale again.
  • laurie_reyes
    laurie_reyes Posts: 10
    I gained a stunning 5.5 lbs over night after a workout. is that an indicator that something is wrong with me? I was under my calorie allotment too. It was a toning class, and then I did cardio, but still...5.5lbs???
  • tmcilrath
    tmcilrath Posts: 1
    I am experiencing the same thing & it is so frustrating!!! I've been steadily losing weight since August (down 32 lbs) without exercise...I have just begun to do some exercise (walking on treadmill & riding bike) .... This morning I was up 3 lbs. I'm the type of person who quickly gets frustrated when doing something good like exercise causes my weight to go up --- I haven't stopped yet, but if the scales continue to go in the wrong direction, I'm going back to my old ways (just diet, NO exercise!!)
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    Might be the pie you ate before
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    It's probably not your workout that has you up a pound.
    I had a quick peak at your diary & i would say It's more probably that it's your diet that has you up. Make sure you are drinking enough water & eating clean & healthy...
    :)

    Possibly, but the workout could have just as much to do with it (if not more). I can gain up to 6lbs the day after a good workout.

    You don't need to "eat clean" to lose weight.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
    -Muscles retain water after a workout to repair...just as an injured joint will swell to protect itself, your muscles "swell" to help repair them.

    -You weight fluctuates. A LOT. There are a ton of things that can affect it: working out, hormones, the amount of feces in your body, sodium, etc, etc, etc. Understand this, and accept it. You can't change how your body works.

    -If you're going to weigh every day, I recommend an app like Libra for tracking it. Graphing your weight the way Libra does helps you understand your fluctuations without going insane.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
    Water. Your muscles store water after intense exercise, it is a protective thing and it aids in recovery, in a few days your muscles will shed the water.

    This. Drink a lot of water to make it go away faster
  • Travisbalmelli
    Travisbalmelli Posts: 1 Member
    Happens to me too. I hate it. But it is part of losing weight. Keep it up
  • smanning1982
    smanning1982 Posts: 210 Member
    As others have said, it's just your muscles getting stronger and retaining water to heal themselves. I always weigh in on Monday mornings, first thing. If I exercise Sunday my weight is usually the same as the previous Monday or even a pound up (even though I probably actually lost 1-2lbs of actualy weight). So then I weigh on Tuesday and I'll be down 1-2 lbs from the previous weeks weight. Because of that, I now use Sunday as a rest day and drink lots of water and my real weight is usually pretty acurate on monday.

    Take a rest day or 2 then weigh again :)
  • diggitydana
    diggitydana Posts: 2
    Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. This soreness is caused by microscopic tears in your muscle tissue caused by your work-out. These tears attract inflammation to the area to help protect and heal the muscle fibers. This process requires extra water. So your body will retain water as necessary until the muscles are repaired. I have also heard to take exederinThis can result in a 3-4 lb weight gain, this happened to me during T25 and by week 3 or 4 my weight started to drop.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    I had a quick peak at your diary & i would say It's more probably that it's your diet that has you up.

    Good point, i just looked - and you have a lot of high-fat dairy and processed foods listed. Plus I am seeing <1200 on non-workout days. Make sure you are eating a balanced diet and hit those calorie goals - you'll be good to go!

    **EDIT - added last sentence.

    If she's in deficit, high fat foods or processed foods will not make her gain weight. I'm on a cut at the moment and eating lots of red meat white processed foods, high fat dairy hell even alcohol. I'm also an athlete. As long as I hit my protein numbers I'm fine. It really is calories in, calories out.

    The gain is usually water retention in the muscles carrying out repairs.
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    1254541d1382070167-day-date-date-just-homage-zombie-meme.jpg
  • JackieO524
    JackieO524 Posts: 25 Member
    that is exactly what i was going to say - i always find that after a really good (painful) workout and sometimes, extra salt - i show a gain but in a few days - i show a bigger loss - it all balances i swear
  • Polarpaly05
    Polarpaly05 Posts: 74 Member
    I love that this thread has been necro'd 4 times now.

    June 6 2011 -> Nov 28 2012 -> Dec 28 2013 -> March 7 2014
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