I’ve heard this question before: “I started this workout to lose weight, why am I gaining weight instead?”
This can be frustrating, especially if you began something in order to see physical changes in your body, like weight loss, fat loss or body recomposition. The truth is, just because you aren’t losing weight doesn’t mean that the workout isn’t working! Moreover, if your goal is fat loss or body recomposition, you may find that you’ve achieved these goals with no change in your weight whatsoever or even slight weight gain.
If this is hard for you to believe, here are some reasons your scale weight (i.e. the number on the scale) is not moving when you have started a new workout routine.
Reason 1: inflammation
When you work your muscles, they tear. As your body works to repair the muscle you may notice some muscle soreness, indicating shifts in your fluid balance, blood and tissue composition that can lead to shifts in weight. Think of substances in your body now being redirected to the muscle, but wherever it was before also probably needed it so your body produces more/moves things around to achieve homeostasis. This can cause weight fluctuations!
REMINDER: muscle soreness is NOT an indication of a good workout. Some people will think because they aren’t sore after a workout that they didn’t work hard enough, but as mentioned above a lot of things contribute to soreness! Sometimes soreness can be an indication of too much working out, so keep balance in mind.
Reason 2: water retention
When we exercise, our bodies tap into muscular glycogen stores for energy. After a workout, these stores need to be replaced. We can replace these stores best by refueling after a workout. The best workout refuel is something that contains protein + carbohydrates.
Protein supports muscle repair and synthesis, and carbohydrates also do this plus restore our muscular glycogen. This is why low-fat chocolate milk is a gold standard. It contains protein + carbohydrates, but a low amount of fat because we don’t want our bodies to have to focus on fat digestion after a workout, and it does not aid in muscle recovery.
REMINDER: each 1 gram of glycogen is stored along with 3 grams of water. Roughly 300 grams of glycogen are stored in muscle so that can be a lot of water, too! Keep this in mind when your weight fluctuates greatly day to day and workout to workout. It’s not fat/muscle that is changing that quickly!
Reason 3: body composition
Rates of body composition changes vary among individuals. And body composition changes (i.e. increases in lean muscle and decreases in body fat percentage) can actually have a positive (meaning an increase) or no effect on scale weight.
You may have also heard people say muscle weighs more than fat. This is not entirely true: 1 pound of muscle = 1 pound of fat. However, muscle is much denser, so the same volume of muscle vs. fat will be heavier, and less muscle compared to fat will cause scale weight to increase even if you are losing inches because muscle also takes up less space.
REMINDER: scale weight gives us the total amount that our entire body weighs, in pounds, at a given time. It does not take into consideration body composition or any other stress, fluid loss/retention, metabolism or countless other factors.
Weighing yourself every day and obsessing over fluctuations tells you very, very little about what your actual scale weight means so avoid weighing in daily!
Reason 4: rest & hydration
Taking regular rest days will allow your body to recover and keep inflammation to a minimum. This allows better fluid and weight control in a more consistent way. You also need to account for increased fluid needs when you adopt a workout routine! Your body will require up to 1 liter (approx. 33 oz.) of extra water per day.
Rest periods are when your body recovers – it simply can’t work and recover simultaneously. So make sure rest days are built into your new workout plan. This period is crucial for proper assessment of weight loss, recovery, and improved performance during subsequent workouts.
REMINDER: weighing yourself after a workout will never give you an accurate reading. There are too many variables for you to understand how much you weigh or if your weight is changing. Many people will say they “lost x pounds” during a workout, but as we just discussed that was basically water! Remember also that sweat isn’t the only way we lose water. Heavy breathing, body processes and bathroom breaks also contribute significantly to water loss.
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