Post workout weight GAIN?
If you like to weigh yourself the day or 2 after a very hard exercise session(s), please be aware that the most intense and/or prolonged workouts can INCREASE your weight up to 5-10lbs (temporarily up to a few days)!
Yes, you read that correctly, increase your weight. The delayed predominant weight changing factor the day after a hard workout or series of workouts is 5-10 lbs of fluid retention due to the inflammatory/healing response of the muscles/soft tissues.
This increase in inflammation and fluid weight is a result of the damage (catabolic), and subsequent healing (anabolic) process initiated by inflammation, all created by the intense exercise.
So, next time you get on the scale expecting to have lost weight due to 1-3 days of hard effort exercise, expect to gain weight first until the inflammation and associated fluid increase subsides (3-7 days).
If you feel like your muscle are swollen and heavy for a few days after a hard workout, they are!
Other post-exercise transient weight changing factors include:
- LOSS – Fat loss (minor weight decrease)
- GAIN -Post workout hyper-compensation of glycogen stores in your muscles (minor weight increase)
- LOSS – If a lot of fluids are lost due to dehydration, several lbs can be temporarily lost until hydration is replaced
- GAIN – If sodium (salt) is reduced by a lot of it being excreted through prolonged and profuse sweating combined with a high consumption of water, a weight gain can result (in extreme conditions, this can lead to hyponatremia and even death as the brain begins to swell).
Relevance of weight?
If you want to know your body composition or detect muscle imbalances, a more reliable way is to do a DEXA (aka DXA) scan to help differentiate between muscle, fat, lean and bone mass (with minimal radiation). A good option in Vancouver is Bodycomp Imaging (peter@bodycomp.ca). Whatever your results, remember there are many other (more) important determinants of health…