Key Takeaways

32% of Americans actively try to consume probiotics. (1)

Probiotic strains like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are commonly used for weight loss. (2)

A recent study showed that 40% of people using probiotic supplements for 9 months saw a clinically relevant decrease in body weight without limiting their diet. (2)

Studies suggest that it generally takes 12 weeks of using probiotics for weight loss to see positive results. (2)

Doses of 1 million CFUs have been correlated with decreased fat, BMI, and waist circumference, with those potential impacts increased at higher doses. (2)

Although the results of weight loss from probiotics have been studied, further research is still needed to fully prove and understand this connection. 

Foods high in probiotics include kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, and other fermented foods.

If you’re a fitness enthusiast, you’ve probably heard people stress the importance of probiotics for gut health. These “good bacteria” that contribute to your gut bacteria overall have been getting a lot of attention for a few years now, with new research and supplements coming out almost daily. Probiotic supplements contain a variety of beneficial microbes credited with improving immunity, digestion, and even mental health. 

Credit: fizkes / Shutterstock

In recent years, probiotics have also been promoted as a way to enhance weight loss efforts. As with any supplement, though, there’s a chance that the science is grossly exaggerated when marketing and social media get involved. So, can probiotics actually help with weight loss, or is this another case of science becoming science fiction?

What Are Probiotics?

Despite the widespread use of the word ‘probiotics’ to describe supplements, foods, drinks, and even dirt, there’s actually a specific definition. These products might contain microbes, but not all microbes are probiotic; they need to meet a few criteria to earn that label. 

First, probiotics are live microorganisms. Second, they need to be ingested in adequate amounts. What’s an adequate amount? The answer to that question leads us to our third requirement: they need to provide a benefit to the host, which means they need to be backed up by research. So, “an adequate amount” is determined by however much necessary to replicate the results shown in those studies. (3)

Probiotic supplements contain specific amounts of certain bacteria or fungi that have already been studied for their effectiveness. Probiotics are sometimes combined with prebiotics, or carbohydrates that they prefer to use for energy, to create synbiotics. (3)(4)

[Read More: The Side Effects of Probiotics for Strength Athletes to Look Out For]

You need to pick the right microbe for the job, whether you’re focused on your immune system, digestive health, blood pressure, or belly fat. (5)

What About Probiotic Foods? 

Microbes have been used in food production for thousands of years because they can ferment carbohydrates to create alcohol, make bread rise, and extend the shelf-life of meat and dairy. 

However, despite what you might hear on social media, foods and beverages that contain microbes aren’t automatically probiotic foods. If that were the case, beer and wine would be considered probiotic drinks, and you’d be eating your microbe-rich spoiled food instead of tossing it out. (Please don’t do this!) 

[Read More: The Best Fruit and Vegetable Supplements for Taste, Probiotics, Fiber, and More]

In fact, at the moment, fermented dairy is the only food that meets probiotic criteria because it provides live microbes in adequate amounts to confer a documented benefit. While other fermented foods — like kimchi, kombucha, or natto — contain microbes, they don’t fit the definition of a probiotic (though some could still provide health benefits we haven’t discovered yet.) (6)

How Do Probiotics Work? 

While it’s still unclear exactly how probiotics work — and there’s likely more than one mechanism — they seem to directly and indirectly influence both your gut microbiome (your gut microbiota and their genetic potential) and your body’s cells and tissues.

They probably interact with your gut microbiome as they pass through, rather than moving into the place permanently. They could outcompete potential pathogens (microbes that can cause disease in the right conditions) or engage in some cooperative behavior with the beneficial microbes native to your gut. (3)(4)(7)(8)

[Read More: How to Improve Your Gut Health — Evidence-Based Guidance for a Strong Stomach]

They could also interact directly with your intestinal and immune cells and communicate with your organs through indirect pathways via postbiotics, or metabolic products that happen to be beneficial to humans. (3)(4)(7)(8)

 In terms of how these probiotics may help with weight loss, some research suggests that certain strains may reduce cell permeability in your intestines, leading to less inflammation. (2)

Do Probiotics Help With Weight Loss?

With so many potential pathways by which to influence human biology, it makes sense that probiotics would be targeted for research on such a popular topic as weight management. 

[Read More: Can Your Gut Health Impact Weight Loss?]

Research does indicate that probiotic supplements are more effective than a placebo. Still, there are other factors to consider on your wellness journey.

How Could Probiotics Help With Weight Loss?

To understand how probiotics could help with weight loss, it’s important to understand the connection between the gut microbiome and body weight. 

Discovering the Microbiome-Bodyweight Connection

Early studies in rodents suggested that there was a strong, potentially causative effect of the gut microbiome on body weight, body fat, and weight gain. Researchers used fecal microbiota transplants to colonize microbe-free mice with microbes from mice that were genetically modified to develop obesity, and the recipients also developed obesity. They were able to replicate this using fecal transplants from people with obesity, making this a compelling line of research. (9)(10)

In addition to studies like this, observational studies reported differences in the gut microbiomes of people with and without obesity. Not only were the communities of microbes different, but their genetic potential and activity differed, too.

[Read More: A Healthier Gut Could Mean More Muscular Strength]

It appeared that people with obesity had lower levels of diversity and genetic potential in their microbiomes, and the ratios of microbes were different. The gut microbiome became an overnight sensation as a potential target for weight management. (9)(10)

Human Studies Are Less Compelling That Rodent Studies

Unlike the rodent studies, however, human fecal transplants didn’t result in any spectacular outcomes. Unsurprisingly, a human with a fully developed gut microbiome doesn’t respond like a microbe-free mouse living in a sterile environment. (9)

Some postbiotics can affect areas of the brain linked to appetite and hunger, though the effect isn’t as pronounced in humans compared to rodents. Gut microbes can convert indigestible dietary carbohydrates to absorbable short-chain fatty acids, essentially liberating more energy from the diet for their human hosts. These fatty acids can bind to receptors on fat and muscle tissue, affecting pathways that regulate insulin sensitivity and fat breakdown. So, there’s potential for certain probiotic strains to have these effects, too. (3)(4)(7)(8)(11)

Which Probiotics Actually Help With Weight Loss?

Based on the findings of several meta-analyses over the last five years, probiotic supplements are consistently helpful with weight loss compared to placebo when you look at the statistics. When you consider the real-world results, though, it’s unclear whether they’re worth the money for most people.

If you want to give it a try, though, Lactobacillus and Bifiobacterium strains are the ones most commonly associated with weight loss.

Who Do Probiotics Help?

Studies have included a wide range of people: infants, adolescents, adults, and older adults, including people with and without obesity, gestational diabetes, or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). However, the majority of research has focused on adults with overweight or obesity. 

Credit: Akarawut / Shutterstock

[Read More: The Best Probiotic Supplements for Women for Vaginal Health, Prebiotics, And More]

Probiotics are more effective in people with overweight, obesity, or cardiometabolic disease, so if you’re already considered metabolically healthy, you probably won’t see as much of a benefit. They don’t seem to have much of an effect in very young populations or during pregnancy. (3)(4)(7)(8)

How Much Do Probiotics Help?

Most meta-analyses reported that probiotics led to greater reductions in body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and body fat mass compared to placebo, but the statistical significance doesn’t quite translate to a physically impactful change.

On average, participants lost anywhere from no extra body weight up to about one kilogram (about two pounds), which was also the case for fat percentage. Changes in BMI were similarly small, and waist circumference changed by about one centimeter. (3)(4)(7)(8) 

[Read More: The Best Probiotics for Men]

Which Types of Probiotics Might Help, and How Much Should I Take?

If you do want to try a probiotic based on current research, expect to supplement for at least 12 weeks, but at this point, research doesn’t support a specific dosage. The hundreds of studies analyzed used anywhere from 104 to 1.35×1015 colony-forming units (CFUs), but in general, it seems that larger doses for longer durations might be more effective. (3)(4)(7)(8)

If you’re wondering which strains of probiotics are most effective, the recommendations are slightly more specific. (7) Keep an eye out for these species and strains, which have shown the most promise so far:

Lactobacillus casei Shirota

Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17

Lactobacillus rhamnosus

Lactobacillus plantarum

Bifidobacterium infantis

Bifidobacterium longum

Bifidobacterium breve B3

New microbes are being discovered all the time, so the bacterial names may change, and the list may grow as more research emerges.

Risks of Probiotics for Weight Loss

Like other dietary supplements, perhaps the most benign risk of using a probiotic is that it won’t do anything except make your wallet a little lighter. In most cases, the only adverse effect people report is gastrointestinal distress like gas, bloating, or changes in bowel habits. 

However, probiotic supplementation can pose a risk to people taking certain prescription medications — like oral chemotherapy drugs or medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease — as they can affect drug metabolism and efficacy. (12)

Frequently Asked Questions

Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.

References

Food Insight. 2021 Food & Health Survey. Retrieved from https://foodinsight.org/2021-food-health-survey/ 

Álvarez-Arraño V, Martín-Peláez S. Effects of Probiotics and Synbiotics on Weight Loss in Subjects with Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2021 Oct 17;13(10):3627. 

Rasaei, N., Heidari, M., Esmaeili, F., Khosravi, S., Baeeri, M., Tabatabaei-Malazy, O., & Emamgholipour, S. (2024). The effects of prebiotic, probiotic or synbiotic supplementation on overweight/obesity indicators: an umbrella review of the trials’ meta-analyses. Frontiers in endocrinology, 15, 1277921. 

Saadati, S., Naseri, K., Asbaghi, O., Yousefi, M., Golalipour, E., & de Courten, B. (2024). Beneficial effects of the probiotics and synbiotics supplementation on anthropometric indices and body composition in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 25(3), e13667. 

