[PolishMan]

Hey you guys,

I got a question, i love feeeling sore the day after working out, it makes me feel like i earned it, like somethings happening, and like im growing, but it seems like the more i workout the less sore I get. Now, I entirely cant get sore. Ive tried switching up my workouts, u kno, keep the muscles guessing an all, but doesnt really work.

I take supps an stuff that aid recovery, but this makes me just wanna stop taking them, u kno? lol.
Anyway, thanx for any help at all, ttyl.

[NO HYPE]

Originally Posted by PolishMan

Hey you guys,

I got a question, i love feeeling sore the day after working out, it makes me feel like i earned it, like somethings happening, and like im growing, but it seems like the more i workout the less sore I get. Now, I entirely cant get sore. Ive tried switching up my workouts, u kno, keep the muscles guessing an all, but doesnt really work.

I take supps an stuff that aid recovery, but this makes me just wanna stop taking them, u kno? lol.
Anyway, thanx for any help at all, ttyl.

Don't stop taking supplements, just modify your workout.

It sounds to me like your muscles are not being stressed enough to induce hypertrophy.

How many times in a day/week do you lift? When you are finished working out, do you feel as though you could easily do more? Are your goals to increase size or stamina? How many reps are you completing? How many sets?

If you really want to feel the effects of muscle hypertrophy and size is your goal, then try increasing the weight until you can only complete 3-6 reps and do as many sets as you possibly can.

If stamina is your goal then try 8-12 reps while increasing the amount of sets untill you can't do any more.

Anyways, good luck and keep us posted.

[PolishMan]

I usually do 3 sets of 8, but I do a lot of exercises, forexample, on a chest day:
3x8 dumbell flatbench chestpress
3x8 incline bench
3x8 decline bench
3x8 cable fly
3x8 dumbell fly (u kno, u lay down on bench>? yeah, that one)
3x8 machine pec fly

I can definitely try lowering the reps an see how that goes. Btw, goal is to increase size.

Funny though, cuz when i first started working out, ppl were telling me to do sets of 15, then of 12, then of 10, then of 8, now of 3-6, lol. Whatever works, man, thanks a lot bro, ttyl.

[Rage (SoCal)]

IMO the correlation between hypertrophy and soreness is small. IMO it is a good thing that you are not getting sore often....soreness is created by lactic acid which is a by product of streneous anerobic activity. With that said, it may be time to change up your training as its possible you body has already adpated to the workout and gains may slow.

If you're growing...keep doing what you are doing. Also, you may want to increase the workload in a certain workout. You can also decrease voume and increase intensity.

Also, a general rule of thumb that is to keep exercises for major muscle groups between 4-5. I think 5 may be pushing it some time. Theres a lot of philosophy out there supporting many different types of workout regiments. It's up to you to listen to your body to find out what works.

[NO HYPE]

Originally Posted by Rage (SoCal)

IMO the correlation between hypertrophy and soreness is small. IMO it is a good thing that you are not getting sore often....soreness is created by lactic acid which is a by product of streneous anerobic activity.

I'm sorry for sounding like a **** here but you really should do your homework before you go making statements that are COMPLETELY untrue. And please, by all means.... look into my statements and the truth will follow.

Hypertrophy is the direct reason for muscle soarness. If lactic acid was the reason, then we would only be soar while we worked out and for a short time after, not 1-3 days later.

The main reason for muscle soarness is caused by microscopic tears in the muscle tissue (hypertrophy), and by the rupturing of sacomeres. This causes the buffering systems of the muscle tissue to go into overdrive causing PH levels to fall, creating a state of acidosis.

[Rage (SoCal)]

Originally Posted by NO HYPE

I'm sorry for sounding like a **** here but you really should do your homework before you go making statements that are COMPLETELY untrue. And please, by all means.... look into my statements and the truth will follow.

Hypertrophy is the direct reason for muscle soarness. If lactic acid was the reason, then we would only be soar while we worked out and for a short time after, not 1-3 days later.

The main reason for muscle soarness is caused by microscopic tears in the muscle tissue (hypertrophy), and by the rupturing of sacomeres. This causes the buffering systems of the muscle tissue to go into overdrive causing PH levels to fall, creating a state of acidosis.

You're not sounding like an @ss. But...I believe there is no definite answer for this question. What causes DOMS? We aren't sure. It may be the build up of lactic acid and other waste by-products or it could be because microscopic tears in muscle fibers like you mentioned. Either or, just because one doesn't get sore anymore doesn't mean they are gaining body mass, does it? If so, then I can no explain growing without being sore....I mean I have done it but can't explain it then.

