# Prednisone and weight lifting?



## DYLM

Hello everyone,
I've recently been put back on prednisone for about two months.
I am aware that prednisone makes you gain an incredible amount of weight at a very fast pace.
I am simply wondering if weight lifting while taking prednisone would take all of that new gained weight and make it into muscle mass, instead of fat, since I'll be working out.

I'd really love your input on this, thanks.


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## Ari

I recon you don't really suffer from any disease and just want to find ways of gaining muscle mass pretty quick. Well, here's what I know.

Prednisone can cause muscles to become weaker and although, most of us feel like we have loads of energy - we get tired easily when we're on it. :frown:

Exercising is very important to keep your muscles in some shape, and most of the weight gain is usually caused by water retention as well as the ravenous hunger.

Hope that helps. :stinks:


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## DYLM

Ari said:


> I recon you don't really suffer from any disease and just want to find ways of gaining muscle mass pretty quick. Well, here's what I know.
> 
> Prednisone can cause muscles to become weaker and although, most of us feel like we have loads of energy - we get tired easily when we're on it. :frown:
> 
> Exercising is very important to keep your muscles in some shape, and most of the weight gain is usually caused by water retention as well as the ravenous hunger.
> 
> Hope that helps. :stinks:


I actually suffer from crohns and just got released from the hospital, thanks to another "fantastic" flare up. 
I might even disobey my doctors instructions and cut the cycle in half. I've necer had prednisone for over a month, and I dont plan to.
Anyways, I honestly want to know what I might benefit from prednisone if im going to take it. More weight gain = muscle mass when worked out well? If that's the case, then I might as well take advantage of the time I'm taking prednisone to get physically in shape. However, if that's not the case (weight gain = muscle mass when worked out well), then I might as well go much easier on the weight lifting.
Thanks for the input!


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## Ari

Well, if you suffer from Crohn's :sorry:then the idea of the benefit from the pred is to REDUCE THE INFLAMMATION in your bowel and, as I said before, prednisone, of all things, makes your muscles WEAKER not stronger, and I honestly don't think it will help you to get in shape. 

As I see it, it's a little like all-mouth-and-no-trousers kind of drug as it gives you the buzz and the feeling of being invincible, but in reality quite the opposite is usually true. In my experience, any weight gain I ever got was short lived and due to water retention and ravenous hunger. Besides, prednisone gets in the way of proper absorption of certain types of protein and a lot of it comes out undigested, which explains any muscle weakness you may get from it.

That said, I think I would carry on exercising as usual, but I wouldn't expect any benefits from the pred. And don't forget to supplement calcium :thumleft: as it drains it from your body like no one's business. Depending on the dose it can also give you roid rage :angry-banghead: and sleepless nights.:thumbdown:

Take care


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## DYLM

Ari said:


> Well, if you suffer from Crohn's :sorry:then the idea of the benefit from the pred is to REDUCE THE INFLAMMATION in your bowel and, as I said before, prednisone, of all things, makes your muscles WEAKER not stronger, and I honestly don't think it will help you to get in shape.
> 
> As I see it, it's a little like all-mouth-and-no-trousers kind of drug as it gives you the buzz and the feeling of being invincible, but in reality quite the opposite is usually true. In my experience, any weight gain I ever got was short lived and due to water retention and ravenous hunger. Besides, prednisone gets in the way of proper absorption of certain types of protein and a lot of it comes out undigested, which explains any muscle weakness you may get from it.
> 
> That said, I think I would carry on exercising as usual, but I wouldn't expect any benefits from the pred. And don't forget to supplement calcium :thumleft: as it drains it from your body like no one's business. Depending on the dose it can also give you roid rage :angry-banghead: and sleepless nights.:thumbdown:
> 
> Take care


I'm looking forward to those sleepless nights and mood swings. Reminds me of when I first took prednisone 6 years ago 

Thank you Ari

Does anyone have anything else to say regarding this?


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## vonfunk

Weight lifting is a good way to help reduce some of the side effects. If you are doing some weight lifting, you wouldn't gain on any of your lifts at most you'd be able to maintain your current lift.
Pred will lower your body's testosterone production, weight lifting and exercise in general can help combat that by producing more testosterone, so it may help even things out hormonally.


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## Entchen

Hiya: The trainer who I worked with when starting out on Prednisone emphasized waiting 2 days in between each strength training workout to allow the muscles to heal a bit while on Pred -- I forget the reason she gave, but I think it was something about slower muscle recovery.

I was on Prednisone for about 4.5 months followed very shortly by Entocort (which I'm on for about another 5 weeks). My weight has indeed increased, and I do have more fatigue and sometimes take a while to recover from strenuous exercise... but I am also, gradually, getting fitter despite the steroid-induced flab (little changes like better toned legs). Right now I do a combination of strength training, cycle spin, and dance fitness each week, as well as occasional other activities (this week I went indoor rock climbing and swimming). 

Happy exercising!


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## Fog Ducker

I always wondered about that aswell. Being a steroid, I wondered if it would have the same or similar effects as the bad kind of steroids. I was too sick to give it a try, but reading here it apparently does the opposite anyway! Lol!


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## Chuck2008

Vonfunk is right, when on prednisone its very difficult to increase any of your lifts.  I've been lifting the same weight for 2 years ago since starting prednisone, and am only starting to make gains now after starting HMB supplementation which counteracts the muscle wasting effects of low dose prednisone.  On high dose predisone just forget it, you can't gain any muscle at all no matter what you do.  Its the exact opposite of an anabolic steroid..


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## I Love Lamp

You can not turn body fat into muscle. Two completely different things. To build muscle you must lose the fat. You can do weight training all day and wont build (visible) muscle if you are carrying too much weight. If you want muscle then you need to do cardio with the pred to make sure the extra calories aren't converting straight to fat. Do a cycle of cardio with a cycle of weight training to see actual results.


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## muirheadt

I Love Lamp said:


> You can not turn body fat into muscle. Two completely different things. To build muscle you must lose the fat. You can do weight training all day and wont build (visible) muscle if you are carrying too much weight. If you want muscle then you need to do cardio with the pred to make sure the extra calories aren't converting straight to fat. Do a cycle of cardio with a cycle of weight training to see actual results.


You cannot turn body fat into muscle, you also cannot build muscle while losing fat. To gain muscle you will need to eat above your caloric maintance. Without pred you might be able to gain 50% muscle 50% fat if your very efficient at building muscle. If you already have muscle and simply hope to reveal that muscle you can eat at a caloric deficiency (called cutting) 

Your advice is very flawed. 

While on pred I would recommend maintaining right about your normal maintance level caloric intake. (There are calculators on line that can help you determine this if you are unaware of it) This will most likely put you in a calorie surplus, because pred will lower you metabolism (personal results will vary and you may need to adjust). You will crave more food avoid this. You will retain more fluid so mirror results will be unreliable. I would really suggest avoiding cutting during a pred cycle. First your body will crave calories. Second you won't see results because of water retention and odd fat disturputon that can occur on pred. Plus your metabolism as already mentioned will be lower than normal. 
The biggest thing is listening to your body. It will be hard to gain muscle. It will be harder for your muscles to repair. Consult a doctor about you vitamin consumption as pred uses up calcium.

Currently I just started 40 mg of pred for 2 weeks tappering down by 10 mg over 2 mintest My energy levels are high and my pred is working fixing my colon so mybsoreness levels are low. And always talk to your doctor.


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