McFarland, L. V., Karakan, T., & Karatas, A. (2021). Strain-specific and outcome-specific efficacy of probiotics for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine, 41, 101154. Dimidi, E., Cox, S. R., Rossi, M., & Whelan, K. (2019). Fermented Foods: Definitions and Characteristics, Impact on the Gut Microbiota and Effects on Gastrointestinal Health and Disease. Nutrients, 11(8), 1806. 

Perna, S., Ilyas, Z., Giacosa, A., Gasparri, C., Peroni, G., Faliva, M. A., Rigon, C., Naso, M., Riva, A., Petrangolini, G., A Redha, A., & Rondanelli, M. (2021). Is Probiotic Supplementation Useful for the Management of Body Weight and Other Anthropometric Measures in Adults Affected by Overweight and Obesity with Metabolic Related Diseases? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 13(2), 666. 

Tabrizi, R., Ostadmohammadi, V., Akbari, M., Lankarani, K. B., Vakili, S., Peymani, P., Karamali, M., Kolahdooz, F., & Asemi, Z. (2022). The Effects of Probiotic Supplementation on Clinical Symptom, Weight Loss, Glycemic Control, Lipid and Hormonal Profiles, Biomarkers of Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins, 14(1), 1–14. 

Pinart, M., Dötsch, A., Schlicht, K., Laudes, M., Bouwman, J., Forslund, S. K., Pischon, T., & Nimptsch, K. (2021). Gut Microbiome Composition in Obese and Non-Obese Persons: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 14(1), 12. 

Gong, J., Shen, Y., Zhang, H., Cao, M., Guo, M., He, J., Zhang, B., & Xiao, C. (2022). Gut Microbiota Characteristics of People with Obesity by Meta-Analysis of Existing Datasets. Nutrients, 14(14), 2993. 

Lahtinen, P., Juuti, A., Luostarinen, M., Niskanen, L., Liukkonen, T., Tillonen, J., Kössi, J., Ilvesmäki, V., Viljakka, M., Satokari, R., & Arkkila, P. (2022). Effectiveness of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Weight Loss in Patients With Obesity Undergoing Bariatric Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA network open, 5(12), e2247226. 

Corbin, K. D., Carnero, E. A., Dirks, B., Igudesman, D., Yi, F., Marcus, A., Davis, T. L., Pratley, R. E., Rittmann, B. E., Krajmalnik-Brown, R., & Smith, S. R. (2023). Host-diet-gut microbiome interactions influence human energy balance: a randomized clinical trial. Nature communications, 14(1), 3161. 

Purdel, C., Ungurianu, A., Adam-Dima, I., & Margină, D. (2023). Exploring the potential impact of probiotic use on drug metabolism and efficacy. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie, 161, 114468.

Featured Image: fizkes / Shutterstock

The post Here’s the Deal With Probiotics for Weight Loss, According to a PhD appeared first on BarBend.

Six new workouts have been added to CrossFit.com’s list of Hero and Tribute workouts.

Since 2005, CrossFit has honored the memories of fallen service members and exemplary community members with dedicated workouts. Each workout tells a story and serves as a tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Explore the stories behind these new workouts and honor those who served by challenging yourself to complete one.

By committing to the most difficult level of a workout within your physical and mental capacity, you make a promise to the fallen—to endure a fraction of the pain and effort they faced.

GALE FORCE

As many rounds and reps as possible in 30 minutes of:

20 box step-ups with a weighted backpack

23 burpees-over-backpack

19 air squats

When 30 minutes have elapsed, complete one more set of 19 squats together as a group.

35-lb backpack, 20-inch box

50-lb backpack, 24-inch box

Devyn Gale, 19, of the British Columbia Wildfire Service, died July 13, 2023, while responding to a wildfire. She and her crew were flown into a fire outside of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada, and while cutting a perimeter around the fire, she was struck by a tree and killed.

Gale, of Revelstoke, was studying to be a nurse while serving as a wildfire fighter. She liked to fill her backpack with textbooks and walk up and down a hill near her home. She was a member of Mountain Made CrossFit.

Gale is survived by her parents Graham and Philomena; brother, Nolan; and sister Kayln.

NORTHRUP

For time:

26 barbell back-rack step-ups

Then, 3 rounds of:

17 power cleans

19 sit-ups

21 deadlifts

Then, 31-calorie row

20-in box, 65-lb barbell

24-inch box, 95-lb barbell

Detective Constable Jeffrey Northrup, 55, of the Toronto Police Service in Canada, was killed in the line of duty on July 2, 2021, while investigating a stabbing.

Northrup started his career with the Toronto Police Service as a court officer before becoming a constable. He served as a mentor to new officers and was given the nickname “Papa Bear” and “Big Country” by those who worked alongside him. He was married for 26 years and had three children, whom he loved dearly. He spent much of his free time with his children doing what they loved including the Special Olympics, cheerleading, film, and lacrosse. He was also a member of Heart and Hustle CrossFit.

Northrup is survived by his wife, Margaret; sons Brenden and Mitchel; daughter, Sammy; and mother, Dianne.

BURIAK

As many rounds and reps as possible in 20 minutes of:

5 squat cleans

10 burpees over the bar

15 pull-ups

200-meter run

135 lb

155 lb

AWS1 James Buriak, 31, of Salem, Virginia, died Aug. 31, 2021, when his helicopter Loosefoot 616 went down off the coast of San Diego, California. He served as a naval aircrewman rescue swimmer (AWS) with HSC-8.

After graduating high school, Buriak attended Roanoke College and joined the Navy in 2017. He deployed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt for back-to-back tours and multiple detachments before departing for the USS Abraham Lincoln.

He was known as an exemplary father and partner, and avid CrossFit athlete who enjoyed physical challenges. Buriak is survived by his wife, Megan; son, Caulder; parents James and Carol; and sister and brother-in-law, Laura and Eric Zickefoose.

GOOSE

For time with a partner:

106 deadlifts

Then, 7 rounds of:

3 rope climbs

15 thrusters

15 kettlebell swings

Then, 400-meter run with a plate

*Both partners carry a plate.

95-lb barbell, 15-foot rope, 53-lb kettlebell, 25-lb plate

135-lb barbell, 15-foot rope, 70-lb kettlebell, 45-lb plate

Master Sgt. Chris Raguso, 39, of Commack, New York, died March 15, 2018, when an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed during a mission in Western Iraq. Raguso was assigned to the 101st Rescue Squadron, 106th Rescue Wing, New York National Guard.

Raguso, who dedicated his life to the service and protection of others, was an HH-60G special missions aviation flight engineer and a member of the New York City Fire Department. He used CrossFit as a tool to stay strong for his work in the National Guard and the FDNY.

Raguso is survived by his wife, Carmela; and daughters Eva and Mila.

ODA 7313

7 rounds for time of:

300-meter jog

10 left-arm dumbbell thrusters

10 right-arm dumbbell thrusters

7 strict pull-ups

*Rest 3 minutes between rounds.

*Wear a 10/14-lb weight vest.

20 lb

30 lb

Sgt. 1st Class Javier Jaguar Gutierrez died Feb. 8, 2020, from wounds sustained during combat operations in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.

Born in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Gutierrez, 28, enlisted in the Army in 2009. After being selected to attend the Special Qualification Course, he graduated in 2015 as a Special Forces communications sergeant and was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

Gutierrez is survived by his wife, Gabriela; children Gabriel, Eden, Helen, and Emee; parents Javier and Silvia; sisters Jenea and Jordan Garza; brother-in-law, Joshua Garza; and his nephew, Noah Rocha.

PIKEY

For time:

Run 400 meters

12 burpee bar muscle-ups

15 squat snatches

Run 800 meters

12 burpee bar muscle-ups

18 thrusters

Run 400 meters

105-lb barbell

155-lb barbell

Master Sgt. William Posch, 36, died March 15, 2018, when an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in the Anbar Province of Iraq. Posch was assigned to the Air Force Reserve’s 308th Rescue Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.

Posch, also known as “Pikey,” was an 18-year Air Force veteran and served as a pararescueman, and an elite special operator who conducted personnel recovery and combat search-and-rescue operations. His decorations include the Air Medal with Silver Oak Leaf Cluster, Aerial Achievement Medal, and Air Force Commendation Medal with Valor. He was named one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen in 2014.

Posch was a member of CrossFit JAX, and loved running and bodyweight movements.

He is survived by his mother, Suzan; sons Jackson and Kai; and their mother, Cameron Mico.

Back day is the best day of the week. If you disagree, take a number and form an orderly line. Almost nothing hits better than inflating your lats, traps, and yoke with a skin-tearing pump and crab-walking sideways out of the weight room. Heck, blast your lats hard enough and you could probably fly home.

But a back workout is only as good as the movements within. When it comes to the best back exercises, pull-ups (and chin-ups) often rank quite high, and rightfully so. But I’ve got a bone to pick with the pull-up, especially as the first exercise in a back workout.

Credit: Improvisor / Shutterstock

They’re an awesome exercise, but if you’re trying to beef up your back hypertrophy, stop doing pull-ups at the start of your workouts. I promise you’ll fly higher. 

[Related: The Best Supplements for Bodybuilding]

Why You Shouldn’t Start Back Workouts With Pull-Ups

When you look at the technical factors that characterize the pull-up — what you need your body to physically do — you’ll notice that the case for pull-ups on back day isn’t rock solid. In fact, the humble pull-up is hanging on by a thread.

1. Pull-Ups Are Unstable

Pull-ups rely almost exclusively on your upper back, but they destabilize your lower half. If you don’t constantly squeeze your abdominal muscles and contract your lower body, it’s easy to start swaying back and forth on a pull-up bar like you’re at a CrossFit class. 

