BEING SORE ISN'T ALWAYS INDICATIVE OF A GOOD WORKOUT

When it comes to muscle soreness after a workout, we all like to have that feedback from our bodies as evidence we worked hard. Muscle soreness is not necessarily indicative of our efforts in the gym, and there are an array of factors that contribute to leaving our muscles feeling sore for the day(s) following a workout.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the pain we feel in our muscles that generally presents around 24-48 hours after our workout and can last around 1-5 days. During a workout, we cause damage to our muscles and create microscopic tears to the muscle fibers. Research shows that there is a number of physiological effects which result from this muscle damage, which in turn leads to inflammation and soreness. 

Lactic acid is a byproduct generated through the production of energy in the body. It is often thought that a build up of lactic acid in our muscles is what contributes to DOMS, but lactic acid returns to normal levels within about an hour after a workout, and isn’t responsible for the pain felt the next day or even multiple days following a workout. 

It is very common for a person beginning an exercise program to feel muscle soreness after their workouts. We can also feel sore when we perform an exercise that is new or one that we haven’t done in a long time. As you begin exercising more frequently and performing similar movement patterns week after week, you may notice that you no longer feel sore after your sessions. This doesn’t mean they’re not being worked, but the novelty factor isn’t present which is a contributor to soreness.

Particular exercises and movement patterns effect our muscles in different ways and can leave us feeling very sore or without a (tangible) trace that they have in fact been used. For the purpose of this post, we are just going to look at the concentric and eccentric muscle contractions. A concentric muscle contraction is when the muscle is shortened (think when you curl a dumbbell up during a bicep curl) and an eccentric contraction is the lengthening of a muscle under tension (think when you lower the dumbbell back down in a bicep curl). Exercises that stretch the muscle to a long length (i.e lunges) or purposefully accentuate the eccentric portion of an exercise (i.e 3 second lowering in a bicep curl) can result in more soreness. On the flip side, exercises that focus on short muscle lengths (i.e hip thrusts) and use more concentric muscle contractions (i.e sled push) do not leave us feeling as sore.

We now know that the length the muscle is being worked at effects soreness as well as being a beginner or trying new exercises. Genetics can also play a large role in our ability to build muscle, and it is no different when it comes to feeling sore either. Perhaps you do partner workouts and your buddy is always expressing how sore they feel after and it leaves you wondering if you’re not working as hard. Fear not, you now understand you can make progress without “feeling it” after every single session.

There are three mechanisms of hypertrophy, i.e building muscle (I will not dive further into this topic in this post): Mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage. Taking a closer look at muscle damage, we now know that DOMS is caused by microscopic tears (damage) to our muscles. So, you could argue that feeling sore means that you are in fact on your way to building muscle. But remember, you can make progress without muscle soreness. 

If you are prioritizing maximal muscle gain in your training program, feeling too sore after your workouts will inhibit your progress. You might be too sore to train again on the next day of your program schedule which limits the volume you perform for that particular muscle group and the frequency of your training. Or if you do train and are still experiencing soreness, it may inhibit muscle activation. All of which are key to building muscle. 

Intentionally seeking excessive muscle soreness is counterproductive to building muscle and getting stronger, and it is also not indicative of the progress you are making. It is okay to experience some muscle soreness, and may be unavoidable at times, but feeling more sore doesn’t necessarily mean more results.

References:

Contreras, Bret. “Fundamentals of Optimal Strength and Physique Training.” Glute Lab, edited by Glen Cordoza, Victory Belt Publishing, 2019, p. 151.

Schoenfeld, Brad J., and Bret Contreras. “Is Postexercise Muscle Soreness a Valid Indicator of... : Strength & Conditioning Journal.” LWW, National Strength and Conditioning Association, Oct. 2013, journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/Fulltext/2013/10000/Is_Postexercise_Muscle_Soreness_a_Valid_Indicator.2.aspx.%20.

Get Science Staff. “Science Fact or Science Fiction? Lactic Acid Buildup Causes Muscle Fatigue and Soreness.” Get Science, 1 May 2018, www.getscience.com/biology-explained/science-fact-or-science-fiction-lactic-acid-buildup-causes-muscle-fatigue-and.

Lee, Justin C., et al. “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.” Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, Elsevier B.V., 2011, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/delayed-onset-muscle-soreness.