Is Muscle Soreness Something You MUST Have In Order to Build Muscle?

Anyone who’s ever lifted a weight will know the feeling…

It happens the first time you do squats or deadlifts…the first (and sometimes last!) time you negative-accentuated training where you’re focusing on the lowering phase of the lift…the first time you perform an exercise you’ve never used before…

Strangely enough, as painful as this soreness can be, it can be addictive! Many people I hear from actively seek out ways to make themselves sore because they love that feeling of soreness. To them, it’s an indication that they’ve made progress…that something has been achieved in the gym.

Without that soreness to give them feedback, some people feel they haven’t really done enough.

This has led to some pretty insane training methods and programs, let me tell you.

Here’s the deal…..even though unique programs and exercises will generally result in plenty of muscle soreness, the major goal of these techniques is NOT to make you sore!

Yep, is a common effect, but if pain was the goal, there are faster ways ot achieving just that. Cripes, just drop a weight plate on your foot – there’s pain for you…lots of soreness, too.

The goal is not to cause soreness but to get a training effect on the muscles through the use of unique training methods.

Pain is NEVER the goal. Adaptation is the goal.

So, do you need muscle soreness to achieve muscle-building in the body?

No.

Simple as that.

I won’t get into all the specifics of HOW muscle soreness comes about (there actually is debate on the mechanisms by which Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness operates) but muscle soreness is simply an indicator that you’ve done something your body is not used to.

It CAN be an indication that what you’ve done will result in muscle growth but there is no guarantee. I can make a person sore from doing a set of 100 reps on the bench press but do you think that will result in significant muscle growth? The load simply isn’t great enough.

Even when I use an exercise I’ve never ever done before or used a program that is completely new to me, soreness is never the determining factor on whether I feel it’s a good program or not.

My RESULTS are.

I’ll give you a specific example. In a muscle-building program I’ve found called “Muscle Explosion – 28 Days to Maximum Mass“ there is a week where you perform ONE exercise 5 days in a row for more than 200 sets.

Without getting into the specifics of the program, the author says he gains about 5 pounds of muscle in this single week alone, just based on this style of training. And even with tremendous number of sets, he hardly ever experieces any soreness.

Yes, the nervous and muscular systems are basically exhausted at the end of the 5 days but soreness? Not a whole lot to speak of.

I’ll say it again…soreness can indicate the potential for increase muscle growth…it’s NOT a requirement.

I’ve got another example for you…any pro athlete.

Do you think an athlete who wants to build muscle will use a program where excessive soreness keeps them from practicing or affects the movement mechanics?

Absolutely not. Their coaches simply would not allow it.

Muscle does not have a brain. All it knows is when it needs to adapt to a workload greater than what it’s accustomed to. A targeted increase in workload will (generally) result in an increase in muscle mass, when all other factors are accounted for (like nutrition, recovery, etc.).

So where does that leave the person who wants to build muscle?

Train to improve your performance. Try new techniques, programs and exercises.

But for crying out loud, DON’T train with muscle soreness as a major goal and DON’T worry if a training program doesn’t immediately make you sore. You’ll get results from overloading your muscles, eating plenty of good food to support the muscle-building process and getting enough recovery between workouts.