Hard workout and weight gain next morning..

Oh, yeah.

Hard workouts tear up your muscles (in a good way) and then cause you to retain water-- which causes you to gain weight.

DO NOT freak out.
DO NOT over eat!

Drink plenty of water, make sure you're getting an adequate amount of protein to help repair and build muscles. That "weight gain" is temporary.

Thanks for posting this, I had NO idea hard workouts may trigger a water weight increase.

Yes don't worry! This happens to me all the time. As someone else said drink lots of water and eat lots of protein and you'll be fine in a day or so. And you'll do all the better long term because of the hard workouts!

It's hard not concentrating on the number on the scale when you are just starting out. Even I am addicted to the scale. I look forward to stepping on it every morning!!! But if you are building muscle, the scale is not going to reflect your success. You have to be patient and wait 1 month, and then measure. There you will see your true success. By then your clothes should be fitting a bit different as well! Good luck from another scale junkie!!! :-)

My trainer has me chart my heart rate and weight every morning. If my heart rate and weight are up higher than normal I have to have either a easy workout day, or a rest day depending on how high they are.

He feels it's a signal that your body needs a little more rest!

Sodium that high will also make you retain water... so keep that in mind. If you have a day with sodium in the 3000s, you are almost guaranteed to put on some water weight, at least temporarily. I think that is much more likely than the workout.

.75 is nothing to start freaking out over. There are way to many variables that it can be from. Like you said, you worked hard yesterday and feel sore. Thats indication your doing something right. My weight can fluctuate up and down 2 pounds any given day. I certainly don't think anything of a 1 pound gain. Just keep being consistent and weigh yourself next week or in two weeks and go from there.

Oh, yeah.

Hard workouts tear up your muscles (in a good way) and then cause you to retain water-- which causes you to gain weight.

DO NOT freak out.
DO NOT over eat!

Drink plenty of water, make sure you're getting an adequate amount of protein to help repair and build muscles. That "weight gain" is temporary.

Yup! Sometimes, the water weight will stick with you for a few days if you keep pushing yourself hard everyday! Don't panic! A member once said "If it isn't TDEE+3500, it's just water, bro!"

Why are you focused so much on the scale? Looking every day is not the best habit. Weight fluctuates every day, it'll take a bit to see results from your workouts.

well, I weigh primarily to see how I am doing through the week, but, only really log my Saturday morning weight. in this case, I was disapointed because I lost zero for the week. I had higher hopes since i was 'down' yesterday, so it kind of deflated my expectations.

Fair enough!! Bad timing for weighing in, I guess! I hope you see some loss soon

This opened my eyes when I read this article from Chalean Johnson about some weight gain while weight lifting. Makes total sense when explained this way and made me not beat myself up so much gaining a few pounds when working so hard!


Gaining Weight? Ugghhhh

Posted by jbiehl20 on Apr 16, 2011 in Motivation | 0 comments






Check out the article written by one of our Beachbody trainers Chalene Johnson. Ever wondered why you gained weight when you started a new workout program?



By Chalene Johnson

Probably the most common question I get when I release a new exercise program is, “Help! I’m gaining weight! Am I doing something wrong?” This is a common phenomenon with any new exercise program, such as Turbo Kick, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Hustle, or others! It’s especially common (and temporary) with intense strength training programs like ChaLean Extreme or Tony Horton’s P90X.

The motivation to start a new exercise program is almost always to lose weight. However, what most personal trainers know–and most at-home exercisers do not–is that a new exercise program often can cause an immediate (and temporary) increase on the scale. (Notice I didn’t say weight gain! I’ll explain.) This common increase in the scale is also the reason why perhaps millions of people start and then quickly quit their resolution to get fit.

The temporary weight gain explained:
When someone starts a new exercise program, they often experience muscle soreness. The more intense and “unfamiliar” the program, the more intense the muscle soreness. This soreness is most prevalent 24 to 48 hours after each workout. In the first few weeks of a new program, soreness is the body trying to “protect and defend” the effected or targeted tissue. Exercise physiologists refer to this as delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.

This type of soreness is thought to be caused by tissue breakdown or microscopic tears in muscle tissue. When this happens, the body protects the tissue. The muscle becomes inflamed and slightly swollen due to fluid retention. This temporary retention of fluid can result in a 3- to 4-pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program. Keep in mind that muscle soreness is not necessarily a reflection of how hard you worked. In fact, some people feel no signs of muscle soreness, yet will experience the muscle protection mechanisms of water retention and slight swelling.

Most people are motivated enough to put up with this temporary muscle soreness. Yet, many, especially those who really need immediate weight loss to keep them motivated, become discouraged and quit!

When I worked with a group of 70 test participants during the development stages of ChaLEAN Extreme, this happened. Who was the most upset and discouraged? You guessed it… the women! I’m happy to report absolutely for every single woman (and man) in our group, the weight increase was temporary and never lasted more than two weeks before they started to see a major drop in the scale. However, these people had the advantage of working with someone who was able to explain to them why this was happening and assure them the weight would come off if they stuck to the nutrition plan and stayed true to the program.

If you follow a multi-phase exercise plan, such as ChaLEAN Extreme, keep in mind that when you start each phase, your body will be “in shock” again. Don’t be surprised or discouraged if you experience a temporary gain on the scale the first week of each phase.

My own personal example of this is running 10Ks. I don’t do it very often, maybe once or twice a year. Even though I run on a regular basis, when you run a race, you push much harder. It’s natural for me to be insanely sore the next day. It’s also very common for me to see the scale jump 4 pounds the next day from forcing fluids post race and the resulting DOMS. Even though I know the cause of it, it’s still a bummer. We’re all human and hard work should mean results. Hard work equals results, but our bodies are amazing machines and they know how to protect us from hurting ourselves. Soreness forces you to give those muscles a break. Ultimately you will lose the weight and you will change your metabolism in the process.

The key is understanding that this is a normal and temporary and stick with the program!

When to be concerned:
If you experience a significant weight gain (exceeding 5 pounds) that does not begin to decrease rapidly after the second week, guess what it is? I’ll give you one hint… you put it in your mouth and chew it. You know it! Your food (or calorie-laden beverages). News flash, friends… exercise doesn’t make you gain weight. Consuming more food than you burn makes you gain weight!

So if after two weeks you are not losing weight and have gained weight that’s not coming off, it’s time to take a close and honest look at your food intake. Start using SparkPeople’s Nutrition Tracker regularly, and be honest.

Moral of the story:
Be patient young grass hopper. You’ll be lean and mean in no time

Oh, yeah.

Hard workouts tear up your muscles (in a good way) and then cause you to retain water-- which causes you to gain weight.

DO NOT freak out.
DO NOT over eat!

Drink plenty of water, make sure you're getting an adequate amount of protein to help repair and build muscles. That "weight gain" is temporary.

^^^^^
THIS

Oh my god!!! I am sooo happy I read this today! I started at a new eating plan of very clean eating, and cutting out the "white" stuff (no white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or added sugars". The first week I was down 6.2 pounds. I also started a new "bootcamp" gym to give myself an extra kick in the butt. Yesterday was my 3rd workout, and it was by far the toughest yet. I woke up really sore, and stepped on the scale hoping to see a small payoff, but was up 3 lbs. I wanted to throw the scale straight out the bathroom window! This made me feel so much better to know that this could be the reason, and not because I'm failing! Thanks guys!