I think the conditions for either situation of soreness depends on many variables for example being sore from light jogging vs. being sore from heavy weight training.

Also, I don't know if I would consider microscopic tears in muscles hypertrophy. I can go into the gym, bench 245 for 3 reps and be sore as hell tomorrow. Will any hypertrophy occur? I'm not sure but I no I won't consider soreness a sign of me getting bigger.

[NO HYPE]

Originally Posted by PolishMan

I usually do 3 sets of 8, but I do a lot of exercises, forexample, on a chest day:
3x8 dumbell flatbench chestpress
3x8 incline bench
3x8 decline bench
3x8 cable fly
3x8 dumbell fly (u kno, u lay down on bench>? yeah, that one)
3x8 machine pec fly

I can definitely try lowering the reps an see how that goes. Btw, goal is to increase size.

Funny though, cuz when i first started working out, ppl were telling me to do sets of 15, then of 12, then of 10, then of 8, now of 3-6, lol. Whatever works, man, thanks a lot bro, ttyl.

Based on what you have indicated here, I'd say that you need to increase the weight first. If that doesn't work, keep the weight heavy and try lowering the reps to around 3-6 but no more than 8. Add enough weight so that by the end of the third set, you couldn't possibly do any more, not even one.

You should also try increasing the amount of sets. If that still doesn't work.... than do everything that you've done.... a second time.

I realize that you've probably heard a million different things, but I'm gonna give ya this info and you are welcome to look into it as you will see that it is not opinion but fact.

There are two different types of hypertrophy wich occur to muscle tissue during and after a workout.

(1) Myofibrillar Hypertrophy= Low reps (3-8) Increase sets.
This increases the.... "size" of the contractile portion of
the muscle.



(2) Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy = High reps (8-20) Decrease
sets. This increases the...."strength" of the non contractile
portion of the muscle.

[NO HYPE]

Originally Posted by Rage (SoCal)

(1) I don't know if I would consider microscopic tears in muscles hypertrophy.

(2) I can go into the gym, bench 245 for 3 reps and be sore as hell tomorrow. Will any hypertrophy occur?

(3) I'm not sure but I no I won't consider soreness a sign of me getting bigger.

(1) You might not, but it is.

(2) Yes, it will.

(3) That's ok, but you can't get bigger without getting soar.

[danTman2]

i got the same problem....the muscle just feel taxed the next day on some occasions it will be sore but only for legs.

[dannyboy9]

Originally Posted by PolishMan

I usually do 3 sets of 8, but I do a lot of exercises, forexample, on a chest day:
3x8 dumbell flatbench chestpress
3x8 incline bench
3x8 decline bench
3x8 cable fly
3x8 dumbell fly (u kno, u lay down on bench>? yeah, that one)
3x8 machine pec fly

I personally think that's overkill. In my case, if I were able to do something like that on my chest day, I would personally feel like I didn't accomplish anything. I get one hell of a workout due to the intensity I put into every rep and set with doing just 5-6 sets for chest. I'm still kind of hurting from last Friday today.

I would up the intensity and cut out all the overkill excercises IMO, especially the machine pec flies.

[DazzlinJack]

You should try some drastic/crazy workout stuff like tri-setting or even supersets. Do a set of flat bench presses then quickly move to a set of pulldowns and that'll be one superset. Also try one regular set of flat bench and then grab some 35 lbs dumbbells and keep pushing them up until you can't do anymore for one set. Keep growing man!

[stxnas]

Originally Posted by DazzlinJack

You should try some drastic/crazy workout stuff like tri-setting or even supersets. Do a set of flat bench presses then quickly move to a set of pulldowns and that'll be one superset. Also try one regular set of flat bench and then grab some 35 lbs dumbbells and keep pushing them up until you can't do anymore for one set. Keep growing man!

I almost always feel sore about 18 - 24 hours after a workout. You could drop one or of your exercises from a given routine and throw in something different & stick to that until u plataeu with it. Just try exchanging something new in place of something u have been doing for a while. I also like to do a good drop set when I'm ending a workout and still feel unsatisfied (doesn't happen too often, but occassionally it does ).

You could probably ask 100 different people and get 100 different answers...

