Muscle soreness; Good or Bad?

Nessap08

I've been going to the gym on and off for years. I would get in one of my weight loss moods, join a gym, go for a couple days and then give up and don't go back. when I first started working out a while back, i would wake up the next morning very sore. I took that as a job well done but now I've been going for a week now and I wake up everyday feeling normal, no soreness or aches. That makes me feel I didn't have successful enough workouts. So, is soreness a sign of overworking the muscle or of a good workout?

mills101

Whenever I'm sore i know it was a job well done. Usually if I go a few days of working out without soreness i change up my routine.

PercivalHackworth

aha, I just wrote a post two minutes ago
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/555598-the-muscular-congestion

Azdak

If you are just starting out, muscle soreness is not necessary, nor is it the sign of a "good workout". Generally your body is going to begin the process of adaptation at much lower levels of effort, so there is no need to beat yourself up. Starting at a lower level, with relatively low volume and working your way up with frequent baby steps will get you into shape just as quickly with greatly reduced discomfort.

If you are more experienced, muscle soreness is more likely to occur with a new movement, esp if it involves eccentric loading. Soreness or lack thereof are not reliable indicators of the quality of the workout. Soreness is more an indicator that you have done something different. Depending on the details, that may or may not be significant. For example, if your routine included 3 sets of bench press to failure at 6-8 reps, and on one day you did 6 sets ending with near 1 RM maximal lifts, you might not feel really sore the next day, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a quality workout. Conversely, you could add 3 sets of dumbbell pec flyes at 8-10 RM and have trouble lifting your arms the next couple of days. Is one workout better than the other? Not really -- both are quality workouts--the overall benefits depend on a number of factors.

PercivalHackworth

If you are just starting out, muscle soreness is not necessary, nor is it the sign of a "good workout". Generally your body is going to begin the process of adaptation at much lower levels of effort, so there is no need to beat yourself up. Starting at a lower level, with relatively low volume and working your way up with frequent baby steps will get you into shape just as quickly with greatly reduced discomfort.

If you are more experienced, muscle soreness is more likely to occur with a new movement, esp if it involves eccentric loading. Soreness or lack thereof are not reliable indicators of the quality of the workout. Soreness is more an indicator that you have done something different. Depending on the details, that may or may not be significant. For example, if your routine included 3 sets of bench press to failure at 6-8 reps, and on one day you did 6 sets ending with near 1 RM maximal lifts, you might not feel really sore the next day, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a quality workout. Conversely, you could add 3 sets of dumbbell pec flyes at 8-10 RM and have trouble lifting your arms the next couple of days. Is one workout better than the other? Not really -- both are quality workouts--the overall benefits depend on a number of factors.

exactly.. but is it not the point of the whole training :-) the body adapts, and we push more. This is the art of it actually

danielpinkney

If you are just starting out, muscle soreness is not necessary, nor is it the sign of a "good workout". Generally your body is going to begin the process of adaptation at much lower levels of effort, so there is no need to beat yourself up. Starting at a lower level, with relatively low volume and working your way up with frequent baby steps will get you into shape just as quickly with greatly reduced discomfort.

If you are more experienced, muscle soreness is more likely to occur with a new movement, esp if it involves eccentric loading. Soreness or lack thereof are not reliable indicators of the quality of the workout. Soreness is more an indicator that you have done something different. Depending on the details, that may or may not be significant. For example, if your routine included 3 sets of bench press to failure at 6-8 reps, and on one day you did 6 sets ending with near 1 RM maximal lifts, you might not feel really sore the next day, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a quality workout. Conversely, you could add 3 sets of dumbbell pec flyes at 8-10 RM and have trouble lifting your arms the next couple of days. Is one workout better than the other? Not really -- both are quality workouts--the overall benefits depend on a number of factors.

^^^^ Couldn't have said it better myself. So I won't try.