Why weigh more after workout

Your thyroid gland, located at the base of your neck, releases hormones that control metabolism — aka, the way your body uses energy. For example, the thyroid directly influences your cortisol levels, and high cortisol can cause sudden weight gain. Thyroid issues are a common reason behind unexplained weight gain, as a lot of people — an estimated 20 million Americans — have some form of thyroid disease.

If you feel that thyroid issues might be contributing to weight gain, we suggest doing your research and speaking with a health professional about a diagnosis and treatment plan to get you closer to a healthy weight. And remember, factors like age will naturally affect your body weight over time. Muscle mass is denser than fat mass and you will undoubtedly gain weight from lean muscle gains.

While your clothes may feel looser, the scale may tell you otherwise. This is a win! A pound of lean muscle mass and a pound of body fat tissue might weigh the same, but they take up different amounts of space. Think of a pound of feathers compared to a pound of marbles. The marbles are going to take up a lot less space. A pound of muscle also burns more calories than a pound of fat, so muscle mass is really the gift that just keeps on giving!

When you start working out on a regular basis and building more muscle, your body burns more calories. In fact, weightlifters actually set weight gain goals and seek out weight gain exercises, rather than the opposite, because they know their body burns more calories from that type of workout routine! If building muscle is your goal, make sure you know how much protein you need to eat to fuel it. Try not to get too discouraged by what the number on the scale says.

You will also most likely experience delayed onset muscle soreness in the 24 to 36 hours after exercising. Eat properly and give your muscles the proper amount of rest so they can heal and rebuild, Dr. Calabrese says. Glycogen or sugar that your muscle cells convert to glucose is the energy source for your muscles. When you exercise regularly, your body stores more glycogen to fuel that exercise. Stored in water, glycogen has to bind with water as part of the process to fuel the muscle. That water adds a small amount of weight, too.

You will start to lose that initial water weight gain of roughly one to three pounds a few weeks or a month after starting an exercise program, he says. There is another source of weight gain that people often misunderstand, Dr. And keep in mind that if you're exercising but gaining weight, it could be that your workouts are effective, but you need to get your diet in check to see weight loss results.

By Jessica Smith Updated January 07, Save FB Tweet More. Water can alter your weight by as much as 10 pounds or more. A lot of factors can influence your weight — including your workouts.

The scale says nothing about your fitness level or body composition. Comments 1. Sort by: Newest. Newest Oldest. Load More Comments.

If a person notices their weight increasing, it's worthwhile to review the quantity and quality of the food they're eating, she said. Their post-exercise weight gain could be explained by what and how much they're eating. While there's nothing wrong with an occasional treat, exercising is unlikely to offset the effect of increasing the frequency of indulging in junk food.

But assuming that your diet hasn't changed, there are still a few other biological quirks that could explain the weight gain. If you're not used to a good workout and then go whole hog, you could end up straining your muscles more than you should. In other words, your muscle fibers suffer microtears, but that's not cause for concern because when this happens, your body sends nutrition to the muscles to help repair the damage, according to University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio.