Hi Davey,
I’ve been getting back in to shape lately by going to the gym 2 - 3 times a week. When I first started, my muscles would become sore 1 - 2 days after my workout. Recently I’m finding that my muscles don’t become sore in the slightest. I am increasing the amount I lift but I’m cautious because I’m still getting back into it and I don’t want to harm my muscles.
Does this lack of soreness or stiffness in my muscles mean I’m not working hard enough?
Thanks and much love,
Eric
Hey Eric,
Congratulations on getting back into the swing of things and renewing your commitment to exercise!
First things first, muscle soreness that occurs 12 - 48 hours after exercise is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) - and it’s a good thing. Immediate muscle soreness or pain, on the other hand, is often related to injury - and immediate medical attention is encouraged. Since the soreness you experienced is the former, there’s no need for concern.
When exercisers start a new routine (just as you did), muscle soreness is very common. Since the new workout is a shock to the body, muscle soreness is a likely result. But, over time, the body will adjust - and soreness will tend to decrease. This is all very natural and part of the process.
Though many people become addicted to feeling sore after exercise, soreness isn’t required for muscle growth. Provided you have an effective strategy to target muscle growth, your muscles will continue to grow even if you don’t experience discomfort.
In this way, the age-old adage of “no pain, no gain” is certainly a fallacy.
Love,
Davey
About Davey Wavey
Thank you for this! I have been wondering the same thing!
Eric is my bf and he is working really hard and im proud of him.
But is pain positively correlated with gain and how big is the correlation?
More importantly, if you try two or three workouts, can you say that the one with the most delayed onset soreness is the best one or not?
I’m not sure about soreness, but after seeing that picture, I am definitely experiencing some stiffness.
i was wondering the same thing.as usual DW-explains it so well.cant disagree in the slightest.
Thank you for this! Just started working out again after a month off. I’ve been running 9 miles a week, ab training for 4 days in a row, and nothing. Absolutely nothing! I’m shocked - maybe I’m doing something wrong? Maybe it’s all the yoga I did at the beginning of the year. Who knows…
Though, your article makes me realize I need to create a more diversified workout in order to build on specific muscles.
Thanks again 🙂
No pain no gain means not pushing past your limits isn’t going to get you anywhere
Every one of my final sets I push to failure and I don’t get doms, Still gaining.
Read a book.
Hi! My names Alex, I’m 16, 5’7, and I just started working out. I was sore for the first few days I’ve been working out, then recently, I’ve been increasing the weights of my routine, and I’m not sore at all! Why is that? My routine is kind of all over the place:
-10 minutes on treadmill
-10 minutes on stairs
-10 minutes on bike
-20 reps on my legs (pushing 120 pounds which is over my weight(I’m only 116)) 2x or more
-50 reps on my abs, using the ab machine (doing abs with 25 pounds) 2x or more
-10 bicep curls with 20 pound weight 2x
And the other problem is, I don’t sweat! I want to sweat and be sore! The more sweaty and sore, the better!
Is this a bad thing?
Hi there. Thanks for approaching this topic, because recently I switched my workout from body split supersets (two or three different muscles in a same session, or even only one), longer sessions and more frequent work days to a 3 days a week, full-body, 3 sets only max. strength circuit workout plan. Since then (few weeks) I no longer experience muscle soreness as before and I was getting a little worried about that.
Now I add a sub-question here: does that mean I can workout without a rest day in between workout days or is it always better to give it at least a day of rest (before I would always rest until the soreness would stop or I would workout a different muscle group of the one that would get sore, but either way always with a day of rest at least in between).
Thanks once again.
So checking your site because I don’t feel sore after my reps anymore. I used to wait until the soreness was gone before repeating another day. Now I have just a little soreness the next day and it’s gone. I no longer can use it to time how many days to wait before repeating. Should I wait at least 4 days?
Yeah, I was super sore for the first three days of my core workout, and now I dont feel the soreness anymore… I kinda miss it! It makes me feel super buff LOL, but nice to know I’m not doing anything wrong.
Heya, The best fat loss that I have ever had was with Red hot slim (i found it on google) Without a doubt the most helpful diet that I have ever tried.
I have only just re-stated training after a few months off… I am sore the all time…I know this is the punishment I deserve… however, I have not really worked out yet if I like it or not … 😉
I guess I will have to keep pushing… till then I will go back to my ‘Coping With Sore Muscles’ literature…. 🙁
All the best …
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