One study from 2013 regarded chin-ups as “more functional” than the lat pulldown exercise, measured by global muscle activation. (1) “A little bit of muscle activation everywhere” isn’t what you want if you’re training for hypertrophy. 

You can remedy this by developing exceptional pull-up technique. Yet the fact remains that worrying about your core, hips, and legs during a back exercise is a muscle-building liability, not an asset. 

2. Pull-Ups Have a Poor Resistance Profile

This is perhaps the area in which pull-ups are least defensible. The pull-up’s resistance profile, to be frank, sucks. During a bodybuilding workout and unless you’re intentionally pre-exhausting a muscle, you want to apply tension broadly across the muscles you’re training. Save the isolation work or partial range of motion moves for the end. 

An exercise’s “resistance profile” refers to how the resistance you’re working with is dispersed across that movement’s range of motion. Human muscles tend to be weakest when they’re fully contracted, which is why pull-ups are easy to start but hard to finish. 

For most people, the first half of the range of motion is too easy, while the second half is exponentially harder. High-effort pull-ups demand too much upper back extension too early into the workout if you perform them first, limiting your ability to execute other pulling exercises properly. 

[Read More: The Best Upper Body Exercises and Workouts]

3. Pull-Ups Fry Your Grip

The purpose of a back workout is to grow (and strengthen) your back. Regrettably, your back muscles attach to your scapula and humerus, which attaches to your radius and ulna, which attach to your scaphoid and lunate … you get the idea. You need to hold the weights.

This has incorrectly led to a common ego-driven misconception; if you can’t hold onto the bar, the weight is too heavy for you. While that idea is more false than true, you can’t deny that pull-ups are a damn-good forearm exercise, especially for heavy-set folks or anyone with the gusto to hang a weight plate from a chained belt. But a forearm workout isn’t what you want on back day. 

Credit: Prostock-studio / Shutterstock

The last thing you want to do is start your workout with an exercise that torches your grip strength. Is it the biggest deal in the world, or a problem unique to the pull-up? Not necessarily, but it’s worth mentioning. 

4. Pull-Ups Are Too Easy for Some, and Too Hard for Others

Bodyweight exercises play by different “rules” than free weight lifting, mostly due to the physics involved. When you perform cable exercises or work with machines, you probably find yourself fatiguing gradually over the course of multiple sets, even if you’re working at pretty high intensities. 

That’s not the case for the pull-up. One set of true RPE-10 pull-ups will demolish most people and diminish their ability to perform well on subsequent sets. Moreover, big-bodied folk or anyone on a bulk might find the pull-up frustrating to apply progressive overload to. 

The Case for Pull-Ups

There’s plenty of PubMed-inspired justification for not putting pull-ups at the start of a workout, but on the other hand, there’s a bodybuilder out there with a much bigger back than I’ve got who has begun his workouts with pull-ups for the last decade. Case closed. 

Luckily, that’s not how it works. Heck, there’s probably an even bigger guy out there who never does pull-ups of any kind. There’s always a bigger guy. So, when should you begin your back workouts with pull-ups? Well, if you’re trying to…

[Read More: Best Shoulder Exercises and Full Shoulder Workouts for Strength]

Stop Starting With Pull-Ups, or Else…?

Bodybuilding exists in an odd place; it’s science-based but not as empirical as spreadsheet-driven powerlifting training. Golden-era bodybuilders would call their sport an intuitive, artistic pursuit, even though muscle-makers must obey human physiology. 

On paper, starting a back workout with pull-ups has more cons than pros. In the real world, plenty of people have built some damned-impressive backs by heading to the pull-up bar as soon as they set foot in the gym.

If you’re frustrated with the quality of your back workouts — or your back, which looks more like a salt flat than a mountain range — those pull-ups you’ve begun every session with might be partially responsible. Try putting them at the end of your lift as a workout finisher instead, or even go for some long-length partial reps, since that technique suits the pull-up pretty well. 

Ultimately, if you’re a bodybuilder, remember that there’s no must-do exercise, and plenty of movements fail to live up to their own reputation (I’m looking at you, deadlift) when it comes to packing on mass. 

More Op-Eds on BarBend

Mike Mentzer Was a Good Bodybuilder With Bad Advice

Stop Doing Deadlifts if You Want To Build Muscle

The Sport of Weightlifting Sucks To Watch in 2024

References

Doma, K., Deakin, G. B., & Ness, K. F. (2013). Kinematic and electromyographic comparisons between chin-ups and lat-pull down exercises. Sports biomechanics, 12(3), 302–313.

Featured Image: Improvisor / Shutterstock

The post Opinion: Never* Start Your Back Workouts With Pull-Ups appeared first on BarBend.

No, running — even slow long-distance running — is not going to automatically eat away at your strength and ability to build muscle. The fears just aren’t backed up by science. Because yes, indeed, you can be ripped, strong, and have a great engine. You’ve just got to train the right way (and recover well enough, of course).

Whether you should do cardio or weights first depends on why you’re asking the question. If you’re a strength athlete who wants to breathe just a bit better up that flight of stairs, your answer will be different than that of an endurance athlete who wants to build stronger, bigger calves. Whatever your answer, read on: I’ll give you the pros and cons of weights before cardio and cardio before weights.

What Is Strength Training?

As the name suggests, strength training is a type of exercise that helps you increase physical and mental strength. You can also do it to build muscle (and retain it). It is typically anaerobic exercise, which the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) defines as short-duration, highly intense physical activity fueled by stored energy (ATP) in your contracting muscles. (1)

[Read More: Different Types of Strength Training (+ How to Get Started)]

What Is Cardio?

Cardiovascular exercise is primarily aerobic instead of anaerobic. The ACSM defines aerobic exercise as any physical activity that uses large muscle groups that raise your heart rate and breathing, which you perform rhythmically and continuously. For energy, it uses oxygen that you inhale while you exercise. Cardio exercise improves your heart health and builds endurance.  (1)

[It’s the chicken or the egg, but with gains.re: The Best Cardio Workouts at Home to Boost Your Fitness Without a Treadmill]

Benefits of Weights Before Cardio

Hit the weights or hit the treadmill first? Here are three cases where you may want to lift weights first in your training session.

You’ll Have More Energy for Strength Performance

You arrive at the gym freshly recovered, with enough sleep, nutrients, and maybe pre-workout to fuel your session. Whichever type of exercise you start with is the one you’ll have the most energy for, leaving you more tired for the second part of your training session. (2)

The reason? The acute fatigue hypothesis. Performing cardio before weight training can prematurely fatigue your muscles, so you can’t exert as much effort or intensity during resistance training. (3)

Suppose your main goals involve increasing strength, lifting heavier, improving athletic performance, or training power and explosiveness. In that case, you’ll want to have the most energy and focus available for resistance training first. You may get better muscle activation, have better form, and lower your risk of injury (especially for newbies).

It May Be Better for Hypertrophy

The same idea applies if your goal is hypertrophy (or building muscle). You’ll want your muscles to be fresh to focus on those slower, eccentric muscle-building reps. Going for a long run before hitting leg day will leave you pre-fatigued, and you may not be able to complete all your planned reps at a high quality.

It May Help With Fat Loss

When your goal is fat loss, the fitness zeitgeist may tell you to prioritize cardio. But resistance training is also essential to help build and retain muscle. If you’re in a calorie deficit, keeping protein high and doing resistance training helps your body burn fat instead of muscle.

[Read More: How to Burn Fat for Weight Loss and More Definition]

One study suggests that doing resistance training before cardio enhances fat-burning during cardio. This may also be because resistance training causes EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), which is when your body continues burning calories after your workout. Doing cardio after resistance training could enhance your calorie-burning potential. (4)

Drawbacks of Weights Before Cardio

There is one primary drawback to doing weights before cardio — and that’s if cardio is your priority.

You’ll Have Less Energy for Endurance Training

If you flip it the other way, the same holds true. If endurance training is your priority, you won’t want to start your cardio session pre-fatigued from weight training.

[Read More: Everything You Need to Know About Endurance Training for Strength Athletes]

Research suggests that strength training before endurance work can shorten your time to exhaustion — particularly after eccentric resistance training for hypertrophy and plyometrics. Your muscles may need up to 48 hours to recover from eccentric training, hindering your ability to do high-intensity endurance exercise for longer. (5)

It’s Less Effective for Running Training

If you’re a runner training for a long-distance event, your training plan is likely packed with longer runs, shorter HIIT workouts, sprinting, and speed work. Balancing running and strength training is key; you still want to keep your muscles strong, which can also improve running performance.

[Read More: How To Build Stamina for Running: Tips + Benefits]

Whether you’re trying to shave time off your 5K or build your endurance for a marathon, you won’t want to start your running workouts after tiring your muscles in weight training.

Benefits of Cardio Before Weights

Starting with cardio means you have more energy for cardio and one other potential benefit.

You’ll Have More Energy for Endurance Exercise

Since you’ll have the most energy at the top of your session, doing cardio before weights means you may perform better in your cardio session, which is important if your primary sport is endurance-based.

Cycling First May Be Okay

If your sport is cycling but you are also doing resistance training for hypertrophy, some research suggests performing cycling first may not interfere with muscle growth. Most of the research on the drawbacks of cardio first suggests that running before strength training can interfere with muscle gain, but possibly not cycling. (6)

You May Have Better Heart Rate Control

One reason you include a few minutes of light cardio in your dynamic warm-up before resistance training is to raise your heart rate, which should correspond with the level of intensity you’re working at.

An ACE Fitness study measured the heart rate response in people doing cardio before weights and weights before cardio. Both cardio sessions were done at the same intensity, but doing cardio after weights elicited a higher heart response (12 beats per minute), although the researchers suggest it should have been roughly the same. (7)

The study concludes that doing resistance training first may raise your heart rate too much. It may be better for some people to do cardio first because your heart rate can better correspond to how hard you’re working. Cardio after resistance training might keep your heart rate too high, even if you’re trying to do low or moderate-intensity cardio. (7)

Drawbacks of Cardio Before Weights

Cardio before weights isn’t your best bet if you have any type of goal related to strength training. Here’s why.

It May Interfere With Strength Gains

The “interference effect” is the possibility that concurrent training — doing a high volume of aerobic endurance exercise while trying to get stronger — can interfere with strength gains. Doing cardio before weights may heighten the potential for interference, particularly in lower-body muscle groups. (8)

One study found that doing cardio 10 minutes before resistance training significantly hindered lower body strength and endurance in the leg press and squat, but the bench press was unaffected. However, another study found that when doing strength training after cardio, participants performed fewer reps in the squat, bench press, push press, and deadlift. (3)

[Read More: The Best Barbell Exercises For Mass, Strength, and Power]

Performing endurance training after weight training may help prevent interference with strength gains. (9)

May Interfere With Power Performance

Performing cardio before strength training when your goal is power may also interfere with your gains. In one study, participants did a 45-minute run before a power-focused strength workout. Power and velocity were reduced in the squat, bench press, and high pull. (3)

When it comes to power, separating your cardio and strength training sessions by at least three hours may prevent interference. (10)

May Interfere With Hypertrophy

How you perform in a hypertrophy-focused session matters, but another factor may cause cardio first to interfere with muscle gain. Resistance training causes growth hormone (GH) secretion, which may affect muscle growth. One study found that, after performing endurance exercise for 60 minutes, resistance training released less GH. (4) 

The study concludes that weight training after cardio may interfere with anabolic activity in your muscles after resistance training. (4)

Who Should Do Weights First

Deciding which to hit first? The following groups may benefit from weight training before cardio.

Strength and Power Athletes: If your goal is getting stronger or training power, do that before cardio when you are least fatigued.

Bodybuilders: For gaining muscle, weight training first is better for the same reason — you’ll have more energy and be able to put in higher-quality work. Some evidence also suggests cardio before weights can lower GH release. (4)

CrossFitters: CrossFitters may fall into either category, depending on their daily goals (or WOD). 

Weight Loss Goals: Weights before cardio may be better for building and retaining muscle while losing body fat.

For Overall Fitness: Both types of exercise, in any order, offer health benefits for your heart and muscles. If strength training is more challenging for you, you’ll likely want to do it first.

Who Should Do Cardio First

These populations may get better results from doing cardio first.

Endurance Athletes: When endurance is your goal, do cardio first to maximize your energy supply.

Runners: To get better and faster at running, do your running first. If your program allows it, do strength training on a separate day.

CrossFitters: CrossFitters can switch between categories, depending on their goal. If you’re doing a major endurance challenge, you’ll want to do that first.

For Overall Fitness: The order doesn’t make a difference regarding overall fitness and health benefits. If you want to get your cardio over with, you can do it before weights.

Frequently Asked Questions

Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.

References

Patel H, Alkhawam H, Madanieh R, Shah N, Kosmas CE, Vittorio TJ. Aerobic vs anaerobic exercise training effects on the cardiovascular system. World J Cardiol. 2017 Feb 26;9(2):134-138. 

Inoue DS, Panissa VL, Monteiro PA, Gerosa-Neto J, Rossi FE, Antunes BM, Franchini E, Cholewa JM, Gobbo LA, Lira FS. Immunometabolic Responses to Concurrent Training: The Effects of Exercise Order in Recreational Weightlifters. J Strength Cond Res. 2016 Jul;30(7):1960-7. 

Ratamess, Nicholas A.; Kang, Jie; Porfido, Tara M.; Ismaili, Craig P.; Selamie, Soraya N.; Williams, Briana D.; Kuper, Jeremy D.; Bush, Jill A.; Faigenbaum, Avery D.. Acute Resistance Exercise Performance Is Negatively Impacted by Prior Aerobic Endurance Exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 30(10):p 2667-2681, October 2016.

GOTO, KAZUSHIGE1; ISHII, NAOKATA1; SUGIHARA, SHUHEI2; YOSHIOKA, TOSHITSUGU2; TAKAMATSU, KAORU2. Effects of Resistance Exercise on Lipolysis during Subsequent Submaximal Exercise. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 39(2):p 308-315, February 2007. 

Conceição M, Cadore EL, González-Izal M, Izquierdo M, Liedtke GV, Wilhelm EN, Pinto RS, Goltz FR, Schneider CD, Ferrari R, Bottaro M, Kruel LF. Strength training prior to endurance exercise: impact on the neuromuscular system, endurance performance and cardiorespiratory responses. J Hum Kinet. 2014 Dec 30;44:171-81. 

Lundberg TR, Feuerbacher JF, Sünkeler M, Schumann M. The Effects of Concurrent Aerobic and Strength Training on Muscle Fiber Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2022 Oct;52(10):2391-2403. 

Green, D. J. (2014, October 1). ACE – ProSourceTM: October 2014 – ACE Research Study: Sequencing Exercise for Optimum Results. https://www.acefitness.org/continuing-education/prosource/october-2014/5020/ace-research-study-sequencing-exercise-for-optimum-results/

Wilson JM, Marin PJ, Rhea MR, Wilson SM, Loenneke JP, Anderson JC. Concurrent training: a meta-analysis examining interference of aerobic and resistance exercises. J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Aug;26(8):2293-307.

Sabag A, Najafi A, Michael S, Esgin T, Halaki M, Hackett D. The compatibility of concurrent high intensity interval training and resistance training for muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2018 Nov;36(21):2472-2483. 

Lee, C., Ballantyne, J. K., Chagolla, J., Hopkins, W. G., Fyfe, J. J., Phillips, S. M., Bishop, D. J., & Bartlett, J. D. (2020). Order of same-day concurrent training influences some indices of power development, but not strength, lean mass, or aerobic fitness in healthy, moderately-active men after 9 weeks of training. PLOS ONE, 15(5), e0233134.

Piercy, K. L., & Troiano, R. P. (2018). Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans From the US Department of Health and Human Services. AHA Journal, 11(11).

The post Should You Do Cardio or Weights First? Here’s What a CPT Says appeared first on BarBend.

Key Takeaways: 

Walking can lead to weight loss because it burns about 150 calories every 30 minutes.

To lose weight by walking, aim for a pace of about 3.5 miles per hour in addition to being in a caloric deficit per the American Heart Association (AHA). 

AHA Experts recommend 150 minutes of exercise per week to maintain good health. 

Walking is an efficient way to burn fat; one study showed that women lost 1.5% body fat from walking 3 days per week for 12 weeks.

Weight loss is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. At its core, any form of exercise will help you lose weight because movement burns calories. This applies to strength training workouts, brisk walking, and everything in-between. 

So, if you want to burn fat and change your weight on the scale by upping your activity level through longer walks, you need to know exactly how long, far, and fast you need to be on your daily walk. We’ve got you covered. 

How Does Walking Impact Weight Loss?

Walking is a form of physical activity, or locomotion. When it comes to maintaining energy balance (how your body uses or stores the energy you provide it from food), there isn’t much of a difference between walking and, say, weight lifting — they both burn calories. How many calories you burn depends on how hard you work in a given period of time, or how long you keep working, or walking, continuously. 

Here’s the best part: You can lose weight by walking, and only walking, as long as your overall activity level is high enough to create what’s called a calorie deficit. Let’s dig into that a little deeper. 

How Many Calories Does Walking Burn

Walking from the living room to the bathroom takes a few seconds and probably burns a calorie or two. Running a marathon, on the other hand, burns hundreds if not thousands of calories. Why does this matter? You need to understand, above all, that duration and vigor will directly affect how many calories are burned walking.

[Read More: The Best Leg Exercises and Workouts for Stronger Legs]

Let’s start with a general benchmark. According to physiotherapist and CEO of Advantage Healthcare & Physiotherapy Calum Fraser, a moderately-paced, hour-long walk should burn between 200 and 300 calories for an average-sized person.

That last part is crucial: Larger or heavier individuals carry more body weight, which requires more energy to move from place to place. As a consequence, heavier folk burn more calories walking the same distance as lighter individuals would. 

Here’s a visual aid with data from the American Council on Exercise: 

If you need help figuring out exactly how many calories you should burn or eat, we’ve got you covered. Try BarBend’s handy calorie calculator: 

Benefits of Walking for Weight Loss

We’ll make it simple. Walking burns calories, and if you burn enough calories to create an energy deficit (and then consistently maintain it each day), you’ll lose weight. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits of walking for weight loss. Here are some other factors for you to consider:

Walking Maintains Muscle

Most people will need to engage in some form of resistance training, whether with exercise bands, barbells, dumbbells, or gym machines to build muscle. However, if you’re sedentary, walking makes for a great starting point to build and maintain the muscle mass in your legs.

[Read More: How Many Steps in a Mile? Calculate by Height and Pace]

In fact, a 2018 study published in the European Group for Research Into Elderly and Physical Activity declared that brisk walks, especially for older people, can help slow down muscle loss. (1)

Walking Increases Fat Loss

Aerobic exercise — another way of saying cardio workouts — burns fat. So does strength training, but not everyone has access to a gym. Luckily, you can bet on walking as a sure-fire way of increasing fat oxidation, or the process by which your body pulls on its fat stores to create usable energy. 

[Read More: Is Walking Good Cardio?]

A 2022 study showed that seven weeks of a walking workout intervention increased resting fat oxidation in obese subjects, along with several other valuable health metrics like VO2 max. (2)

Walking Is Easy To Maintain

We love group fitness classes as much as anyone, but they don’t always align with our schedule. Similarly, hitting the weights is all well and good until you’ve got a nagging injury or can’t bring yourself to slog through a long commute to the gym after a long day at work.

[Read More: The Best Treadmills for Walking]

Walking comes in clutch here when trying to lose weight. All you need to do to burn calories and lose weight by walking is, well, walk. You can do treadmill workouts or simply step out your door and stroll the block a few times. When it comes to convenience, walking is an unparalleled weight management technique. 

Walking Improves Mental Health

You can’t change your body if your brain is in the way. Oftentimes, mental and physical health go hand-in-hand. While nothing is a substitute for true mental healthcare, walking can be incredibly therapeutic in regulating your mood. Studies show that “green walking” outside can have “meaningful implications” on mental health markers. (3)

How to Burn More Calories While Walking

So, here’s where we stand: Walking is physical activity, which burns calories. Burn enough calories to create a calorie deficit — and then sustain it over time — and you’ll lose weight. 

[Read More: The Best Treadmill Walking Workouts From a CPT]

Here’s the “problem”. Walking is a low-intensity, slow activity, which means burning lots of calories through a walking workout can take a long time. Not everyone has a full hour to devote to getting their steps in; we sure don’t. So, here are our favorite tips for burning more calories while you walk.

Try Incline Walking: If you walk on a treadmill, set the grade up a few degrees. Walking uphill takes more energy, so you can burn the same amount of calories in less time. The 12-3-30 workout is a great option here, but remember not to hold onto the frame of the treadmill if you can help it. 

Go Rucking: Rucking is essentially loaded walking. It comes from the military originally, where soldiers need to build up their body conditioning by carrying large rucksacks on their backs. You can load up a backpack with some weight or pick up a weighted vest and try rucking for some extra calorie burn.

Bring Music (or a Friend): We love peace and quiet, but time can pass slowly if you’re alone with your thoughts. Bring music with you, listen to your favorite podcast, or invite a friend along and you’ll find that a 30-minute walking workout passes in the blink of an eye. 

How To Incorporate Walking Into Your Lifestyle

Here are a few other lifestyle-friendly tips for adding walking into your daily routine: 

Go for a walk outside while you drink your morning coffee!

Take a brisk walk during your lunch break, or between meetings to break up your work day.

Even better, see if your coworkers would like to go for a walk instead of sitting down for all of your meetings.

If able, volunteer walking dogs at your local animal shelter.

For errands that are within walking distance, ditch your car on a nice day and walk to the grocery store or wherever it is you need to go.

Sample Walking Workout for Weight Loss

Walking doesn’t necessarily need to be structured, but it certainly can be. A little bit of structure can help you both lose fat and get fitter, faster. Here’s a simple, straightforward walking workout for weight loss:

The Workout

5-10 minutes dynamic stretching

10 minutes of leisurely walking

10 minutes of brisk walking

5 minutes of light jogging or incline walking

20 minutes of brisk walking

5 minutes of leisurely walking

Equipment Needed: Running shoes or cross-training shoes, weighted vest (optional)

How Often You Should Do This Workout: This workout takes about an hour in total. Start by doing this one three times per week and add additional days as you’re able. You should be able to perform this workout every day of the week! 

Modifications

Make it Easier: If you’re still getting your feet wet with dedicated walking workouts, cut out the 5-minute period of jogging. You can also reduce the 20-minute brisk walk down to 10.

Make it Harder: Try completing this workout while wearing a weight vest or small backpack to burn more calories. 

Takeaways

Walking helps you lose weight by burning calories. 

The more calories you burn, the larger energy deficit you can create.

Sustain your calorie deficit for a period of weeks or months by sticking to a walking routine (and following a meal plan or practicing intuitive eating habits) and you’ll begin to lose weight.

Walking is easy, simple, and accessible to nearly every able-bodied individual.

You can shave time off your walking workouts by wearing a weight vest, increasing your average walking speed, or walking uphill.

Walking has been shown to help prevent muscle loss, improve mood, and increase fat oxidation. 

Frequently Asked Questions

References

Yoshiko A, Tomita A, Ando R, Ogawa M, Kondo S, Saito A, Tanaka NI, Koike T, Oshida Y, Akima H. Effects of 10-week walking and walking with home-based resistance training on muscle quality, muscle size, and physical functional tests in healthy older individuals. Eur Rev Aging Phys Act. 2018 Nov 19;15:13. doi: 10.1186/s11556-018-0201-2. PMID: 30473735; PMCID: PMC6240935.

Cao J, Lei S, Zhao T, Xie Y, Zhou Z, Cheng S, Wang X. Changes in Fat Oxidation and Body Composition after Combined Exercise Intervention in Sedentary Obese Chinese Adults. J Clin Med. 2022 Feb 18;11(4):1086. doi: 10.3390/jcm11041086. PMID: 35207356; PMCID: PMC8879656.

Legrand FD, Jeandet P, Beaumont F, Polidori G. Effects of Outdoor Walking on Positive and Negative Affect: Nature Contact Makes a Big Difference. Front Behav Neurosci. 2022 Jun 3;16:901491. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.901491. PMID: 35726335; PMCID: PMC9206539.

The post Does Walking Help You Lose Weight? Here’s What You Need To Know appeared first on BarBend.

The 2024 Olympics are approaching, and fast. With just a hair over two months left until the summer Games kick off in Paris, France, all eyes turn upon the Olympians selected to bring some hardware home to the United States.

This year, America is sending perhaps its strongest roster of weightlifters ever to compete at Paris 2024. Not only are these athletes among the best weightlifters in the world, they’re all poised to take a shot at the top of the podium.

Courtesy of USA Weightlifting

In cooperation with USA Weightlifting (USAW), it is BarBend‘s distinct pleasure to introduce the five Americans representing Team USA on the Olympic stage this summer:

2024 Olympics Team USA Weightlifting Roster

Jourdan Delacruz (49KG)

Hampton Morris (61KG)

Olivia Reeves (71KG)

Wes Kitts (102KG)

Mary Theisen-Lappen (+81KG)

[Related: The Best Weightlifters of 2023]

Jourdan Delacruz (49KG)

Courtesy of USA Weightlifting

For lightweight Jourdan Delacruz, Paris 2024 is more than a second Olympic Games — it’s a chance at redemption. After a valiant campaign to make it onto the States’ Olympic roster in 2021, Delacruz “bombed out” in Tokyo, failing to register a Total (the sum of an athlete’s snatch and clean & jerk).

[Related: The Best Barbells for Olympic Lifting]

At her first Senior World Championships in 2018, Delacruz ranked a modest 13th. Flash forward to the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Delacruz made it to the Senior World podium (bronze) for the first time in her career. She won her two previous IWF events before that as well, but hasn’t competed since last September. 

We aren’t sure what sort of shape she’s in heading into Paris, but one thing is for sure — she’s got a wrong to right and the grit to make it happen.

Hampton Morris (61KG)

Courtesy of USA Weightlifting

[Related: The Best Weightlifting Shoes You Can Buy]

61-kilogram Hampton Morris is a history-maker, and we mean that literally. Morris, 20, broke a 50-year U.S. world record drought in Men’s weightlifting earlier this year with a 176-kilogram clean & jerk — nearly thrice his own weight held overhead.

Morris travels to Paris as Team USA’s best hope for an Olympic medal in Men’s weightlifting in a generation. The gold-medal position is expected to go to Chinese athlete and snatch world-record holder Li Fabin, but Morris is in a solid position to bag silver if he has a good day on the weightlifting platform. And when Morris has good days, he has great ones.

Olivia Reeves (71KG)

Courtesy of USA Weightlifting

[Related: The Best Weightlifting Belts on the Market]

Since the 2016 Olympics in Rio, American weightlifting has undergone something of a renaissance. At the World Championships in 2015 (held in Houston, TX), the Team USA women ranked 14th in overall points. Flash forward to 2023 and the American women’s contingent ranked second. That’s off the back of practice, perseverance, and prodigal performers like 71-kilogram Olivia Reeves. 

Reeves is heading to her first Olympic Games as the favorite for gold in the Women’s 71-kilogram category. She’ll face stiff competition from the likes of Ecuador and Romania, but Reeves has momentum — and an abundance of raw strength — on her side. 

Wes Kitts (102KG)

Courtesy of USA Weightlifting

[Related: Ultimate Guide to Pre-Workout Supplements]

Tokyo Olympian Wes Kitts will appear in Paris as a “Continental” representative of the Pan-American region. The International Olympic Committee has in recent years prioritized athlete representation from all major worldwide regions at all Games events. Don’t sleep on Kitts, though — we certainly aren’t.

Kitts, 34, is the oldest and most tenured competitor on Team USA’s weightlifting roster. As a husband, father, and business owner, Kitts has a lot on his plate. He’s also facing down multiple previous Olympic Champions in the Men’s 102-kilogram category, but we’re confident that Kitts has the steady hands and cool head required to perform under pressure.

Mary Theisen-Lappen (+81KG)

Courtesy of USA Weightlifting

[Related: The Best Lifting Straps for Olympic Lifting]

America has maintained a decade-long presence on the Women’s super-heavyweight international podium thanks to storied competitor (and two-time summer Games bronze medalist) Sarah Robles. Come the closure of the Paris 2024 qualification procedure in April, and Robles had gracefully stepped back to make way for newcomer Mary Theisen-Lappen.

Theisen-Lappen ventures to Paris as the world-number-five Women’s super. She’ll do battle with Great Britain, South Korea, and Thailand for a likely-bronze medal finish. Theisen-Lappen may not be as tenured as some of her colleagues, but we actually think that’s an advantage.

Theisen-Lappen has improved rapidly in the last two years and shows no signs of slowing down. She’ll make it to the podium and probably set some new American records along the way.

Where Is Athlete Number Six?

