water retention when doing circuit training or strength trai

lin7604
lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
edited November 10 in Fitness and Exercise
I had a question, while i was doing 30 ds i kept reading about sometimes when you shock your muscles like that you will retain water? why is that and how long will you retain it for? when will your muscles stop doing that?

Replies

  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    anyone? is it true that your muscles will retain water? i found as soon as i stopped 30ds i lost 3 lbs just like that?
  • sblueyez
    sblueyez Posts: 156 Member
    Bump...

    As soon as I started putting weights in my routine I stopped losing. Wonder if that is why.
  • twinmama1987
    twinmama1987 Posts: 566 Member
    Its how your body repairs the muscle tears; its all apart of the process :) no worries. Its change happening.
  • TurtleRunnerNC
    TurtleRunnerNC Posts: 751 Member
    I thought I read on here that when you start weights etc that your muscles actually get small tears & retain water to heal. I may have that all mixed up. I did day 7 of 30DS today. I weigh in tomorrow. I have been telling myself all week not to expect a drop this week because' of what I had read.

    I am sure someone else on here can explain it much better than me.

    Good luck with 30DS though. I am starting to look forward to it :noway:
  • Karmynzahringer
    Karmynzahringer Posts: 192 Member
    The first 5 days of 30 day shred I gained 5 lbs, and the last two days (I am on day 7) I have relost that 5 lbs and am hoping that next few days I will start going downward. Once the muscle soreness dissapated, so did my weight gain. I have heard some people dont start noticing it on the scale for up to 3 weeks, but make sure you are taking measurements!! I lost around 7 inches so far, most of it being from my waist and thighs in just 7 days, even though my weight went up and down!
  • sblueyez
    sblueyez Posts: 156 Member
    Like the OP asked... How long does it take to go away or start losing again?
  • Karmynzahringer
    Karmynzahringer Posts: 192 Member
    Like the OP asked... How long does it take to go away or start losing again?

    From what I have read, everyone is different, for me it was just about 5 days before the gain stopped and the losing started, but for some I have read they get as far as 3 weeks in, then bam start losing weight!
  • unionironworker
    unionironworker Posts: 9
    it dose take at least 20 days
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    thx everyone. i did the whole 30 ds and didn't lose 1 lb through it, i did lose a few inches, nothing to write home about though :( i was hoping for more. ( 1 inch off my waist, 2 inches off my belly and hips) i was stuck at the same weight the entire time and total for 1.5 months. It was 3 weeks after i stopped 30ds that i noticed 3-4 lbs come off just like that and my hubby said it was b/c my muscles arn't holding the water retention anymore. i was puzzled. so i thought well then maybe i should just try to loose the rest of my weight by diet only and then start the exercise once my goal has been reached? it's been a long 3 months to only loose 7 lbs total and 4 of that wasn't till i stopped exercising.
  • sblueyez
    sblueyez Posts: 156 Member
    Very interesting. Maybe that is my problem right now as well. Thanks OP for asking!
  • sblueyez
    sblueyez Posts: 156 Member
    thx everyone. i did the whole 30 ds and didn't lose 1 lb through it, i did lose a few inches, nothing to write home about though :( i was hoping for more. ( 1 inch off my waist, 2 inches off my belly and hips) i was stuck at the same weight the entire time and total for 1.5 months. It was 3 weeks after i stopped 30ds that i noticed 3-4 lbs come off just like that and my hubby said it was b/c my muscles arn't holding the water retention anymore. i was puzzled. so i thought well then maybe i should just try to loose the rest of my weight by diet only and then start the exercise once my goal has been reached? it's been a long 3 months to only loose 7 lbs total and 4 of that wasn't till i stopped exercising.

    That happened to me with power 90 and p90x. Now I know why they encouraged measuring tape and pics more than the scale!
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    true, but it's so depressing... you try so hard and the scale doesn't drop... i now have 5-7 lbs left till my goal and i don't know what to do? do i keep exercising and make it even harder to get those last lbs off me or just go all out diet only? hummm
  • Fit_Canuck
    Fit_Canuck Posts: 788 Member
    true, but it's so depressing... you try so hard and the scale doesn't drop... i now have 5-7 lbs left till my goal and i don't know what to do? do i keep exercising and make it even harder to get those last lbs off me or just go all out diet only? hummm

    The key is to not worry about the scale, hard I know! You want to see inches / cm lost and more energy! The scale will follow one day.
  • violetness
    violetness Posts: 131 Member
    It is ABSOLUTELY TRUE. And it can last up to two weeks. But once that swelling goes down, you will really start to shed the pounds. I have lived it so I know. :)
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
    hey all. check out this woman's success story for doing ripped in 30. her scale barely budge, but their is a difference...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/486507-my-ripped-in-30-results
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    i get it, inches mean more... but i haven't lost anymore of those either.... so it's a stand still. not knowing what to do next to get things rolling again.
  • withervein
    withervein Posts: 224 Member
    Toss your scale. In the past year I went from 210 pounds to 180 but I dropped from a size 16 to a 10. I don't care if I weigh 10 tons as long as I keep having to take in my pants.

