Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Your muscles get micro-tears after workouts, and your body holds onto water to repair them—causing temporary weight gain even as you build strength.
When you start training, muscles store more glycogen for fuel—and each gram pulls in 3 grams of water, adding 1–3 pounds on the scale.
Muscle is denser than fat. You might lose inches but not pounds—because muscle weighs more, even if you look leaner and feel stronger.
Exercise ramps up your appetite. Without realizing it, you might eat back more calories than you burn—especially if you're snacking mindlessly post-gym.
Intense or new workouts cause internal inflammation. That swelling plus fluid retention adds temporary weight until your body recovers.
Strength training alone builds mass—but without enough cardio, fat loss stalls. You may gain weight if calorie burn doesn’t keep up.
A sugary protein bar or a "reward" smoothie can undo your calorie deficit. One post-gym treat might be more than your whole workout burned.
Your body resists change at first. It can take weeks to adapt to a new routine, and early fluctuations on the scale are totally normal.
If weight gain persists despite clean habits, it could signal thyroid imbalance, PCOS, or insulin resistance. Time to get labs, not just lift.