In response to the damage, your body activates its internal repair system to trigger inflammation. “Basically, your body retains fluid around the micro tear to try to heal it,” explains Dr. Calabrese. Water has weight, of course, which is why this healing mechanism can add pounds after a challenging workout.
Post-workout inflammation
Those tiny tears in your muscles can also cause temporary post-workout inflammation. “This is expected and perfectly healthy,” Mohr said. You may retain fluid after exercise as your body repairs the damage, which can cause water weight gain.
Rapid weight gain or swelling in particular areas of the body (edema) can be due to fluid retention. According to the American Heart Association , weight gain of more than 2–3 pounds (lb) over 24 hours or 5 lb in a week could be a sign of heart failure.
This is because exercise—especially higher-intensity exercise—can produce a temporary inflammatory response in your body. This can also trigger temporary water retention.
If you're asking yourself, “Why am I gaining weight when I barely eat,” several factors may be at play. Your body may be holding onto fat stores if your eating habits are inconsistent or restricted. Or, your weight gain may be the effect of a sedentary lifestyle, medical condition, or long-term stress.
Fluid retention
It's totally normal for your weight to change up to four pounds in a single day, based on your fluid levels. Fluid retention, or edema, is when a lot of fluid builds up in the body. This can cause a sudden weight gain of 15 or more pounds.
Muscle is denser (meaning a lot less fluffy) than fat, says Dr. Calabrese. Put another way, 10 pounds of muscle takes up a lot less space than 10 pounds of fat. So, as you start working out regularly and building strength, the new muscle you build may eventually weigh more than the fat you've burnt off.
Cortisol belly is weight gain in the abdominal area, sometimes referred to as abdominal obesity, caused by an excess of the stress hormone cortisol. It can happen to anyone experiencing prolonged stress. 1. Other factors can also contribute to fat accumulation in the abdomen.
It's usually large and bloated but can also be small and round, depending on genes and other factors. It involves visceral fat accumulation in the lower abdomen and typically feels hard to touch. A PCOS belly is also characterized by a high waist-to-hip ratio of >0.87 (apple body shape).
Hormonal belly is when a person gains weight around the abdomen due to hormonal fluctuations. This could be due to changes in thyroid, adrenal, reproductive, or other hormone levels.
Overnight, there are two processes that cause you to lose water gradually. The first is respiration. Each time you exhale, you lose a little bit of water (exhale onto a cool piece of glass and you can see this moisture). The second is transpiration through the skin, also known as sweating.
Aim to weigh yourself on the same day, at the same time and in the same environment each week – for example, first thing every Friday morning when you're getting ready to take a shower, after you've gone to the bathroom, but before you've drunk or eaten anything.
The Scale is Going Up
Muscle growth is often slow and gradual, even if your training is on point. You might not see your biceps pop right away. The first sign that you're building muscle may be an increase in body weight. The number on the scale goes up because muscle tissue is denser and heavier than fat.
Yes, sore muscles can burn calories. When you exercise, your body needs the energy to repair the muscle fibers that were damaged during your workout. This energy comes from burning calories. Additionally, sore muscles can cause you to move more slowly, which can also help you burn more calories.
How Long Does Water Weight Last? The span can vary depending on the cause. Temporary water weight caused by high sodium intake or premenstrual syndrome can last a few days to a week. Permanent water weight caused by underlying health conditions may last longer and require medical treatment.
The swelling can make your face look round and puffy. Moon face is a common side effect of corticosteroid use and a symptom of certain health conditions. Although harmless, the condition can affect your self-esteem. The medical term for this is moon facies, but other people call it cortisol face.
Although exercise is extremely healthy, too much can actually be a stress on the body. Overtraining happens when you go too hard, too often, or don't take time to recover. This can increase inflammation as well as the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol can lead to fatigue and weight gain, especially around your belly.
Whenever you start an exercise regime, your weight may increase due to muscle soreness. Soreness is basically a result of breakdown of muscle tissue and occurs for a day or two after every workout. It occurs in order to protect the targeted muscle tissue from the new exercise program.
“When someone begins exercising for the first time or significantly increases their exercise intensity, the body will undergo multiple initial adaptive responses that may lead to initial weight gain, rather than weight loss,” says Christopher McGowan, MD, a gastroenterologist and weight loss expert in Cary, North ...
As you increase musculature, fat gain can occur due to the caloric surpluses required to increase SMM. This is a well-recognized phenomenon and is commonly referred to in gym-speak as “bulking.”
Especially in the first days and weeks of a new workout routine, your body is going to retain water. In most cases, it goes down within a few days. Some reasons your body retains water are: Inflammation - As you stress the body and break down the muscle, your body holds onto water to help with the repairs.
Magnesium supplements may help reduce water retention. Talk with your healthcare professional before taking a supplement. Take water pills, also called diuretics. You can get these medicines by prescription to help reduce fluid buildup.