Please note that I am not a fitness professional! I’m only sharing my personal insight and perspective stemming from experience ♡
A common question amongst people who are new to the world of working out is, “Should my muscles be sore after every single workout?” And it makes sense, not only logically but also due to the sheer amount of misguiding information that exists out there.
I say that from experience because I recall being led to believe that muscle soreness was equivalent to efficacy in the gym. In other words, for the longest time, I thought that having sore muscles meant that I was working harder.
As you can imagine, equating sore muscles with effective workouts meant that I would pursue that soreness with intensity, leaving me always eager to be sore because I thought that it was necessary for success. Boy oh boy… I was mighty wrong!
You should not be sore after every single workout.
Muscle soreness does not mean your workout was incredible.
The two can certainly coexist, but correlation is not causation.
So, let’s dive into a conversation about why you should not be sore about every single workout! To start, we’ll talk about muscle soreness in particular and explore what it means when your muscles are sore.
What Does It Mean When Your Muscles Are Sore?
I think it’s important to address what muscle soreness indicates. Muscle soreness takes place when small tears appear within your muscle fibers after enduring some sort of overload and exercise-related stress.
While the intent behind weight lifting, for example, is to push your muscles beyond their limits in order to grow and get bigger over time, constant muscle soreness might just hinder you more than it helps. But at the end of the day, you should not pursue muscle soreness as though it is the end-all, be-all indication of a solid workout.
Like I mentioned earlier, correlation is not causation, so even though sore muscles can be a sign that you pushed yourself in the gym and had an excellent workout, it doesn’t always mean this. Likewise, just because muscle soreness is beneficial sometimes, it doesn’t mean you should strive for it all the time.
So, Should My Muscles Be Sore After Every Single Workout?
Ultimately, having sore muscles after working out is not inherently dangerous. It’s normal under many situations, especially when trying new exercises or putting yourself through a workout that is intense for you after taking time away from exercising regularly.
However, to experience muscle soreness after every single workout is likely an indication that you should check your form, lower the intensity of your workouts, or give yourself more frequent rest periods so that your muscles can recover before enduring more intentional stress via exercise.
Do You Think Your Muscles Should Be Sore After Every Single Workout?
What are your thoughts on the matter? Do they differ from mine? Are we in agreement?
Either way, feel free to let me know on IG! You can message me on IG either here or here! ♡