Weight Gain (After Starting To Train)

[robblok]

Ok, i did not exercise for a month and lost weight, the scales went to 84.2 and i felt a bit small. Now i started working out again feeling big and just as lean (visual) but the scales are at 86. Actually i like it as it means i will be heavier once i reach my target. (worry of being to light as it means less muscle)

Now i explain the 2 kg of gain in the matter of a week where i did eat the same as in the period i lost weight as the following. Muscles have to work out again and are now sore, a bit inflamed so they hold more fluids also because they respond to working out they start to hold more energy.

This is not freaking me out, i just want to know if what im thinking is on the right track. Since i started working out again i feel fuller and bigger and just as lean. Plus 2 kg in one week with an unchanged diet is impossible.

Just like to hear some views on it, i must say its great to workout after a month of holiday I am sore but that is not a bad thing as it was to be expected. Though soreness goes away faster as i expected.

[robblok]

The temporary weight gain explained:

When someone starts a new exercise program, they often experience muscle soreness. The more intense and “unfamiliar” the program, the more intense the muscle soreness. This soreness is most prevalent 24 to 48 hours after each workout. In the first few weeks of a new program, soreness is the body trying to “protect and defend” the effected or targeted tissue. Exercise physiologists refer to this as delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.

This type of soreness is thought to be caused by tissue breakdown or microscopic tears in muscle tissue. When this happens the body protects the tissue. The muscle becomes inflamed and slightly swollen with fluid retention. This temporary retention of fluid can result in a 3- to 4-pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program. Keep in mind that muscle soreness is not necessarily a reflection of how hard you worked. In fact, some people feel no signs of muscle soreness, yet will experience the muscle protection mechanisms of water retention and slight swelling.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/83598-why-you-gain-when-starting-a-new-workout

My mistake i should have looked harder it kinda says what i thought was happening.

[tropo]

Firstly, I don't think it's a good idea to train too hard from a month's break. Ease into it because there's no need to cause severe doms. Build up more slowly so as not to risk new injuries. I may get mild soreness, but nothing too extreme when I come back off a break. I specifically train at low intensity so as to avoid too much of a shock. I've always done it this way.

I think your quick gain is more likely stored energy/carbs rapidly filling up the muscles which have been taking a break. Quick muscle loss upon taking a break is just stored energy dissipating from the muscle because it is no longer needed... but then you have to ask the question - what is muscle? Obviously this stored energy is part of the muscle.

I didn't experience any noticeable gain coming off my break. Perhaps that's because I was more gentle upon my return (old age - being gentle).

Having said that, a kilogram or two doesn't mean a lot. For example, over the last 3 days my morning weight jumped from 98.4 to 100.0 to 99.9 and then back to 98.4 again. This is why it's really a good idea to take daily readings at the same time of day to get an average weight. Perhaps the big jump was in response to my high volume "German Volume Training" which I've recently begun. There was no doubt there was quite a bit of water involved with the temporary weight gain. I find that when I train really hard I urinate a lot more.

[robblok]

Tropo,

I always weigh in the morning, i know about the differences in weight during the day. I also looked at the trend not just one off result.

Anyway im not too worried about it as i am looking good.

About the easing into it, hmmm i will think about that i did not go full weights on everything yet. Today my 4th workout i did reach almost my pre holiday weights. Tomorrow i will workout again and i will see how it goes so far im enjoying training again. It will take a bit more time to get my stamina and full strength back but it will happen.

Also i thought it was stored energy and such because i could not imagine it being fat.

[tropo]

Tropo,

I always weigh in the morning, i know about the differences in weight during the day. I also looked at the trend not just one off result.

Anyway im not too worried about it as i am looking good.

About the easing into it, hmmm i will think about that i did not go full weights on everything yet. Today my 4th workout i did reach almost my pre holiday weights. Tomorrow i will workout again and i will see how it goes so far im enjoying training again. It will take a bit more time to get my stamina and full strength back but it will happen.

Also i thought it was stored energy and such because i could not imagine it being fat.

I'm sure it's not fat. I don't think you need to worry about that with a 28 inch waist and 22 kg of weight loss in a year. I'm envious of your waist size. I'm about as low as I can go and it's 35 inches.

Being a bit more gentle and cautious will get you further in the end. What's the rush? I know, you're young and always in a hurry lol. Everyone seems to be like that after a break - I always shake my head when I see it in the gym.

The weight fluctuation I mentioned in my last post was not during the day. That was my waking up weight on 4 consecutive days. I always go to bed about 2kg heavier than my wake up weight. I'm not even interested in my pre-sleep weight. One decent glass of water is 0.5kg. A decent meal can be 1kg in weight.

Edited January 3, 2013 by tropo

[robblok]

You got more size in your muscles part of me is envious of that, so the grass is always greener you know. Anyway we will see how it goes training and such. I am happy that things went well for me last year so this year i got a better starting position. Also this year i will be able to eat a bit more (not much) to gain muscle instead of burning fat all the time. I am sure i could see some strenght gains then too because working out on a deficit isnt the most beneficial there is.

On a side not i seldom go up in weight for my dumbbell exercises, do you go up in those or not ? Part of it is that i usually take the same weight i might squeeze out more reps or do it more strict but going up in weight does not happen often. What is your take on that, its easier for me to go up in weight on barbell exercises.

Part of it might be psychological that i got the dumbels pre made up (often i don't even know the weight it really weighs just that i use it)

[tropo]

You don't have a clue how lucky you are. Forget about centimeters because most of the bodybuilding world uses inches. ..... Now you're about 6 feet fall with a 28/30 inch waist. That's is quite rare.

You can build muscle, but you can't make a thick waist any smaller once you've stripped the subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. That's where I am. A thick blocky waist. I'm stuck with it. There's nothing I can do about it.

Muscle size is all an illusion. It's very hard to develop a good v-taper with a thick waist. Back width is not easy to build.

Of course developing muscle size has been a tough ask last year for both of us because we were focused on losing fat. Once you've got to your desired fat level you'll be able to get into some serious muscle building.

[tropo]

Oh, regarding DB's. It always takes longer to increase DB weight because you'll never push half of the barbell weight in each arm because there's too much stabilization effort required. You really need to put small plates on each one and not jump too quickly. If you jump too quickly you'll slow your progress. You need 4 plates to increase the weight so it's quite an effort to change them. Even 1 1/4 plates means a jump of 5kg total, which is a lot even for a barbell.

Perhaps you're still too focused on the amount of weight you're pushing rather than quality of movement.

[robblok]

Oh, regarding DB's. It always takes longer to increase DB weight because you'll never push half of the barbell weight in each arm because there's too much stabilization effort required. You really need to put small plates on each one and not jump too quickly. If you jump too quickly you'll slow your progress. You need 4 plates to increase the weight so it's quite an effort to change them. Even 1 1/4 plates means a jump of 5kg total, which is a lot even for a barbell.

Perhaps you're still too focused on the amount of weight you're pushing rather than quality of movement.

Actually, im not that concerned with the weights im pushing with dumbbells. I was just wondering why it did not increase much, i was worrying i did not train hard enough. Found it strange that barbells did go up and dumbbells almost did not go up. I am more concerned with the quality of exercise.

And yes once i reach desired fat levels it will be nice to really try to build some muscle and yes it will go slower as loosing fat.

Anyway feeling good again and working hard is worth it too.