Per the athlete quotas set forth by the IOC at the outset of the Paris weightlifting qualification period, countries are permitted to send up to six weightlifters — three men and three women — to the Games this year.

Team USA houses only five; no other American athlete placed high enough in their weight classes’ ranking lists to make the cut this time around. USAW has confirmed to BarBend that there are no official alternates on their Paris roster at this time.

2024 Olympics Weightlifting Schedule

The Paris Olympics begin on Jul. 26, 2024, and run until Aug. 11. Weightlifting won’t be showcased the entire time though; all weight class events will take place over a five-day period between Aug. 7 and 11.

Here’s a breakdown of the weightlifting schedule for Paris 2024, plus which American team members will be on stage. Dates and times are subject to change. All times are in Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Wednesday, August 7

9:00AM: Men 61KG | Hampton Morris

1:30PM: Women 49KG | Jourdan Delacruz

Thursday, August 8

9:00AM: Women 59KG

1:30PM: Men 73KG

Friday, August 9

9:00AM: Men 89KG

1:30PM: Women 71KG | Olivia Reeves

Saturday, August 10

5:30AM: Men 102KG | Wes Kitts

10:00AM: Women 81KG

2:30PM: Men +102KG

Sunday, August 11

5:30AM: Women +81KG | Mary Theisen-Lappen

More Weightlifting News

2024 IWF Youth World Weightlifting Championships Results

Report: Scandal Within Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation

Mattie Rogers’ “Soul-Crushing” Injury Ends 2024 Olympics Dreams

Editor’s Note: BarBend is the Official Media Partner of USA Weightlifting. The two organizations maintain editorial independence unless otherwise noted on specific content projects. 

Featured Image courtesy of USA Weightlifting

The post 2024 Olympics: Meet the 5 Weightlifters Representing Team USA  appeared first on BarBend.

One of bodybuilding’s premiere trainers, the “Hypertrophy Coach” Joe Bennett, recently trained IFBB Pro John Ballard through an intense back workout that included proper execution of the chest-supported T-bar row.

Bennett coached Ballard through a unilateral lat pulldown session to continue that educational frame.

Single-Arm Machine Pulldown

The single-arm machine pulldown targets the latissimus dorsi, the large muscles spanning most of the back. Instead of a typical bilateral lat pulldown (i.e., pulling with both arms), the single-arm pulldown better isolates each lat to remedy muscle and strength imbalances.

While the primary focus is lats, single-arm pulldowns involve the rhomboids, teres major, and traps, which aid in the protraction and retraction of the scapula during the exercise. The biceps and brachialis are also engaged during a pulldown, as is typical in pulling exercises. See the training session between Bennett and Ballard below:

[Related: The Best Pre-Workout Supplements for Bodybuilding]

Steps For Maximum Lat Building with Single-Arm Pulldown

Bennett shared numerous cues and instructions for proper form throughout a full range of motion to educate Ballard about what a proper single-arm lat pulldown should feel and look like. The following is a step-by-step breakdown:

1. Seated Neutral Position

Ballard performed warmups on the single-arm pulldown machine. Bennett allows his trainees to train the movements and correct them as needed.

The knee pads were locked onto Ballard’s quads. His knees were bent 90 degrees, and his feet were firmly planted on the floor. This machine did not provide back support. His pulling hand held a neutral grip while the non-pulling hand held a handlebar.

Bennett’s first correction for Ballard was Ballard’s lean. Ballard leaned toward the side he pulled toward. Bennett guided Ballard to maintain a neutral spine, with a mostly upright torso not directly under the weight. Bennett referred to this starting position as a “clean slate.”

2. Get A Full Reach With The Arm

Bennett continuously told Ballard to allow the arm to reach up so the lat could fully lengthen. That included scapula movement allowing the arm and lat to lengthen.

The eccentric should remain controlled. Do not let the weight pull the arm quickly. Ensure a slow tempo as the arm, shoulder, and lat allow the weight to return to the starting position.

Ballard was instructed to pause at the top so that the weight wouldn’t bounce, thereby creating momentum.

3. Pulling The Weight Down With Your Lat

Bennett demonstrated how most people pull the weight back as though performing a row before pulling the arm down. This forces the traps and rear delts to brunt much of the load. Bennett recommends slowly executing the pull downward, not backward, as one fluid motion.

Elevation, smooth depression, and extension of the shoulder simultaneously.

[Related: The 7 Best Fat Burner Supplements, Reviewed by Our RD]

[Related: The 8 Best Whey Isolate Protein Powders, Tested by Our Experts]

4. Squeeze At The Bottom

With the top of this movement, Bennett instructed Ballard to pause in the fully shortened position. After pausing, slowly lift the weight to the starting position.

This slow, controlled movement keeps the muscles under tension. It prevents form cheating by not allowing the weight to create momentum and pulling the arm into full extension. When training to failure, Bennett recommends having a spotter help perform the movement fluidly.

Featured image: @classic.foodie_ifbbpro on Instagram

The post Bodybuilding Coach Joe Bennett Explains Proper Lat Pulldown Form appeared first on BarBend.

IFBB Men’s Open bodybuilder Brett Wilkin withdrew from the 2023 Olympia a few weeks before debuting on bodybuilding’s most prestigious stage due to digestive complications. He dedicated the remainder of the year to restoring his gut health and returned to a structured training and diet program in January 2024.

Wilkin is in the off-season and has returned to full training. In mid-May, he shared a chest and shoulder routine on his YouTube channel designed to maximize muscle growth and strength. 

Brett Wilkin’s Off-Season Push Day

Here is a summary of the training session:

Machine Pec Deck Flyes

Incline Barbell Bench Press

Machine Chest Press

Superset — Standing Cable Flyes & Push-Ups

Standing Machine Lateral Raise

Superset — Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise & Undergrip EZ Bar Front Press

Check out the video below:

[Related: A Guide to the Best Pre-Workouts, Tested and RD Approved]

Machine Pec Deck Flyes

Wilkin opened with two sets of unilateral flyes on the pec deck to warm up. Isolating each pec deepens his mind-muscle connection, which carries over to the subsequent exercises. He extended his hand beyond his midline on concentrics to maximize inner chest activation. Wilkin followed with three heavy bilateral working sets.

Wilkin used a massage gun during the warm-up sets to stretch the fascia and promote muscle pumps, which could potentially contribute to hypertrophy. 

A study published in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy concluded that massage guns can increase blood flow, modulate pain, enhance myofascial mobility, and reduce myofascial restrictions. These effects may contribute to enhanced fascial stretching and provide the muscles more space for expansion during resistance training. (1)(2)

Incline Barbell Bench Press

Wilkin performed three warm-up sets of incline barbell bench presses to prime the upper chest and front delts for heavier working sets. He progressively increased the load with a single 45-pound weight plate on each side, culminating in three plates per side for his final warm-up set. Wilkin pressed 405 pounds for 10 reps in his working sets.

Machine Chest Press

Wilkin trained on the chest press machine to further load the chest.

Control the eccentric to achieve a deep chest fiber stretch.

Wilkin used a stretch pause technique on the final working set. This advanced training principle involves a 10-second pause in the fully lengthened position after completing 10 repetitions and then lifting to mechanical failure. 

Superset — Standing Cable Flyes & Push-Ups

Wilkin performed standing cable flyes on a functional trainer with the machine’s arms at chest height. He positioned his back against the machine’s pad and arched his lower back to ensure the chest did most of the work. Wilkin superset high cable flyes with push-ups to amplify the chest muscle pump. 

[Related: The 7 Best Fat Burner Supplements, Reviewed by Our RD]

Standing Machine Side Lateral Raise

Standing lateral raises bias the medial deltoids to promote the coveted 3D shoulder aesthetic. On the final set, Wilkin employed a one-and-a-half rep technique, focusing on the top half of his range of motion (ROM). He lowered the handles halfway after completing a full repetition and returned to the top position before fully lowering to the bottom of his ROM.

Superset — Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise & Undergrip EZ Bar Front Press

Wilkin prefers seated dumbbell lateral raises over the standing variation, which limits momentum by engaging the lower body. He paused in the fully shortened position for a second to maximize medial delt recruitment. 

“I do two types of lateral raises because I believe volume with side laterals is what grows your shoulders and makes them rounder, fuller, and wider,” said Wilkin. 

EZ bar front presses with a supinated grip bias the anterior delts. Wilkin avoided locking out his elbows at the top to keep constant tension on the target muscles.

Competition Plans For the 2024 Season

At the time of recording, Wilkin weighed 275 pounds, claiming it was his most conditioned physique at this weight yet. Though his competition plans remain tentative, he’s contemplating entering the 2024 Texas Pro (Aug. 9-10) and the 2024 Tampa Pro (Aug. 1-3) following consultations with his coach, Matt Jansen.

Wilkin must win a pro show before the Sept. 15 qualification cutoff to punch his ticket to the 2024 Olympia, scheduled for Oct. 10-13 in Las Vegas, NV. 

References

Cheatham, S. W., Baker, R. T., Behm, D. G., Stull, K., & Kolber, M. J. (2021). Mechanical Percussion Devices: A Survey of Practice Patterns Among Healthcare Professionals. International journal of sports physical therapy, 16(3), 766–777. https://doi.org/10.26603/001c.23530

Hirono, T., Ikezoe, T., Taniguchi, M., Tanaka, H., Saeki, J., Yagi, M., Umehara, J., & Ichihashi, N. (2022). Relationship Between Muscle Swelling and Hypertrophy Induced by Resistance Training. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 36(2), 359–364. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003478

Featured image: @brett_wilkin on Instagram

The post Men’s Open Bodybuilder Brett Wilkin’s Push Day and Future Competition Plans appeared first on BarBend.

