Weigh before or after exercise? etc

M

Mogs

New member
Ok, I'm trying to figure out why it makes a difference. My pt says that I should not weight right after exercising and I need to have reasons. PT says it will throw my weight off, but I'm wondering if this is some sort of urban legend that she's fallen into.

Also, does it make sense for a pt to tell a person that most exercise machines are crap? She seems to hold the belief that what I need is free weights, lots of floor exercises, (crunches, lunches, exercise ball stuff, push ups, etc) I have used a few of the machines like the arm curl thingy, but that's about it. She has me use aerobic machines (mainly treadmill and elyptical.) Is this normal? It just seems weird to be in a gym and not use a lot of the machines.
 
Mogs said:
Ok, I'm trying to figure out why it makes a difference. My pt says that I should not weight right after exercising and I need to have reasons. PT says it will throw my weight off, but I'm wondering if this is some sort of urban legend that she's fallen into.

Also, does it make sense for a pt to tell a person that most exercise machines are crap? She seems to hold the belief that what I need is free weights, lots of floor exercises, (crunches, lunches, exercise ball stuff, push ups, etc) I have used a few of the machines like the arm curl thingy, but that's about it. She has me use aerobic machines (mainly treadmill and elyptical.) Is this normal? It just seems weird to be in a gym and not use a lot of the machines.
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Weigh yourself first thing in the morning.

Sounds like you've got yourself a decent PT there. I'd recommend free weights over machines any day of the week.
 
I weigh myself as often as I like. Mind you, I do it in the knowledge that my weight goes up and down all the time, so you will find that after exercise you will probably be a bit lighter due to fluid loss.
 
Sounds like you picked a good one...

You should always weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after you pee, before you eat or drink. Your weight will be most consistent that way. Weighing after exercise can show a lighter weight due to fluid loss or sometimes a heavier weight...regardless, it's not as consistent.

As far as the free weights vs. machines, when using a machine, the motion is very controlled. With free weights, you not only have to lift the weight, but keep a smooth motion in a straight path. This requires more muscle groups to be active, giving you a better overall workout. Besides, there's usually much less of a line and you can mix up your workout a lot more!
 
I always weigh more throughout the day. So for myself, I weigh myself when I get up.

I was wondering, what is the poundage of the free weights that you use? This has always confused me, in whether to use more or less.

Best Wishes,

Carrie
 
Thanks for all the helpful comments. I'll start weighing in the mornings on weigh in days. (I refuse to weigh every day because I don't want to focus on the number.)

The poundage of weights depends on which exercise I'm doing. (and if the pt is telling me the truth which I often doubt because she is a sadist) I'm only up to 10 lbs on hand weights, which is what I use the most right now. I also use this crazy bar thing when doing butt lifts that weights 20 lbs. I use the same bar while doing crunches. 20 lbs isn't much, but trying to hold the stupid bar straight up in the air while contracting my abs burns. Bench press is bar weight plus 5 on each side. Other exercises don't involve weights.

PT just drives me crazy because everytime I get to a point where I don't feel like I'm going to die, she adds something to increase the intensity. She's cold blooded.
 
I weight in every morning after I use the washroom and before I eat and drink. I take that number as my constant. Then I weight myself 3-4 times during the day just for curiosity's sake. I take those weigh ins knowing full well that my weight fluctuates throught the day.
 
Well said Amba, lol.

You should weigh less after exercise, as someone said, its from fluids lost as sweat and respiration. If you like the idea of weighing a little less after exercising, then thats fine. what matters is that you always weigh at the same point. as other said, its for consistancy. the daily number doesnt matter much, its the trend over time thats important. the only way to get an accurate picture is to minimize variables, which means always weighing at the same time of day, with all variables kept as constant as possible. Most people do this in the morning because it generally is the easiest time to keep constant. Most people get up at the same time each day, or close to it, they havent eaten anyting and dont have to worry about that factor, and havent done any exercise.

Personally, in the past when I was training very hard, I would weigh myself before and after exercise. I felt it would help to give me an accurate picture of how much fluid i lost during activity so I would know about how much to replace. Its not really all that neccesary for the large majority of people though. I mostly did it because I liked the satisfaction of feeling in control of my body and what it was doing. Same reason why i count all my calories every single day, track my exercise, and even try to keep notes of my daily lifestyle activity to help track overall BMR.
 
Very true Amba, but I still don't like it when I'm in the middle of my suffering. :)

Coach- You've made some very good points. I'm thinking that it might not be such a bad idea for me to weight just before and just after exercising just for the reason of knowing how much fluid I've lost. I have a long medical history of heat strokes from dehydration, so for that reason alone I should probably know how much to replace. (Plus I always feel light-headed after my workout)

I have a question though, how much water should I drink per lb lost?
 
have a long medical history of heat strokes from dehydration, so for that reason alone I should probably know how much to replace. (Plus I always feel light-headed after my workout)

I have a question though, how much water should I drink per lb lost?
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you should weigh yourself before you workout - then again after you work out - for each pound lost you should have anywhere from 8 - 16 ounces of water... (this info I got from a series of training emails i got for the 60 mile walk I'm doing next weekend)

But the best answer I've gotten on how much water you should drink is to monitor the color of your urine.. if it's anything darker than pale yellow you're not drinking enough water
 
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