Weight Gain..after a workout..
 

Just wanting to know if any of you had this happen:

You work out one day, cardio.. and the next night you weigh 3 pounds more? I am due for my monthly visit this week and not sure if that means anything?

Thanks!

HI :)

I wanted to ask the same question but I only gain 1 pound after workouts. If it's close to you monthly that is probably more likely the reason for 3 pounds.

If you drank alot of water that day, it may just be water gain. I noticed yesterday after I worked out I gained a pound, but I also increase my water input to double what I normally drink. I noticed that it takes 2 days to notice weight loss after a big workout. Hang it in there it will show up if a few days. :)

When you say "cardio", do you mean an endurance activity (like long-distance running or cycling)? The reason I ask is that I think the answer might have to do with glycogen storage and depletion. In short, when you digest carbohydrates they get converted to glucose. If you don't need the glucose right away for energy, it gets stored in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen (on a side note: your body can only store a limited amount of glycogen; when your stores are full those extra carbs end up being converted to fat). When you exercise for an extended period of time (or if you intensify your exercise routine), you deplete your blood glucose as well as the glycogen stored in your muscles because you need it for energy. When you run out of glycogen, you "bonk" or "hit the wall" -- not a good feeling! After your workout, your body will want to replenish its glycogen stores and will begin converting carbs as described above. However, with glycogen storage goes hand in hand with water retention. This is because glycogen binds to water as it is stored in your muscles. For every gram of glycogen stored, 3-4 grams of water come along with it. Coincidentally, this process is also at play when you see people losing large amounts of "water weight" (think week one of Biggest Loser) when beginning to diet and exercise.

From everything I've heard, this type of weight fluctuation is pretty normal. Oftentimes, the day after a particularly intense workout I will be up a couple of pounds and things will normalize the next day. If you are fairly new to exercise, you may be depleting your stores faster than someone who is more conditioned. I remember this being discussed a while back on the forums (maybe by tandoorichicken??), but I am unsure of which category it was in. In any case, I wouldn't worry about it -- keep drinking lots of water, refeed yourself with complex carbs after a workout, and if you're doing an intense workout form more than 90 minutes (approximately) bring a source of carbs like Shot Bloks or Gatorade to help replenish energy mid-workout.

Keep at it and DO NOT get discouraged by the scale! :)

Muscle has weight same as fat does and muscle is gained faster then fat is lost, so if you are doing regular exercise which is great! You just have to accept you will be heavier on the scales for a while whilst your muscles grow and strengthen, but that's not bad, once you have good strong muscle it improves your metabolism/calorie burn, you'll burn more calories/fat faster. If the scale scares you during the muscle gain it might help to take measurements and log them on fitday to give a better picture, I have put on weight on the scales myself but lost inches on my body.

that's my dilemma too. i'm on my week 8th of Insanity. very intense workout routines and my heart rate monitor shows my calorie burn somewhere between 800-950 different days/ different workouts. my food is logged and monitored, calorie differential at least 3500/week and i still do not see much of a weight loss. i do look much smaller because of toning but not much weight loss. i just try not to let it discourage me but, its quiet annoying when i do think about it.

Dehydration-- Whenever I do a lot of exercise I temporarily weigh more. Your body needs a ton of water to lose weight because the kidney is doing a lot more work. Your body will hold on to water in your system if it thinks it is not getting enough.

Also, your weight will fluctuate the week of your period. I would ignore the scale that week and just keep on doing your thing.

'Your body will hold on to water in your system if it thinks it is not getting enough.'

I think this is true. I'm not a medical worker but I'd venture to say that the body, when it gets enough, or more than enough water, starts to dump that water, too. Which is great.

I read something somewhere (wish I knew where) that explained this. It had something to do with sodium levels getting diluted or something and then the body senses the level changed and re-adjusts. Yeah, I have no idea where I got that. But it makes some sense to me that getting rid of water in your system would be a result of some adjustment process. Which works both ways - for too much or too little.