Key Takeaways

You may encounter 1 to 3 pounds of weight fluctuation daily, which is normal. If your weight is fluctuating by more than 3 pounds consistently, you may want to get a medical evaluation.

Weight fluctuations, themselves, may increase a person’s risk of chronic illnesses like type 2 diabetes and can indicate an increased risk of a cardiovascular event by as much as 85%. (1)

Common causes of weight fluctuation include hydration status, sodium intake, bowel movements, stress, menstruation, medication, and illness. 

Weighing yourself daily can make it seem like your weight changes more significantly than it actually does, making less frequent weigh-ins important for gathering meaningful information. It is also important that you weigh yourself in a consistent manner (i.e., before food or water each time).

Weight fluctuation is frustrating, whether you’re trying to lose weight or not. It can make you feel as though your exercise and nutrition protocols aren’t doing what you want them to, or make you feel plain uncomfortable in your own body. While it never feels great to see the scale go up and down, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that some level of weight fluctuation is totally normal and nothing to worry about. 

Credit: Pormezz / Shutterstock

I talked with several dietitians specializing in different aspects of nutrition—weight management, eating disorder treatment, and medical nutrition therapy—to sift through the finer details of weight fluctuation. What’s normal? What’s not? How can you minimize it? We answer all of those questions and more—including the biggie, “Why does my weight fluctuate so much?”—in this guide. 

Is Weight Fluctuation Normal?

Weight fluctuation is normal to a certain degree. Our bodies respond to all sorts of factors, such as exercise, food and fluid intake, medication, stress, sleep (or lack thereof), and much more. 

How Much Weight Fluctuation Is Normal?

According to Faycurry, you may encounter one to two pounds of weight fluctuation daily, something that’s not necessarily noticeable unless you weigh yourself every day. And if you do weigh yourself daily?

“Don’t be disheartened; it’s normal,” she says, adding that it’s best to compare your weight week to week instead of day to day to see true changes.

For individuals trying to lose weight, weight fluctuation may be higher in the early stages, which is also normal. “When you start your weight loss journey, it’s normal to lose four to six pounds in the first week,” Faycurry says. “However, your weight loss should average about one to two pounds per week in the span of six months.” 

And if you’re looking to gain weight, the same practice applies, she says: slow and steady wins the race. Trying to lose or gain weight too quickly can result in more weight fluctuation than what’s considered typical. 

When to Be Concerned About Weight Fluctuation

If you are losing and gaining more than a couple of pounds per day or week, it’s worth looking into. Sometimes, a particularly heavy meal or high alcohol intake can cause you to gain several pounds in a single day. When this happens occasionally, it’s not necessarily a problem. 

But, if you find that your weight fluctuates several pounds each day or more over the course of weeks or months, you may need to analyze your eating habits and/or other lifestyle factors. If you rule out lifestyle factors, it’s a good idea to see a healthcare professional about weight fluctuation.

[Read More: The Fat Loss Myth You Want to Be True: Spot Fat Reduction]

“If a person is losing and gaining the same 10 pounds over the course of months, it could mean that their diet isn’t sustainable,” Faycurry says. “They should ask themselves, is this something I can do forever?” 

Importantly, she continues, “Sometimes weight loss isn’t the answer. Maybe it’s a lifestyle change to remove old habits and behaviors that don’t serve them. If weight loss isn’t achieved, then maybe that’s where their body is meant to be.” 

Factors That Impact Weight Fluctuation

Several factors impact your day-to-day body weight, and not all of them are diet-related. “Some people have irregular bowel movements, consume excessive sodium, drink too much or too little water, or have too many alcoholic drinks,” Faycurry says, and those represent just a handful of factors that influence weight fluctuation. 

Hydration Status 

Drinking water can certainly impact weight fluctuation — hence the common cultural term “water weight.” Being dehydrated or overhydrated can impact your body weight. This can happen acutely or over the long term. 

For instance, drinking 32 ounces of water in a single bout will instantly increase your weight. (Water weighs about 28 grams per ounce, so 32 ounces of water weighs about two pounds.) If you weigh yourself after drinking a lot of water, you might think that you have gained weight in a short amount of time, but the truth is that there’s just a lot of water in your digestive tract. 

[Read More: How To Stay Hydrated While Working Out]

Chronic dehydration, on the other hand, may cause your body to hold onto water to make up for the lack of water coming in. This can alter electrolyte levels in the body, further increasing water retention and creating the illusion of weight gain. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the best fix is to drink more water. (2)

There is a relationship between proper hydration, body mass, and body composition: Individuals who have higher water intake and water balance tend to have more balanced body compositions. (2)

Sodium Intake

Sodium intake is closely related to hydration status. Faycurry explains that your body retains fluids to stay balanced. “If you have excessive sodium intake from food, your body will hang on to fluids to balance the excessive sodium,” she says. “Our body loves to stay balanced to function accurately. You might notice that your rings don’t fit, or your face is swollen or puffy. It’s a defense mechanism your body has, and everyone retains fluid in different places.”

“Overnight weight gain is not body fat, just fluid retention,” she points out. “Reducing sodium can positively reduce weight fluctuation and improve weight loss.”

[Read More: The Surprising Benefits of Salt for Strength Athletes]

McKinney adds that a sodium deficiency, too, can cause weight fluctuation, although she points out that it’s more common in heavy sweaters, endurance athletes, and individuals who are pregnant or lactating. If you’re low on sodium, eating salty foods and/or drinking electrolyte drinks can help bring your body to balance. 

Alcohol Intake

In addition to brain fog, headaches, and fatigue after a night of drinking, you may have also noticed that you feel bloated or puffy. Although evidence around alcohol intake and long-term weight gain is conflicting, consuming alcohol can certainly cause short-term weight changes. (4)(5)(6)

For one thing, alcohol itself contains calories (seven calories per gram of alcohol), so increasing your alcohol intake can push you out of a calorie deficit or past maintenance calories. This may affect your weight if you drink more than usual over a period of weeks. Conversely, cutting out alcohol may help you lose weight quickly in the short term. 

If you feel like you gained weight after one or two nights of drinking, you didn’t. Just like hydration status and sodium intake can cause bloating, so can alcohol intake. 

Alcohol irritates the lining of your stomach, which may cause inflammation and lead to feeling or appearing bloated. Alcohol also leads to dehydration because it has diuretic properties, which in turn can lead to fluid retention. All of this can be exacerbated if your drinks contain high amounts of sodium, such as margaritas with a salted rim. (7)(8)

The best course correction to reduce alcohol bloating? Hydrate and have a nutrient-dense meal that won’t upset your stomach.

Creatine Supplementation

Creatine is a popular sports supplement for its ability to improve athletic performance. However, McKinney says it can cause fluid to move into skeletal muscles. 

Credit: Pixel-Shot / Shutterstock

[Read More: Creatine Benefits All Lifters Should Know About]

While this isn’t a bad thing, she says, (and the performance effects of creatine are nothing to scoff at), it can make the scale weight increase. Usually, water retention from creatine supplementation smooths out over time, and bloating minimizes the longer you take the supplement. (9)(10) 

Other Nutritional Factors 

Besides water, sodium, alcohol, and creatine intake, still other nutritional factors can affect weight fluctuations, says McKinney. Simply eating food that doesn’t agree with you can cause you to bloat, which may cause temporary weight gain. 

Importantly, “The health impacts really depend on the composition of the weight that’s fluctuating,” she says. “Is it coming from fat mass, muscle tissue, glycogen, changes in weight of waste material based on fiber intake, fluids, or something else? Each one of these would warrant a different response as to how to solve it.”

“You likely don’t need to adjust your diet to minimize weight fluctuations due to normal causes,” she continues, such as minor changes in hydration status or food intake. “Not only is it normal, but it’s expected to see a couple of pounds of variance in your weight from day to day.”

Bowel Movements

Bowel patterns have a role in day-to-day weight fluctuations as well, McKinney says. “For example, traveling can sometimes lead to constipation or diarrhea, causing more or less weight in the body, respectively,” she explains. “The bulk of your stool and amount of water in your digestive tract also varies—and therefore so does your weight—as your fiber intake changes.”

Menstrual Cycle 

Anyone with a menstrual cycle is familiar with how their mental and physical state changes over the course of their cycle. Menstrual patterns influence mood, mental acuity, fatigue, pain, physical performance, and, yes, body weight. 

It’s absolutely normal to gain weight during menstruation, which is mostly due to extracellular water retention, according to a 2023 study in the American Journal of Human Biology. Some research has also found that menstruation increases fluid retention in muscle cells. (11)(12)

Other causes of weight gain during menstruation can come from changes in appetite, leading you to eat more or less than usual or consume more or less salt than usual; a reduced level of exercise, which may influence hydration status; or hormonal fluctuations that lead to gastrointestinal symptoms like constipation. (13)(14)

McKinney says that increases in body weight are typically most significant on the first day of menstruation. Your weight should rebalance within a few days of your period ending.

Medication

Several types of medication can cause weight gain or weight loss, including corticosteroids and antidepressants. According to endocrinology researchers at the University of Antwerp, there is a long list of common drugs that can lead to weight gain: (15)

Some diabetes medications, including insulin and thiazolidinediones

Anti-hypertensive drugs, including beta-blockers 

SSRIs, a class of antidepressants

Lithium 

Antipsychotic drugs, including haloperidol and perphenazine

Contraceptives 

Drugs that can cause weight loss include: (15)

Some diabetes medications, including GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic 

Some antidepressants, like bupropion 

Some antipsychotic drugs, including topiramate and zonisamide

These lists are not comprehensive. If you think that your medication may be causing weight gain, weight loss, or weight cycling, talk to your doctor about the side effects of your medication. 

