Why am I so sore from these light weights?

UpEarly

OT love your profile pic, is that mountain climbable?

This particular mountain (Loft Mountain) doesn't have any technical climbing. It's more like a shelf of rock over a short and shallow drop. There is a lot of climbing close-by though.

butterfly10398

Toning is completely different than bulking up. If you want to build muscle you use high weight low rep, if you want to "TONE" you use low weight high reps. There is a big difference. I know a lot about working out as a matter of fact.

erickirb

Toning is completely different than bulking up. If you want to build muscle you use high weight low rep, if you want to "TONE" you use low weight high reps. There is a big difference. I know a lot about working out as a matter of fact.

This is wrong, as pointed out earlier. You cannot "tone" muscle. You either build it, maintain it, or lose it. The "toning" comes from losing the fat on top of the muscle, not on the type of lifting you do.

Azdak

Just skimmed thru the answers, but explanation is simple: training effects are specific to training activity. Switching to a new mode of training/lifting that works muscles a different way --e.g.different recruitment patterns--and jumping right in to a higher volume of training (e.g. 3 sets to failure), will result in soreness, even if the weights are substantially lighter than with previous workouts.

Soreness doesn't necessarily mean the workout was "better" -- it just means it was different.

The longer someone lifts, the more advantageous it will be to "periodize" their workout routine. That is different from "muscle confusion" or just randomly changing your workout. Periodization is more systematic.