Strength Training and Scale

mgtownsend71
mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
edited November 2024 in Motivation and Support
Here is a call out to all of those people who strength train and have had great success. I have been at my lifestyle change since 21 January and I am loving it. I am down 14.5 pounds and over 11.5 inches lost with food choices and exercise. I strength train 3 to 4 times a week and walk for stress relief. I have unfortunately been weighing myself every morning, after bathroom, before food and nude (sametime everyday) however, I noticed that I have gained 2 pounds over a few days instead of losing like I have been. I am very concious about the foods I am putting in my body as fatty foods send me into the bathroom and I am a type 2 Diabetic so I watch sugar and carbs as well. My diary is open so any advice or support you can give me is welcome. I have seen a dietition a few times as well. Just wondering if this is a normal occurrence when strength training and will it balance out?

Replies

  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    I might add that I had lost 1 lb last Friday but gained 2 this morning after yesterdays intense kettlebell class
  • arkowalyshyn
    arkowalyshyn Posts: 132 Member
    I think muscles retain water to repair after a new/more intense workout. Personally I always put on a lb or 2 after strength days. Someone with more knowledge will chime in. Good luck!
  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    arkowalyshyn wrote: »
    I think muscles retain water to repair after a new/more intense workout. Personally I always put on a lb or 2 after strength days. Someone with more knowledge will chime in. Good luck!

    good to know, thanks!
  • wellthenwhat
    wellthenwhat Posts: 526 Member
    I've been having the same thing happen to me. I put on nearly 5 pounds. I'm training every other day, so I'm not seeing the scale going up and down. I'm still eating at a deficit, so hopefully I'm still going in the right direction. I am noticing a lot of muscle growth on my arms, and I'm happy about that.
  • khloesdad0124
    khloesdad0124 Posts: 62 Member
    You have to remember that muscle outweighs fat. So when you initally started out you burned alot of fat and gained some muscle. So you will see fluctuations from time to time. The more important number is the inches if you are seeing a decrease in all the normal areas, hips, waist, bust etc...Then you are still burning fat.
  • khloesdad0124
    khloesdad0124 Posts: 62 Member
    correction about the muscle outweighing fat...it just takes up less space so it looks like muscle outweighs fat because of the density. Hence why it's more important to focus on the loss in inches than weight.
  • DjinnMarie
    DjinnMarie Posts: 1,297 Member
    edited March 2015
    Weight lifting causes inflammation and water retention. It's not unusual for me to gain 3-4 lbs during the week, only for it to drop off after a rest day. When aunt flow is near, I can gain 5-6 lbs temporarily.
    If you continue to increase in weight I would suggest buying a food scale to track your calories more accurately.
  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    great thanks alot of great info. I actually do have a weight scale and I had been losing quite nicely (no real issues with food intake) however was started to get frustrated with the scale but the inches are coming off so scale will not be my biggest source of accomplishment. Body is becoming stronger and noticeable changes. But if I do continue to increase in weight I will definitely go back to the dietitian and take another look at food intake again. :-)
  • SuggaD
    SuggaD Posts: 1,369 Member
    I never weigh myself the day after weights. Always up from the inflammation and water retention. Keep lifting.
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
    If you're doing strength training, just get rid of your scale, it is pretty much useless.
  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I never weigh myself the day after weights. Always up from the inflammation and water retention. Keep lifting.

    I think I may just do a weigh in once a week instead for a while and keep measuring as my indicator. I never knew that about inflammation and water retention until doing some reading today on MFP and online. Makes sense though. Is 4 times a week too much? I do Kettlebell on Mondays, TRX is Tuesday and Fridays and Functional Training is Thursdays, with WEdnesday rest day and the weekends I walk the trails.
  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    dym123 wrote: »
    If you're doing strength training, just get rid of your scale, it is pretty much useless.

    lol never liked the thing anyway :-)
  • SuggaD
    SuggaD Posts: 1,369 Member
    mgtownsend71 wrote: »
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I never weigh myself the day after weights. Always up from the inflammation and water retention. Keep lifting.

    I think I may just do a weigh in once a week instead for a while and keep measuring as my indicator. I never knew that about inflammation and water retention until doing some reading today on MFP and online. Makes sense though. Is 4 times a week too much? I do Kettlebell on Mondays, TRX is Tuesday and Fridays and Functional Training is Thursdays, with WEdnesday rest day and the weekends I walk the trails.

    I don't know what some of those are, but you should rest each muscle group at least 1 day. So if you do legs on Monday, don't do legs again until at least Wednesday. I lift 3x per week (M, W, S/Su), but do full body on those days.
  • sweetpea03b
    sweetpea03b Posts: 1,123 Member
    I too weigh every day. It's really a nasty habit, to be honest. I only get a "real" weight once/week... usually Thursday or Friday (Tuesday is my main weight training day). Basically a good rule of thumb is.... do you still feel sore? Then you're retaining water because your muscles are still repairing themselves. So, once the soreness subsides you should get back to your normal weight.
  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    edited March 2015

    SuggaD wrote: »
    mgtownsend71 wrote: »
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I never weigh myself the day after weights. Always up from the inflammation and water retention. Keep lifting.

