“I wasn’t really sore or tired after our workout.”
This is the message I received from one of my new clients the other day after his first workout.
My response to him will probably surprise you. I answered, “GOOD!”
Most people judge a “good workout” based on how sore and tired they feel after it. While those are good indicators that you worked hard, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it was a productive workout.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a hard workout where it is a struggle to have a seat on the toilet the next day, but the ultimate goal is not to get beat up like that from your workouts.
So what exactly is muscle soreness?
A common misconception is that your muscles get sore after a workout because of a build-up of lactic acid, but in fact, this is not true. Muscle soreness resulting from exercise is called DOMS, or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.
DOMS typically takes between 24-48 hours to set in, and peaks around 72 hours after your workout. DOMS happens because of micro-tears that develop in your muscles from exercise, which causes inflammation. The inflammation that is caused by the micro-tears in the root of your muscle soreness.
DOMS tend to show up for the first couple of weeks for new exercisers, and for veteran exercisers who either changed their routine, added volume, added intensity, or added load.
However, over time your body does adjust to the increased stress, which will significantly lower the DOMS you will experience.
The goal of exercising is to become a healthier and stronger version of yourself, but if you are consistent at working out regularly, you DO NOT need to crush yourself to get results.
Working out as hard as you can, every time you work out, just to feel sore after will ultimately lead to failure.
It can lead to overtraining, which causes injuries and actually delays your results because your body cannot recover.
So, the next time you get a good workout in and you’re not feeling sore the next day, IT’S OKAY!
It doesn’t mean that you didn’t work out hard enough and that you won’t benefit from the workout.
It just means that you are not experiencing DOMS, which is not a deciding factor if you will get stronger or build muscle.
If you feel stuck with reaching your goals, I want to help!
Schedule a strategy call with me, and let’s talk about how we can help you reach the goals that you deserve to achieve.
