Do you sometimes gain weight when starting a new exercise program?

Probably the most common question I get when launching a new exercise program is, “Help! I’m gaining weight! Am I doing something wrong?” This is a common phenomenon with any new exercise program, Turbo Kick, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Hustle, you name it! It’s especially common (and temporary) with intense strength training programs like Tony Horton’s ChaLEAN Extreme or P90X.

The motivation to start a new exercise program is almost always to lose weight. What most personal trainers know, though, and most home workouts don’t, is that a new exercise program can often cause an immediate (and temporary) increase in scale. (Notice I didn’t say weight gain! I’ll explain.) This common escalation is also why perhaps millions of people start and then quickly abandon their resolve to get fit.

Temporary weight gain explained:
When someone starts a new exercise program, they often experience muscle soreness. The more intense and “unknown” the program, the more intense the muscle pain. This soreness is most common 24 to 48 hours after each workout. In the first few weeks of a new program, pain is the body trying to
“protect and defend” the affected or target tissue. Exercise physiologists refer to this as delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.

This type of pain is believed to be caused by tissue rupture 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 fluid retention can result in a 3-4 pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program. Keep in mind that muscle soreness isn’t necessarily a reflection of how hard you worked. In fact, some people feel no signs of muscle pain, but will experience the protective muscle mechanisms of water retention and slight swelling.

Most people are motivated enough to endure this temporary muscle pain. However, many, especially those who really need immediate weight loss to keep them motivated for the first few weeks, get discouraged and give up.

When I worked with a group of 70 test participants during the development stages of ChaLEAN Extreme, this happened. Who was more upset and discouraged? You guessed it… women! I’m absolutely happy to report that for every woman (and man) in our group, the weight gain was temporary and never lasted more than 2 weeks before they started to see a major drop off the scale. However, these people had the advantage of working with someone who could explain why this was happening and reassure them that they would lose weight if they followed the nutrition plan and stuck to the program.

For those of you who are following the ChaLEAN Extreme phase plan, please note that when you begin each phase, your body will be “in shock” again. Don’t be surprised or discouraged if you experience a temporary gain on the scale that first week of each phase.

My own personal example of this is running a 10K. I don’t do it very often, maybe 1 or 2 times a year. Even though I run regularly, when you run a race you push yourself much harder. It’s natural to be “madly” sore the next day. It’s also very common for me to see the scale jump 4lbs the next day from straining post-run fluids and resulting DOMS. Even though I know the cause, it’s still a nuisance. We are all human and hard work should mean “results”. Hard work equals results, but our bodies are amazing machines and they know how to protect us from getting hurt. The pain forces you to give those muscles a rest 🙂 Ultimately, you’ll lose weight and change your metabolism in the process.

The key is to understand that this is normal and temporary and stick with the program!

When to worry:
If you experience significant weight gain (more than 5 pounds) that doesn’t start to come off quickly after the second week, guess what? I’ll give you a hint… you put it in your mouth and chew it. You know it! You are food (or calorie-laden drinks). Last minute friends…exercise doesn’t make you gain weight. Eating more food than you burn makes you gain weight!

So if after two weeks you are not losing weight, you have gained weight that is not coming off, it is time to take a close and honest look at your food intake. It’s time to find out what you’re burning in calories each day. Have your RMR or BMR analyzed. This can be done for less than $50 and the information is invaluable. Take the guesswork out. Google “hydrostatic body fat test _______” and insert the name of the nearest big city as well. Companies that perform HBFT also perform BMR testing. Knowledge is king.

I’m gaining weight, but it sure is muscle:
Possibly, but if you’re following ChaLEAN Extreme correctly, you should be losing fat and gaining muscle and the fat loss should be much more substantial than the rate at which you can physically gain muscle. This is true even for boys.

Of the 70+ people in my test group, every single one of them lost body fat and gained muscle and not one gained weight. I think the average weight loss after 4 months was 28lbs and many people lost over 40lbs. Even the men, who as you can see gained a lot of muscle, were seeing huge dips on the scale. We tested their muscle composition at the beginning and end and 100% of the participants maintained or gained muscle while achieving substantial weight loss. That is the key to maintaining weight in the long term, that is, muscle. Muscle burns fat. But you’ve heard me say that before.

Moral of the story:
Be patient young grasshopper. You’ll be skinny and mean in no time!