Water retention after exercise- to what extent?

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ydyms
ydyms Posts: 266 Member
edited December 2015 in Fitness and Exercise
Can any of you fitness experts provide some insight as to why the scale increased 3 lbs since I started running again consistently? I don't eat more and I look more or less the same albeit slightly bloated. Is it water retention? If yes, 3 lbs? And how long is it supposed to last?

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  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    It lasts until it's gone. In other words, it's different for everybody.
  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
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    2-4 weeks usually but like jemhh said, it's different for everyone.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,941 Member
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    I speak from a cycling perspective ...

    When I was really fit, I didn't retain water with my cycling until I was doing rides over about 300 km (double centuries and longer events).

    Now, I'm less fit, and I'm retaining water on 100 km rides.

    If the ride is on a Saturday, I'm heavier on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and then usually on about Wednesday I start making tracks to the toilet all day long, and Thursday morning ... the weight is gone. :)
  • ydyms
    ydyms Posts: 266 Member
    edited December 2015
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    So if water retention is normal, what's the solution? Is everyone ok with it? I hate being bloated :(
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I'm fine with it. It's normal. A huge portion of your body weight is water. A few extra pounds isn't a big deal in the long run.
  • Nikki10129
    Nikki10129 Posts: 292 Member
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    It's extremely normal.

    It's also extremely normal for your weight to fluctuate within a 5lb range in either direction throughout the day, and between days. Look at trends in weight, not individual measurements.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I work out three days per week (progressive strength + HIIT) and I typically retain about 1-2 lb of water after each session, so the days after my workouts tend to be high days. By the morning after the rest day the excess water is gone.

    I've also experienced the stall/whoosh phenomenon where weight stayed the same for almost a week then fell rapidly over two days - that didn't seem exercise related, but was definitely some kind of water retention.

    Edit: Here's my weight from Oct-Nov. The blue arrows are the mornings after my workouts. You can see the effect they have.
    exercise.png
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    3 pounds sure.

    I'm a very bloated person. When things get really out of control and I'm uncomfortable, I just start cutting down on sodium, sit in the sauna, drink lots of water. It is rare that I am willing to give it that much time/effort though.

    I actually rarely have a clue what I really weigh.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    ydyms wrote: »
    So if water retention is normal, what's the solution? Is everyone ok with it? I hate being bloated :(

    The water weight associated with exercise is not the same as bloating. It is because your muscles store extra glycogen to fuel the exercise. Glycogen requires water for storage. Usually you won't notice a huge change in size, mostly just on the scale. The extra weight stays there until you lessen exercise.
    When people are trying to lose weight, it can mask weight loss for a couple of weeks but once you continue to lose weight, you catch up and the scale goes down.
    Give it time, if you are losing weight, the scale will catch up after a couple of weeks.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    ydyms wrote: »
    So if water retention is normal, what's the solution? Is everyone ok with it? I hate being bloated :(

    Hopefully there's not a solution for normal.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,941 Member
    edited December 2015
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    ydyms wrote: »
    So if water retention is normal, what's the solution? Is everyone ok with it? I hate being bloated :(

    Sometimes I find drinking 1-2 cups of tea/day during the Sunday - Tuesday I mentioned above helps speed things along a bit. I might spend Tuesday going to the toilet rather than Wednesday. It doesn't always work, but it seems to sometimes.

    For me, I don't usually feel bloated exactly ... the first thing I notice is that my feet and ankles swell.


    But the more fit I am, the greater the exercise had to be to trigger this. So when I'm not fit, a relatively short ride might trigger a small water weight gain ... but when I am fit, it has to be quite a long, intense ride. So this isn't something that happens every day.

  • Negative_X
    Negative_X Posts: 296 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I can fluctuate up to 10lbs daily sometimes... depending on hydration levels, sodium consumption and carbs ingested/glycogen uptake. (my carb re-feed days make me bloat like the Michelin Man)

    But it's always gone almost as quickly as it comes. Just drink more water, avoid the extra/excess sodium and try not to stress... it's just water. It will always come and go.
  • ydyms
    ydyms Posts: 266 Member
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    Wow. So now I feel NORMAL lol! Thanks everyone :)
  • SnowballsMom805
    SnowballsMom805 Posts: 71 Member
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    Thanks for that post because its been happening to me too with the water retention and I would get so discouraged. I'm definitely going to try the techniques mentioned like the sauna, tea etc.
  • Keith3481
    Keith3481 Posts: 91 Member
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    I had been on an exercise break for about six weeks and decided to get back in the groove on the bike. Ever since restarting my rides, I've gained about 2 lbs. I thought that this might be water weight, since I know I didn't eat 7000 calories above my standard intake.

    Searching for 'water weight exercise' yielded several threads, including this one. I'm going to give it a few more weeks and see if I start losing again. I had been losing about 0.5 lb/week, so it would seem my fat loss has been masked by water retention.
  • maca416
    maca416 Posts: 143 Member
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    rankinsect wrote: »
    I work out three days per week (progressive strength + HIIT) and I typically retain about 1-2 lb of water after each session, so the days after my workouts tend to be high days. By the morning after the rest day the excess water is gone.

    I've also experienced the stall/whoosh phenomenon where weight stayed the same for almost a week then fell rapidly over two days - that didn't seem exercise related, but was definitely some kind of water retention.

    Edit: Here's my weight from Oct-Nov. The blue arrows are the mornings after my workouts. You can see the effect they have.
    exercise.png

    This is the perfect answer you can see whats happening.

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