Weight loss after strength training

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Chillyw
Chillyw Posts: 13 Member
I tend to weigh myself every morning. Anyone else notice that the day after doing weight training, you don't lose any weight? For me, it seems to stay pretty steady the day after weight training then I drop weight the next couple days after.

Curious how that works.

Replies

  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
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    Your muscles take in water for recovery after a vigorous workout. Once your body feels it's replenished the condition of your muscles it dumps the extra water. It's just water and won't change your weight more than a day or two. The change on the scale can be several pounds depending on the amount worked and the amount of repair work needed on your muscles.

    Just keep working out and eating right. The water retention is short lived but the muscle benefit is really long term. You'll still consistently lose weight even with slight fluctuations like that. You should see my chart. It zig zags up and down in 3-4 pound swings some times for this very reason. I do weights 4 nights a week and some days you'll see a big increase and others it drops 3 pounds. Overall I still get a downward slope on the chart because that temporary added weight really doesn't count. Good to know so you don't get frustrated.
  • PsiChi
    PsiChi Posts: 157
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    Weigh your self once a week brah, youll see better results that way.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    Your muscles retain water.
  • cal_73
    cal_73 Posts: 77
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    It happens to me too and not just from strength training. After a multi-day backpacking trip I weighed an extra 10 pounds. I was burning an extra 3 to 5k calories a day so I actually lost mass. It took a few days and I was at a record low.

    I also notice I'm a little extra heavy the day after strength training legs.

    @PsiChi, I disagree, one weigh-in per week is much more likely to be wrong because of this exact phenomenon. If you weigh in every day you will have much better resolution of data and be able to know where you're at.