Lean Muscle & Soreness

attacoug

Hi all. I wanted some thoughts/guidance on a predicament I am facing. I have a very lean build (all lean muscle) and after a few weeks of weight training (with a trainer), I noticed that I don't get sore anymore. It's not that I am not working my behind off in my training sessions - trust me, I am. My training session end with complete muscles fatigue. And my trainer is mixing up the exercises, so it's not because I am doing the same routine. Is this common for individuals with a very lean build?

The only other thought is that my recovery is rapid due to my diet. I'm a good eater and make sure I get all the right nutrients (macro/micro) in my body at the right time.

I just feel when I am 'sore' after a workout, I know that I am doing something right. It's not always the most pleasant feeling, but at least I know shredding muscle tissue for muscle gain.

Thoughts?

mjudd1990

Being sore is mainly due to metabolic waste like lactic acid building up in the muscle tissue. Everyone gets sore when they initially start lifting or have a particularly brutal workout but being sore after every workout for an extended period of time probably means you're overtraining. As long as you are taxing your muscles and following some sort of progressive system of lifting your muscles wil respond whether you are sore the following day or not.

dt3312

You seem quite knowledgable...but just want to make sure...are you getting enough water and staying hydrated?

heybales

The DOMS effect can indeed go away despite still doing damage to the muscles. I'll bet if you weigh the day or two after these sessions the weight is higher compared to couple rest days, because even with no soreness, the muscles do retain water for repair.

Now, you can be going to exhaustion for endurance, or by load placed on the muscles.

For endurance is not damage, and doesn't require the same kind of repair. And as far as "lean muscle", whatever you think that means, endurance training encourages fat in the muscle for energy source.

Kind of hard to train muscle to be a cut of beef, lean or fat or marbled or whatever. Certain muscle is what it is, and you'd never know anyway.

Perhaps you mean you are lean, in general, like low bodyfat?

So are your workouts lifting with reps up to about 15 max, 2-5 sets? That's one kind of damage, micro-tears, DOMS can stop on that too.

Or are they endurance, you just doing like easy body weight stuff until muscle gives out? That's just tired, not really damage. You are probably just over the initial soreness if that's the case. This won't lead to muscle building either.

I've seen most trainers push the latter unless you ask them specifically for the former.

Also, your diet can help immensely, and sleep for that matter, to recover better. So probably great effect there you are causing.

I've been in a bulk 6 weeks increasing reps 8-12 and then weight by 10 lbs dropping to 8 reps again several cycles, and haven't gotten sore the entire time. But let me come out of cardio training session in late fall and start the lifting serious again instead of maintenance mode lifting - big time sore for several weeks. In fact, if I'm not smart about it, that first session with muscles that have the strength but not used to it, can be sore for solid 6 days impeding further workouts.

CrusaderSam

Yeah you have to be careful not to build fat muscle. That is the kind of muscle you get from something like bench press. When you are just laying on the bench, the muscle will want to get lazy and fat. :laugh: All joking aside, just do a search on the web for doms it will give you more info then you would ever want on the topic.

raven_ous

Yeah you have to be careful not to build fat muscle. That is the kind of muscle you get from something like bench press. When you are just laying on the bench, the muscle will want to get lazy and fat. :laugh: All joking aside, just do a search on the web for doms it will give you more info then you would ever want on the topic.

Did that and man that is some sweet porn:laugh:

goredguar

(Final year Biomed here) haha I finally get to put my lectures to some use!

There have been various studies done, but rather than go through them, I'll just say that it has been shown that after a single bout of eccentric training, the membrane is protected for up to 8 weeks afterwards from damage with any further training bouts.
Ie, if you carry on training, this protective effect means DOMS in that muscle becomes lower

Plus you're improving blood supply, muscle function etc of that muscle with the training, so it becomes more efficient and resists damage more (eg less oxidative stress produced, lactic threshold going up)

So as long as you see your strength increasing (eg amount of weight lifted or reps going up) don't worry about not getting sore as time goes by.

S3r3knitty

There have been various studies done, but rather than go through them, I'll just say that it has been shown that after a single bout of eccentric training, the membrane is protected for up to 8 weeks afterwards from damage with any further training bouts.
Ie, if you carry on training, this protective effect means DOMS in that muscle becomes lower

I read that recently in an article and it actually makes sense. After my first weight training session I was in so much pain but now even though I lift already more there is no muscles soreness at all. Funny how that works. I also remember from horse riding that I would get very sore leg muscles if I started again after longer break. Interesting how that works.

Anyway wth is lean muscle?

JoRocka

Anyway wth is lean muscle?

that was my question.

heybales

Anyway wth is lean muscle?

that was my question.

Since I see that phrase from gal's doing nothing but cardio or high reps saying they want lean muscle mass to comments like above, I'm thinking there is just the general confusion that lean muscle mass and Lean Body Mass are the same thing.

You've seen the threads talking about how much muscle can be made in deficit and when, ect - and if you read through those topics at once, you see many times even from ones that know better, interchange of LBM and muscle mass when talking about studies and such. We know LBM or FFM is the overall group, and muscle mass is a subset, but even then the terms are thrown around rather lose.

And since people are perhaps ordering more meat to eat, perhaps the idea of a lean cut of beef makes them think they have much control over their own building.

JoRocka

seems like a logical answer to that questions- I always just chuckle when I see it- but I could see lean body mass vs lean muscle mass being interchanged and confusing.

I like it. lets go with that.

attacoug

Thanks all for the input and thoughts... and yes, I should be more careful on my terminology.