Illness 

McKinney says that if you experience day-to-day weight fluctuations of more than three pounds, you should consider a medical evaluation. This is because high levels of weight fluctuation can point to underlying health conditions or complicate known health conditions. 

For example, “Excess fluid retention can be dangerous with certain underlying medical conditions, such as ascites (in liver disease), high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, and kidney problems,” McKinney says. 

McKinney notes that when she was working in a hospital setting, she saw medical conditions that could cause weight changes of up to 30 pounds in just a couple of days. “Those situations obviously require medical intervention, but I share that example to highlight that day-to-day fluid fluctuations can cause significant shifts to what the scale says,” she explains. 

Thyroid Function 

Thyroid hormones play a major role in weight management due to their role in metabolism and energy management in the body. If your body produces too much of the thyroid hormones T3, T4, and/or TSH (hyperthyroidism), you may lose weight. If your body doesn’t produce enough of any of the thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism), you may gain weight. (16)

If your weight loss or gain is accompanied by symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, anxiety, nervousness, or irritability (hyperthyroidism); or fatigue, feeling unusually cold, dry skin, dry or thinning hair, or depression (hyperthyroidism), consider seeing a doctor to evaluate your symptoms. 

Exercise

Physical activity can acutely influence your body weight, too. 

“A tough workout causes micro-tears in your muscle, and with proper replenishment from protein and carbohydrate, you may see temporary—and expected—inflammation, fluid shifts, and an increase in glycogen and water storage in your muscles,” McKinney says. 

“This would make your weight higher the next day, but all for anticipated reasons that are necessary for your long-term success,” she says.

Stress

Weight is also impacted by cortisol, our primary stress hormone, McKinney says. 

[Read More: Ways To Improve Your Workout Recovery When You’re Stressed Out]

“When we are under-slept or experiencing a stressful situation, infection, or injury, cortisol levels can go wonky,” she explains. “As a result, a hormone called aldosterone, which helps regulate sodium and fluid levels, can shift as well, which could cause daily weight swings.”

Eating Disorder Recovery 

Anyone in eating disorder treatment could experience weight fluctuations, says registered dietitian Emily Van Eck, and weight changes are a normal outcome of eating disorder treatment.

“Someone coming into treatment who has been undernourished could gain weight as a result of treatment, but they could also experience initial weight loss,” she says. “If their metabolism had slowed down because of inadequate nutrition, an initial ramping up of metabolism can occur. This is a sign that they need to continue nourishing themselves until they are well into recovery and their weight stabilizes.”

Importantly, treatment plans for individuals with eating disorders need to be individualized with the doctor and dietitian, Van Eck says. “If weight gain is emotionally challenging for a person in eating disorder treatment, this needs to be addressed with the treatment team, including therapy.”

The key, she says, “isn’t to limit weight changes, but to cope with and process emotions related to necessary weight changes.” 

When to Weigh Yourself

This may come as a surprise to many people who are trying to lose or gain weight, but frequent weigh-ins may actually be limiting your success. (17)

“Weighing ourselves, especially weighing ourselves too often, can make it feel like our body is changing more significantly than is actually true,” says Gretchen Wallace, a registered dietitian who specializes in eating disorder recovery. “In the case of weight stabilization, that does not mean that a body won’t fluctuate day by day or week by week but instead that we see the body naturally maintain weight in a small range; sometimes being a little up and sometimes being a little down but overall remaining in a similar place.”

“This can be a sign that the body is giving appropriate hunger cues, that intake is varied and satisfying, that a person is moving their body in ways that are supportive, and that the body is in a weight range that matches what is healthy for their unique genetics and weight history,” Wallace continues.

So, when is a weight-conscious individual to weigh themself? 

McKinney says the best approach is to use averages over time, rather than weighing yourself daily. “Your average weekly weight taken first thing in the morning after a bowel movement over six to eight weeks is way more meaningful than comparing today’s weight to yesterday’s weight.” 

Comparing day-to-day fluctuations to determine whether or not your program is working is incredibly misleading.

— Samantha McKinney

Van Eck points out that there are additional considerations for individuals coping with eating disorders. “I almost always recommend not weighing oneself in the treatment process,” she says. “Taking the emphasis off of the number on the scale and placing it on how things are going and feeling on a daily basis, is a much, much better indicator of progress. Fixating on that number can hinder progress.”

And Faycurry adds that weighing yourself midweek on the same day, at the same time, can help you avoid fluctuations that come with normal weekend activities, such as eating out at restaurants with friends.

How to Weigh Yourself

Interpreting weight changes accurately requires consistent and well-planned weigh-ins.

Credit: Artem Oleshko / Shutterstock

[Read More: Best Smart Scales on the Market]

The following steps can help you create a weigh-in schedule that allows you to minimize recording changes from normal fluctuation factors.

Weigh on the Same Day Each Week

Ideally, you’ll weigh yourself midweek to avoid recording changes influenced by weekend activities. Since drinking alcohol and eating out at restaurants can influence hydration status and sodium intake, give your body a few days to balance out by weighing in on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday each week. 

Weigh at the Same Time of Day 

It’s critical to weigh yourself at the same time each day. The best time to do so is right after you wake up, after having a bowel movement, and before eating or drinking anything. This minimizes factors that affect weight fluctuation.

Weigh Weekly, Not Daily

Experts recommend weighing yourself once per week to avoid recording normal daily fluctuations, which may give you misleading information about the direction your weight is headed. 

Wear The Same Clothes Each Time 

Weigh yourself in minimal, comfortable clothing, such as your underwear and bra or a light T-shirt. A swimsuit is also a good option. Wear the same or similar clothes each time to avoid weight differences from clothing.

Avoid Weighing After Exercise

Because exercise can change your hydration status from sweating, it’s best to weigh yourself before exercising, particularly if you are a heavy sweater or exercising in a hot environment. This also allows you to refuel after exercise without worrying about whether or not it will affect your weigh-in (it will). 

Maintain Hydration for Accuracy 

Stay hydrated daily to keep weigh-ins accurate—and to support your health and well-being. Being dehydrated or overhydrated affects your body weight both in the moment and in the long term. So, make sure you’re drinking enough water daily.

Frequently Asked Questions

Daily weight fluctuation is a common concern for many people. Here are some of the common questions we get asked about people’s wellness journeys.

Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.

References

Bangalore S, Fayyad R, Laskey R, DeMicco DA, Messerli FH, Waters DD. Body-Weight Fluctuations and Outcomes in Coronary Disease. N Engl J Med. 2017 Apr 6;376(14):1332-1340. 

Taylor K, Jones EB. Adult Dehydration. [Updated 2022 Oct 3]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan

Laja García AI, Moráis-Moreno C, Samaniego-Vaesken ML, Puga AM, Partearroyo T, Varela-Moreiras G. Influence of Water Intake and Balance on Body Composition in Healthy Young Adults from Spain. Nutrients. 2019;11(8):1923.

Wang L, Lee IM, Manson JE, Buring JE, Sesso HD. Alcohol consumption, weight gain, and risk of becoming overweight in middle-aged and older women. Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(5):453-461.

Booranasuksakul U, Singhato A, Rueangsri N, Prasertsri P. Association between Alcohol Consumption and Body Mass Index in University Students. Asian Pac Isl Nurs J. 2019;4(1):57-65.

Fong M, Scott S, Albani V, Adamson A, Kaner E. ‘Joining the Dots’: Individual, Sociocultural and Environmental Links between Alcohol Consumption, Dietary Intake and Body Weight-A Narrative Review. Nutrients. 2021;13(9):2927.

InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. Overview: Gastritis. [Updated 2021 Nov 10].

Polhuis KCMM, Wijnen AHC, Sierksma A, Calame W, Tieland M. The Diuretic Action of Weak and Strong Alcoholic Beverages in Elderly Men: A Randomized Diet-Controlled Crossover Trial. Nutrients. 2017;9(7):660.

Wang CC, Fang CC, Lee YH, Yang MT, Chan KH. Effects of 4-Week Creatine Supplementation Combined with Complex Training on Muscle Damage and Sport Performance. Nutrients. 2018;10(11):1640.

Antonio, J., Candow, D.G., Forbes, S.C. et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show?. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 18, 13 (2021).

Kanellakis S, Skoufas E, Simitsopoulou E, et al. Changes in body weight and body composition during the menstrual cycle. Am J Hum Biol. 2023;35(11):e23951.

Sawai A, Tochigi Y, Kavaliova N, et al. MRI reveals menstrually-related muscle edema that negatively affects athletic agility in young women. PLoS One. 2018;13(1):e0191022.

Gorczyca, A.M., Sjaarda, L.A., Mitchell, E.M. et al. Changes in macronutrient, micronutrient, and food group intakes throughout the menstrual cycle in healthy, premenopausal women. Eur J Nutr 55, 1181–1188 (2016).

Guarino M, Cheng L, Cicala M, Ripetti V, Biancani P, Behar J. Progesterone receptors and serotonin levels in colon epithelial cells from females with slow transit constipation. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2011;23(6):575-e210.

Verhaegen AA, Van Gaal LF. Drugs That Affect Body Weight, Body Fat Distribution, and Metabolism. [Updated 2019 Feb 11]. In: Feingold KR, Anawalt B, Blackman MR, et al., editors. Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000

Liu G, Liang L, Bray GA, et al. Thyroid hormones and changes in body weight and metabolic parameters in response to weight loss diets: the POUNDS LOST trial. Int J Obes (Lond). 2017;41(6):878-886.

Helms ER, Prnjak K, Linardon J. Towards a Sustainable Nutrition Paradigm in Physique Sport: A Narrative Review. Sports (Basel). 2019;7(7):172.

Featured Image: Pormezz / Shutterstock

The post Why Does My Weight Fluctuate So Much? Dietitians Answer appeared first on BarBend.