I'm not getting sore anymore.

[PoweredBySoy]

Hi friends,

I have a training question, and I just joined this forum hoping someone here could shed a little light for me.

A quick background about where I'm coming from:
In my early to mid 20's, I got into weight training and hit the gym pretty hard on a regular basis. I was pretty involved in the lifestyle... ate well...lifted hard.... became a personal trainer.. etc.... That lasted about 4-5 years, and I got fairly big for my modest body size.
At about age 25-26, I got out of lifting (didn't have the mental drive anymore), and have gotten a little soft in the past 4 years. I'm 29 now.

Since then I've always had workouts here and there... but only until a month ago have I gotten the 'mental-edge' back, and have been getting into my lifting routine again.

I've always lifted with an emphasis on form and with fitness as my main goal. I've never considered myself a 'power lifter'... and I've always been natural.

Now, my problem:
I don't notice myself getting sore after my workouts. And this was something I noticed towards the end of my previous lifting phase as well (when I was about 25).
In the old days, after a good workout, I'd feel my muscles getting sore within 6-12 hours of the workout. But as I got "older"... that soreness started to be delayed into like 24-36 hours.

It's now to the point where I have trouble getting sore at all. Since I've started lifting again a month ago, the first week my muscles were very shocked, and I got really sore. But now 4 weeks into it, I'm already to the point where I barely get sore at all. It's like my body is slipping right back into it's 'memory' of it being used to lifting wieghts.

I understand the concept of "shocking" the muscles... and the importance of changing ones routine... and I certainly do that. But sometimes it just doesn't feel like it matters. My body just doesn't react to lifting like it used to.

So finally my main question:
Is getting sore an indicator of a successful workout? Am I growing (gaining strength) from workouts if I don't feel sore a day later?

Does anyone have any insight as to why this is happening, or comments from someone that has had similar experiences?

Thanks for any advice you guys/girls can give me. Much appreciated.

 

[Spitfire]

I did not read all that sorry Im at work, but you should read up on adaptation, You should never really do the same work out two weeks in a row, change it up a little each time, you should be fine.
Or maybe you just need to add more weight.
And Ive heard great things about Gopros power rep range shock thwarting off adaptation

 

[Vieope]

I didn´t read it all either.
Soreness is not a indicator of a good workout. Increase your repetitions if you like soreness.

 

[Cold Iron]

ya like Vieope said. Soreness isnt indicative of a good WO

and Soreness all the time will lead to overtraining. It's fine once and a while but its not something i aim for.

you might not be using enough weight though, like stated

 

[Arnold]

So finally my main question:
Is getting sore an indicator of a successful workout?

nope.

Am I growing (gaining strength) from workouts if I don't feel sore a day later?

possibly, it depends on much more than soreness though, but can't you answer this? ARE you gaining size & strength?

 

[Duncans Donuts]

The only thing you need to change every week is weight and or reps.

 

[madden player]

The only thing you need to change every week is weight and or reps.

What about underwear??..

I never used being sore as an indicator of a productive workout..are you getting bigger and stronger like Robert asked??

 

[PoweredBySoy]

I never used being sore as an indicator of a productive workout..are you getting bigger and stronger like Robert asked??

Well, it's far too early to answer that yet. As I stated in the original post (which most of you didn't read ), I've only been back into weight lifting for about a month now.
To help thwart adaptation, I've taken up the P/RR/S system. Being in the Power week, yesterday I blasted the sh*t out of my arms. Bi's/tri's, about 6 sets each, each set about 4-5 reps. This is a much lower rep range than I'm used to.

...but today? I hardly feel any soreness at all.

I don't know, I just remember back in my lifting days walking around sore all the time. So I've always saw that as a sign of a good workout... that I broke down the muscles, and then eating and sleeping would help them grow bigger. That's the way I've always looked at it.

But thank you for the advice. Many of you said that soreness is not factor, so I will continue lifting hard, trying to keep a variety as much as I can.

Love.

 

[Var]

You need to lay off the soy. Its boosting your estrogen and causing you to ramble like a chick!!!

 

[madden player]

 

[madden player]

...I will continue lifting hard...

You go girl!!..that's the idea!!

 

[Var]

 

[madden player]

I hope Soy doesn't get his panties in a bunch..we're just having some fun.

 

[Var]

I'm sure it wont bother shim too much!

 

[CowPimp]

Just one more thing to add. There is something called muscle memory, which you may or may not know about. The fact that you lifted for multiple years in the past does mean something. The human body somehow reverts to it's previously trained state much quicker than it would if you were new to resistance training. I don't really understand the reasoning behind this phenomenon, but it certainly does exist.