    If you are seeing NOTHING then either you've gotta change what you're eating (perhaps better quality fuel and more of it) change up your routine (add wrist /ankle weights or adding some heavy lifting to your cycle).
  • pamperedhen
    pamperedhen Posts: 446 Member
    Sat 02/11/12 09:48 AMthx everyone. i did the whole 30 ds and didn't lose 1 lb through it, i did lose a few inches, nothing to write home about though :( i was hoping for more. ( 1 inch off my waist, 2 inches off my belly and hips) i was stuck at the same weight the entire time and total for 1.5 months. It was 3 weeks after i stopped 30ds that i noticed 3-4 lbs come off just like that and my hubby said it was b/c my muscles arn't holding the water retention anymore. i was puzzled. so i thought well then maybe i should just try to loose the rest of my weight by diet only and then start the exercise once my goal has been reached? it's been a long 3 months to only loose 7 lbs total and 4 of that wasn't till i stopped exercising.


    OMG!!! This was/is me!! It is sooo freaking frustrating:mad: I finished the 30DS last month only to GAIN 3, then as you, once I went back to aerobics and jogging, I lost 4! WTFridge?? I hear of people losing inches and pounds like water and me I gained and only lost:
    W~ 1in
    H~ 0
    I was sooo pissed let me tell you! I followed it faithfully and at times almost blacked ~out! I blamed it on me being 47 yrs. old! I am doing a second round with a group here...will see what happens.
    Also, I am in my BMI, just want to lose 10. Maybe that is the answer to my dilemma??
    IDK??????
    Blessings to all of you:drinker:
  • hirensthenameliftinsthegame
    hirensthenameliftinsthegame Posts: 233
    Muscles are almost all water/glycogen and very little protein i believe it was something like 100grams of protein per 1 pound of muscle.

    Anyways the point is that muscles are most all water and glycogen, glycogen is the processed(by your body) version of carbohydrates which is stored in your muscle. Glycogen attracts water to fill the muscle too, i think it was like 1 gram attracts 4 grams of water.

    Sorry the numbers are kinda sketchy, but the point is, the weight scale won't tell you everything, it won't tell you how much water your muscle stores or how much glycogen you have.

    When I don't get enough hydration on a LOW carb day I lose up to 1-2 pounds, or if I have been drinking the previous night without any hydration I lose 4-5 pounds.
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    good to know there is someone else out there with the same experience :) since then i have had a plateau too, 3 week of no change, so i upped my calories 2 weeks ago to see if that would help. I also started cardio again this week, nothing else just treadmill or elliptical. I am keeping off 30ds, etc again till i can get my weight moving. So far no change either, i won't do my weekly weigh in till monday and if no change then it's 1 full month of no change. my TOM is approaching next week too... It's just frustrating when i am trying so hard, trying to eat healthier, eliminating bad foods out of my diet, exercise and trying to make this a lifestyle change and in 3 months only 6-7 lbs and 1 inch of my waist and 2 off my hips/belly... i thought i would of seen more... it's just discouraging and feel like i'm failing.
  • thcri
    thcri Posts: 459 Member
    Yes your muscles will absorb as much water as they can. And you should drink as much as you can to offset it. The time is dependent on fast they recover. A day's rest for each is best so when strength training if every day do upper one day and then the next do lower. Also a good protein shake after you workout within an hour is good.

    The above is nothing I read just what I have learned over the years and yes measurements is better than weight.
  • meags007
    meags007 Posts: 9
    It sounds to me like you're in a very similar position to me! Over the last 13 weeks I have lost only 2kg (4lb) and I felt like my measurements could have been better - about 2.5 inches off my waist and about 1 off my arms and thighs ... BUT I had my body composition tested at the same time and the results there were awesome - over the 13 weeks I've taken by body fat from 28.8 to 22% and lost nearly 5kg (10.5lb) of fat. This fat loss has been masked by an extra 2kg's of water and 1kg of muscle. So take heart, you are probably doing yourself a world of good!
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