Question for the lifters

danagolding

I am almost finished with Stage 1 in NROLFW so I'm pretty new to lifting. I lift 3 times a week without fail. I really feel like I try to push myself and am always trying to increase my weights whenever I can. I work hard and am usually spent after my workouts. I don't go to the point of muscle failure but I really do feel like I try to do the heaviest weights that I can. That being said I rarely feel sore after my workouts. Should I be? I really want to make this program work the best that it can for me and I know that I am the one that controls that by how hard I work. So even though I feel like I work hard should I be working even harder and pushing myself more?

frood

If you're increasing the amount you can lift, you're gaining strength.

I usually only feel sore after doing a new exercise. Then I'm sore for like 3 freakin days.

danagolding

This seems to be the case for me as well. I just wanted to make sure that I was doing my best! I was lifting with my sister in law for about a month before she got pregnant and decided not to continue and she said she was sore the next day every time we worked out! Thanks so much for your input!

PikaKnight

DOMS/pain is not a way to measure progress of a workout.

funforsports

Keep moving up in weight and that is a good signal. Sounds like you are doing just fine.

gmallan

Soreness is generally not an indication of a good workout. DOMS varies from person to person also. Certain exercises are more likely to induce DOMS as well and it doesn't necessarily mean they are producing better results. I think if you don't get much DOMS and your strength is increasing you're lucky because it means you can hit the gym more and harder without having to work around or deal with sore spots. This is coming from someone who gets quite bad DOMS

danagolding

Thank you all for your input, I really appreciate it! Sounds like I'm doing everything right. I'm glad to know that DOMS is not a way to measure how "good" of a workout I got. I will keep focusing on going up in weight and always improving!

danagolding

Soreness is generally not an indication of a good workout. DOMS varies from person to person also. Certain exercises are more likely to induce DOMS as well and it doesn't necessarily mean they are producing better results. I think if you don't get much DOMS and your strength is increasing you're lucky because it means you can hit the gym more and harder without having to work around or deal with sore spots. This is coming from someone who gets quite bad DOMS

I will definitely consider myself lucky then since I don't seem to struggle with DOMS as much when I'm consistently working out. I'm sure that when I start new exercises in Stage 2 I'll be a sore but I am grateful that I'm not constantly feeling sore.

JoRocka

DOMS/pain is not a way to measure progress of a workout.

That.

It's only a sign that says- these are muscles I haven't used in a while. It's useless indicator otherwise.