Holding water

[Hopeislost]

I've hit the weights pretty hard this week now that gyms are open. I've gone up a couple of pounds. No DOMS, just some general muscle soreness between workouts (every other day). Are my muscles holding water? And if so, will it disappear after a while? I need to lose some fat as well as gaining muscle so my weight should be going down overall.

Yes, you probably have got some water retention. It will sort itself out. Daily fluctuations are common and happen for all sorts of reasons. Increased exercise intensity is one. So long as the long term trend is in the right direction you should try not to worry about the daily picture. Depending on the intensity of your exercise and the amount of the calorie deficit you are running to lose fat you may find that the scales don't move much at all. I recommend you take photos and measurements so you can track progress that way also. It can be very disheartening if the scales don't move but it sounds like you are actually wanting to lose a bit of size and the photos and measurements will help track that.

Thanks for the advice. I might ignore the scales for a bit. I've only been back 3 weeks but few stronger already.