[PolishMan]

I lowered my reps to 4, and my chest is sore!!! not like really really sore, but I can feel stretching everytime i reach for something. Same with legs

Also the thing is, back was yesterday, and im not the slightest bit sore, but I dont think its the same problem. Ive never gotten my back sore, except one time, and I remember it. Sad, no? I always thought I was doing something wrong, bad form or something, but I asked some trainers to critique me and they said nothing..... Dunno, I cut down the reps an stuff, but still no back soreness.

Also, this is off subject, but when should I use a weight/hernia belt? Just for squats? or leg presses too? Is it neccessary?

Thanks a lot guys, youre all a tremendous help and I envy your knowledge.


Also one more thing, just came to mind. Some guy (my buddy) made fun of me the other day for doing deadlifts on leg days. Is he stupid or am I? I thought the main focus was on your glutes, and I max out all the machines, so I stick to leg press, squats, deadlifts, and other stuff thats not really machines. Whos stupid?

[max silver]

If soreness is what you're after, it may help to increase the time under tension of your worksets. In other words, slow the negative portion of your lifts down and really focus on controlling the weight with the target muscles. A slight drop in weight moved combined with longer negatives, and really focusing on squeezing the target muscles really made a difference in the feel I got from my workouts.

[NO HYPE]

Originally Posted by PolishMan

I lowered my reps to 4, and my chest is sore!!! not like really really sore, but I can feel stretching everytime i reach for something. Same with legs

Also the thing is, back was yesterday, and im not the slightest bit sore, but I dont think its the same problem. Ive never gotten my back sore, except one time, and I remember it. Sad, no? I always thought I was doing something wrong, bad form or something, but I asked some trainers to critique me and they said nothing..... Dunno, I cut down the reps an stuff, but still no back soreness.

Also, this is off subject, but when should I use a weight/hernia belt? Just for squats? or leg presses too? Is it neccessary?

Thanks a lot guys, youre all a tremendous help and I envy your knowledge.


Also one more thing, just came to mind. Some guy (my buddy) made fun of me the other day for doing deadlifts on leg days. Is he stupid or am I? I thought the main focus was on your glutes, and I max out all the machines, so I stick to leg press, squats, deadlifts, and other stuff thats not really machines. Whos stupid?

Congrats on achieving soarness. As far as your back is concerned, how do you explain achieving soarness once but not again? Try repeating the workout that you did the day you felt it with a steady increase in weight. Just make sure you are always at the point of max out when you reach the end of your 3-6 rep range.

I don't know about you, but I consider deadlifts to be the ultimate back workout. I feel almost no pain in the legs a day or two later but the back.... fuget a bout it.

In my experience, I've found that proper form, very slow movement, and 3-6 reps during a workout is the best way to induce hypertrophy. On a side note, I've never used a belt for any exercise.... just proper form.

Keep us posted.

[Basso]

What's it like to not get sore?? I've been lifting for 25+ years and I'm sore all the friggen time! If your not sore, whether it's your back, chest, arms or whatever it's because you did not go beyond what your body can handle. Heavier weights, Time Under Tension, More reps, less reps it doesn't matter which method you use, it's all about exceeding your body's capabilities. If you can Bench press 315x8 and you do a 9th rep and get it, chances are you'll know it the next day. If you tie yourself to set reps and put a weight that you know your capable of doing then don't expect to be sore.
i.e. 3sets of 8reps, if you can do that, it's time to add weight, always more, always harder, trust me you'll be sore! But when you approach a w/o in this manner you'll understand why people think your doing to many movements for chest!

The question is what do you want? If you want more, take it, if not keep cruisin'

[peterson24]

Originally Posted by Basso

What's it like to not get sore?? I've been lifting for 25+ years and I'm sore all the friggen time! If your not sore, whether it's your back, chest, arms or whatever it's because you did not go beyond what your body can handle. Heavier weights, Time Under Tension, More reps, less reps it doesn't matter which method you use, it's all about exceeding your body's capabilities. If you can Bench press 315x8 and you do a 9th rep and get it, chances are you'll know it the next day. If you tie yourself to set reps and put a weight that you know your capable of doing then don't expect to be sore.
i.e. 3sets of 8reps, if you can do that, it's time to add weight, always more, always harder, trust me you'll be sore! But when you approach a w/o in this manner you'll understand why people think your doing to many movements for chest!

The question is what do you want? If you want more, take it, if not keep cruisin'

PL'er mentality but agreed. I don't do a ton of stuff but when I am pushing it, I know. Hell, I have been having trouble walking the past 3 days and I only did 2 movements with low reps!!!