My Waist Gets Larger After I Exercise

Putting on your pants and feeling them pinch your waist after a serious exercise session can be a discouraging experience. In most cases, however, it is not a serious issue. Understanding what the potential underlying issues are can help determine what, if any, adjustments need to be made to your workout and dietary regimen. Rarely, an underlying medical issue can be the cause of your expanded waistline.

Fluid Retention

Your body requires a certain balance between salt, in the form of sodium, and water in the body. If there is too much fluid or too little salt in the body, you will retain water. When you exercise, this balance is easily disrupted due to increased sweating and improper fluid replacement. This, in turn, leads to bloating, especially around the mid-section. Bloating is also a common phenomenon if you are just beginning an exercise regimen because your body treats the exercise as trauma and starts retaining fluids and electrolytes. Dr. Chris Koutures of the American Medical Society of Sports Medicine recommends drinking water with added electrolytes and only drinking when you are thirsty to remedy the problem in the BeginnerTriathlete.com article, "Bloating During Racing and Training."

As a general rule of thumb, if you lose weight during a bout of exercise due to sweating you risk dehydration and need more fluid replacement; if you weigh more following exercise you are likely overdoing it with fluid replacement.

Muscle Gain

If you are doing some sort of resistance training that is working the abdominal area, muscle growth could be the cause of your expanded waistline. Any time you strain the muscles, the repair process will increase the bulk of the muscles being worked. Stretching the abdominal muscles after working out can help lengthen them and reduce any bulging effect. Keep in mind, even if you are not working the abdominal muscles directly, exercises such as running and biking will still work them indirectly.

Overeating

As simple it may sound, you may be overlooking the fact that you are consuming too much food. If you are just starting to exercise, you will build up a heartier appetite and may eat too much, thinking you have already burned off the calories. You may also want to reward yourself with a high-calorie snack or treat after a hard workout. This can easily lead to weight gain and an expanding waistline. Practicing portion control and keeping track of your calories consumed in a food journal help you avoid this problem.

Not Enough Exercise

The simple rule of weight loss is you need to expend more calories than you consume. If you are only doing light exercise, or only working with weights, you may not be burning enough calories. Working the abdominal muscles with situps and crunches will build muscle, but it won't reduce fat in the area. To remedy this, perform 45 minutes of cardio exercises, such as running, jogging or biking to lose weight, advises the American Council on Exercise. Keep up a pace that increases your heart rate and makes you sweat. Keep track of the calories you expend in your food journal to make sure you are creating a caloric deficit.

Considerations

If adjusting your drinking, eating and exercise habits don't fix the problem, consult a doctor. A variety of medical issues such as hernias, gastrointestinal problems and other systemic disorders are potential causes of a larger waistline. If you are female, you may have bloating related to your period, which can be exacerbated by exercise.