If I don't feel sore, that means workout isn't working?

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vm007
vm007 Posts: 241 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi,

I'm on WK - 30 of working out. I'm not a beginner but I've started focusing on joint health, functional strength and longevity instead of having big numbers on my big 3 (DL, Squat and Bench)

I do 4 sets with reps ranging from 6-8
I do upper and lower days
I track everything, so I can compare and increase weight accordingly.

However, there are days when I don't feel sore and DOMS is absent does that mean I'm not working out hard enough?

My sleep is good, my calories are in deficit (trying to lose 5 kg) and during day, I move around.

Need to push heavier and much more reps?

Replies

  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    No, you don't always need to hurt after exercising. I personally haven't had pain after exercise for years, and I have excellent muscle mass and strength.

    But what are your goals exactly? What are you trying to accomplish with your exercise?
  • vm007
    vm007 Posts: 241 Member
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    Xellercin wrote: »
    No, you don't always need to hurt after exercising. I personally haven't had pain after exercise for years, and I have excellent muscle mass and strength.

    But what are your goals exactly? What are you trying to accomplish with your exercise?

    General wellness and increase of muscle mass at a sustainable pace. Also need to lose my last 5 kg.

    That's about it. I am not after big numbers anymore lol
  • Justin_7272
    Justin_7272 Posts: 341 Member
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    I don't remember the last time I had DOMS and I've been running a progressive overload program for a while now. There are plenty of articles indicating DOMS is not a sign of a good workout. If start incorporating new lifts that engage muscles you haven't used you may get them for awhile, but it will likely go away.
  • watts6151
    watts6151 Posts: 888 Member
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    I don’t really get doms,
    but can still tell what muscle group I worked the day before.
  • metaphysicalstudio
    metaphysicalstudio Posts: 293 Member
    edited January 2022
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    My husband -- who is not fit but likes to work out sometimes -- often strives to be sore after a workout. He is always telling me that this means he's gotten a good workout. This is a misconception. Soreness does not always equate with an exceptional workout. However, in my husband's case, he had always felt sore following exercise because he only exercises a couple times a month. For him, soreness has always been how his body recognizes exercise. For me, I find that I am sore when I have taken a break from my routine for awhile or when I make a significant change to my routine. But soreness for not indicate a good workout for me.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    vm007 wrote: »
    Xellercin wrote: »
    No, you don't always need to hurt after exercising. I personally haven't had pain after exercise for years, and I have excellent muscle mass and strength.

    But what are your goals exactly? What are you trying to accomplish with your exercise?

    General wellness and increase of muscle mass at a sustainable pace. Also need to lose my last 5 kg.

    That's about it. I am not after big numbers anymore lol

    Then no, don't worry about trying to make exercise hurt. That's a surefire way to want to do it less.
    Frequency is more important than intensity for obtaining excellent physical health.

    Intensity is more for pushing yourself towards specific performance goals, like wanting to be able to lift certain specific weight targets, or speed targets, or whatever. If you don't need to push your body to the limits of it's performance capacity and just want to feel and look great, then focus more on volume of exercise.

    My lower body never looked better than when I was walking a few hours a day. I remember hitting the weights hard when I was younger to get great legs and butt, and sure, I got results, but mostly I got results of my lower body being extremely strong. The walking didn't do anything for my ability to move heavy metal plates with my legs, but damn did it make me look good and feel great.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    DOMs is not an indicator of whether or not you've had a good workout. It is an indicator that you are using muscles you haven't used in awhile or are using differently. People who exercise regularly don't get DOMs unless they're doing something different or new that they don't normally do.

    I only get DOMs when I've had to take some time off due to injury or whatever and then get back to it, or if I'm doing something that is not part of my normal routine. For example, the other day I went out for a walk to check out a new trail in our township...it runs along the side of a large hill and has a lot of climbing. It was just a walk, an not particularly strenuous, particularly relative to my usual training and such...but my calves were pretty dang sore yesterday because doing a lot of uphill walking is outside of anything I normally do...but I was just walking my dog, so it wasn't some kind of crazy workout or anything.
  • ciaoder
    ciaoder Posts: 119 Member
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    It's about getting close to failure at the end of the set. How you feel the day after is pretty irrelevant.
  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,404 Member
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    vm007 wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'm on WK - 30 of working out. I'm not a beginner but I've started focusing on joint health, functional strength and longevity instead of having big numbers on my big 3 (DL, Squat and Bench)

    I do 4 sets with reps ranging from 6-8
    I do upper and lower days
    I track everything, so I can compare and increase weight accordingly.

    However, there are days when I don't feel sore and DOMS is absent does that mean I'm not working out hard enough?

    My sleep is good, my calories are in deficit (trying to lose 5 kg) and during day, I move around.

    Need to push heavier and much more reps?

    For me: lifting heavier = more power for my sport. That is hard to give up. But there are limits how far one can go. I wonder if a pyramid one day a week could help maintain strength while you cut and maintain volume with for frequency or…

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