Not sore from strength training anymore

Kupla71

So, I’ve been strength training twice a week for about 3 weeks now and I am no longer sore after my workouts. Is this a sign I’m getting stronger and need to up my weights or should I just keep going the way I am? I guess I’m wondering if you have to be sore after a workout for it to be effective.

AnnPT77

Soreness after a workout isn't a good gauge of progress. Loosely, an exercise feeling easy-ish to complete is a better gauge. When you're completing your last planned set and the last couple of reps are quite easy, not at least a mild challenge to complete with good form, that's hinting it may be time to consider progressing something. (This may not happen at the same time for all lifts in the workout, and that's OK.)

If you're routinely lifting the same amount of weight for the same number of reps and sets, yes, eventually you'll gave to progress some aspect of it in order to keep getting stronger. For any exercise, it has to be a challenge - a manageable challenge - in order to keep making fitness progress.

Increasing weight is just one option for increasing useful stress when lifting. For myself - because I'm old and have some pre-existing physical issues - I usually only go up in weight if I'm quite confident that I can maintain good form and lift safely at that higher weight. (Some of that may be experience based self assessment, harder to know if newer to lifting specifically or a challenging exercise schedule generally.) If I'm not certain, I usually increase some other aspect first, to keep challenging myself safely. When I go up in weight, I usually expect to reduce reps per set slightly, then work my way back up in reps over a series of workouts, gauging when to do it by how challenging the final reps are.

There's a great thread here about alternative ways to increase useful stress, only one of which is increasing weight - though increasing weight is a great one if it can be done safely.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10877279/30-tips-to-increase-strength-training-intensity

I hope that helps.

Retroguy2000

Some of this was already noted by Ann above:

• No, lack of soreness is not evidence of anything. However, your muscles should feel tired by the end of a session. Especially if the goal is hypertrophy, rather than strength specifically.
• You should always be trying to progress. There are myriad ways to do this, but at the most basic level, over time your volume should be going up. That doesn't mean linear, necessarily, because you may be periodizing over a multi-week block, or you may not be feeling it on any specific day, but over time it should be going up.

Kupla71

Thanks for taking the time to write such detailed responses. I will stay at the weight I am currently lifting. It’s quite challenging.