    I think I may just do a weigh in once a week instead for a while and keep measuring as my indicator. I never knew that about inflammation and water retention until doing some reading today on MFP and online. Makes sense though. Is 4 times a week too much? I do Kettlebell on Mondays, TRX is Tuesday and Fridays and Functional Training is Thursdays, with WEdnesday rest day and the weekends I walk the trails.

    I don't know what some of those are, but you should rest each muscle group at least 1 day. So if you do legs on Monday, don't do legs again until at least Wednesday. I lift 3x per week (M, W, S/Su), but do full body on those days.

    all of those are full body core/strength workouts with cardio bursts as well. Hard to describe kettlebell and TRX (uses body weight as your resistance) but google can explain those. Functional Training is different every week...some exercises may resemble Biggest Loser type exercises for example one class I was flipping tractor tires.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    edited March 2015
    SuggaD wrote: »
    I never weigh myself the day after weights. Always up from the inflammation and water retention. Keep lifting.

    If I followed that then I would never have a weekly set weigh in day. You can still lose scale weight even when the above happens.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    mgtownsend71 wrote: »
    I might add that I had lost 1 lb last Friday but gained 2 this morning after yesterdays intense kettlebell class

    There it is, it's water. I can gain 6lbs the after lifting.
  • Angelfire365
    Angelfire365 Posts: 803 Member
    I don't actually own a scale, specifically because I would weigh myself everyday and get discouraged. I use the scale at the gym every Monday. :-P
  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    RGv2 wrote: »
    mgtownsend71 wrote: »
    I might add that I had lost 1 lb last Friday but gained 2 this morning after yesterdays intense kettlebell class

    There it is, it's water. I can gain 6lbs the after lifting.

    wow ok cool thanks. I do actually feel a whole lot better now. This is something I never knew and actually only bought the weight scale this time for MFP and tracking lol. When I used to lift weights years ago I never owned a scale. Thanks! :-)
  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    Angelfire365 wrote: »
    I don't actually own a scale, specifically because I would weigh myself everyday and get discouraged. I use the scale at the gym every Monday. :-P

    it can get quite addictive and then like today you get discouraged and forget the measurements and how you feel part.
  • Angelfire365
    Angelfire365 Posts: 803 Member
    mgtownsend71 wrote: »
    Angelfire365 wrote: »
    I don't actually own a scale, specifically because I would weigh myself everyday and get discouraged. I use the scale at the gym every Monday. :-P

    it can get quite addictive and then like today you get discouraged and forget the measurements and how you feel part.

    Lol, I used to use the gym scale every day. The trainers there actually started chasing me away from it!
  • Dianaa31015
    Dianaa31015 Posts: 14
    This sounds too familiar to me. It could and most likely be muscle weight. This is actually one of the reasons I'm scared of strength training. It's so discouraging when you worked your butt off and the scale is either not moving or worse going up. So if I decide to start strength training again this time I might not be using the scale as often
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Dianaa31015 wrote: »
    This sounds too familiar to me. It could and most likely be muscle weight. This is actually one of the reasons I'm scared of strength training. It's so discouraging when you worked your butt off and the scale is either not moving or worse going up. So if I decide to start strength training again this time I might not be using the scale as often

    Does scale weight really tell you how your body would look? Are we doing this to hit a certain number and then stop?

  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    Dianaa31015 wrote: »
    This sounds too familiar to me. It could and most likely be muscle weight. This is actually one of the reasons I'm scared of strength training. It's so discouraging when you worked your butt off and the scale is either not moving or worse going up. So if I decide to start strength training again this time I might not be using the scale as often

    Does scale weight really tell you how your body would look? Are we doing this to hit a certain number and then stop?

    nope...this is a new way of life for me - a lifestyle change. When I reach my goal weight (whenever and however long that may take) I will be maintaining it for the rest of my life. So the scale will be a secondary or even third tool of measure, clothes fitting, how I feel and measurements will be the first,
  • mgtownsend71
    mgtownsend71 Posts: 49 Member
    and I love strength training!
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    mgtownsend71 wrote: »
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    Dianaa31015 wrote: »
    This sounds too familiar to me. It could and most likely be muscle weight. This is actually one of the reasons I'm scared of strength training. It's so discouraging when you worked your butt off and the scale is either not moving or worse going up. So if I decide to start strength training again this time I might not be using the scale as often

    Does scale weight really tell you how your body would look? Are we doing this to hit a certain number and then stop?

    nope...this is a new way of life for me - a lifestyle change. When I reach my goal weight (whenever and however long that may take) I will be maintaining it for the rest of my life. So the scale will be a secondary or even third tool of measure, clothes fitting, how I feel and measurements will be the first,

    I know you knew the answer by reasons of you weight train. It was directed to someone else.

    How you feel should always be first then maybe measurements and photos as second.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories