Do your muscles get sore the day after a workout? Is this good or bad?
I am writing this more for those of you that get upset or feel like nothing was accomplished when your muscles are NOT sore the next day!
Do you need sore muscles the day after a workout to say that you had a good workout or is it necessary to judge a workout based on this?
The answer is “no”. I know that feeling of pain 1-2 days after a workout is a sign that you had a great workout and accomplished something but don’t be too hard on yourself if this does not happen.
There are many factors that determine muscle pain or DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). It often depends on what type of training you did and typically occurs with eccentric or isometric training, so it really can depend on what type of training you are doing.
I can say with confidence that eccentric training will cause more soreness or pain the next day. Eccentric contractions involve the lengthening of the muscle and is attained by placing less force than is being placed on it. This is often referred to as a “negative” in the health & fitness world. In this case force is moving the muscle, causing it to lengthen. An eccentric motion moves in the same direction as the weight. For example when you slowly resist against the weight on a bench press movement as the weight comes back down to your chest would be an eccentric contraction or movement. Another example would be slowly lowering the weight as you lower it in a bicep curl. I don’t want to get into what actually happens to the muscle fibers, that is for another post!
If you emphasize Eccentric Training or “Negatives” in your workout then you will typically feel soreness the next day. If this is your goal then it would be a good thing but if you are in a different phase of training then judge your workout on how you feel during and immediately after the workout and don’t worry so much about soreness the next day!
Change your workouts and use different phases of training and during eccentric training expect more soreness!
Garrett
