So you’ve decided to get a gym membership, you’ve started strength training; you push yourself to make that 5.30 hiit class after work. You’re exercising harder than ever before and feel sore just climbing the stairs at home. You feel determined to keep going because you know it will be worth it but then you step on the scale and see that number has gone… up?
Relax
I’m going to get right to the point and say gaining some weight the day after a workout is perfectly normal.
X It doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong!
X It doesn’t mean you’re losing progress!
X It certainly doesn’t mean you’re gaining fat!
Let’s go through the main reasons the number on the scale may move in the wrong direction the day after a workout.
Nutrition
Before anything else I want you to first think about what you’re eating and drinking. You may have heard the saying ‘you can’t out train a bad diet’ and there really is truth to that. If you’re still overeating and/ or choosing higher calorie foods then that should be top priority to change.
Ask yourself… Are you eating more because you worked out? Eating back whatever you burnt off at the gym? Are you measuring your food out? Making sure you’re getting the right serving sizes? Are you tracking your food intake?
If the answer is no, try sorting this area out before worrying about what else could be causing weight gain. You can exercise as much as you like but if the calories you’re taking in are the same as/ or more than you’re burning off, change simply won’t happen.
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Now for those who have made changes to their diet, that ARE eating well-balanced meals throughout the week and yet seem to gain weight post workout, please read on…
Any immediate weight gain WILL be water weight
Think about your usual routine before you started exercising. Was it very sedentary? Would you drive to work, sit at a desk all day, drive home and lounge on the couch for the evening? If you suddenly go to the gym and pick up some weights your body has to go through some changes in order to adjust.
A new exercise routine will put your body (specifically your muscles) under stress it’s not faced before. Without getting too sciency, when you use weights you’re actually causing small tears (micro tears) to your muscles. Like any trauma, this causes inflammation and sore muscles, known as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Your body naturally responds to this by retaining fluid around the area, to heal it. This temporary response is often referred to as water weight and is the number one reason for weight gain the next day.
Energy stores
Your body stores energy in two ways, fat and glycogen. I’ll discuss fat stores another time, it’s glycogen, the body’s preferred energy source I want to talk about here. A form of glucose stored in your liver and muscles, your body holds on to glycogen for when you need energy fast. As you start to exercise more regularly, your body stores more so you have enough fuel to exercise.
How can that impact your weight? Well each gram of glycogen stored in your body is bound to 3-4 grams of water. Added up, that stored water contributes to a small amount of weight gain. As you exercise more regularly your body will begin to need less for the same amount of energy. All that means is after a few weeks of training you should see a drop in that initial water weight gain.
Note. Be kind to yourself. Remind yourself that being able to store extra glycogen and fluids is a good thing – you need this fuel for all your hard exercise efforts.
Another form of weight gain can come from new lean muscle mass
As you work your muscles through strength training, you will gain weight as you add lean muscle mass. This however won’t happen right away and will take at least a month or so to see those changes impact weight.
If this happens, please think of it as good weight. Muscle takes up a lot less room than fat so although it may be scary to see the scales climb, your waist might actually be shrinking and your jeans becoming looser.
Summing it all up
No one should ever feel defined by the number shown on a scale (read this) but it’s so easy to get discouraged when you don’t think you’re seeing results, especially at the start of your journey.
Remember that just because you gained a pound or two, it doesn’t mean you didn’t lose fat. The best way to track your progress is through measurements and pictures; how your clothes fit you and simply if you feel healthier for exercising?
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I hope this has given at least one person the push they needed to keep going. If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend who might benefit, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you!
