How Much Muscle Soreness Is Really Too Much?

You went to the gym and had a great workout, but now the next day you are paying for it. You wake up sore and hurting in places you didn’t even know were possible. Is muscle soreness really this common? You start wondering to yourself:

“Is this my new life of always being constantly sore?”

“Am I supposed to feel this sore?”

On the flip side, maybe you had a killer workout. However, the next day you don’t feel sore at all! You might start thinking to yourself:

“Did I not go as hard as I needed to?”

“Do I need to increase my volume by adding more sets, weights, or workouts to my routine?”

The truth is, soreness is not a strong indicator of muscle growth. You can still build muscle and have a great workout without feeling sore the next day.

Why Does Muscle Soreness Occur?

When you work out, you are putting stress on your muscles. This actually damages your muscle fibers, which causes micro-tears. So on a micro level, you are actually damaging your muscles.

Now when you rest, those muscles repair themselves back up to be bigger and stronger to handle the new amount of stress it expects to take on from exercise. (This is why rest is so important).

So, you aren’t actually doing damage to your muscles, you are strengthening them, but that period in between will typically cause some soreness.

What is DOMS?

DOMS stands for delayed onset muscle soreness. Typically you will feel okay right after your workout, but in the next 1-2 days the muscles you exercise will begin to feel sore. For example, if I workout my chest on Monday, I feel fine, even great, after my workout. However, when Tuesday morning comes around my chest begins to feel sore. For legs, it typically takes 2 days for me until the soreness kicks in. That delayed soreness is known as DOMS.

Always Sore

If you are constantly experiencing DOMS, you might be overdoing it in your workouts and want to reduce your volume. This probably means doing fewer overall sets for that body part. For example, if after every chest day, your chest is extremely sore for 3 or 4 days to the point that you feel it when you are not even moving, instead of doing 10 sets of chest in the gym, you might want to do only 7 or 8.

Is it bad to always be sore?

There are a few reasons why it is not a good idea to always be sore after your workouts:

1. DOMS is caused by inflammation, so constant soreness can mean constant inflammation, which is never a good thing.
2. If you are too sore your workouts could suffer or you might have to skip the gym altogether to recover.
3. Studies have shown that chronic DOMS can cause a reduced range of motion and even lower your strength levels over time, neither of which is ideal.

When is it normal to feel muscle soreness?

There are a few reasons that you might be experiencing soreness on a regular basis:

You are new to the gym

If you are new to the gym, your muscles are not used to the amount of stress that you are putting on them. Most likely, they will constantly feel sore for your first few workouts.

Your goal is soreness

If you want to feel sore after your workout for some reason, then yes, it is normal to feel sore after your workout.

You did more volume than normal

Maybe you had a spike in energy and just wanted to go HAM in the gym, or you were working out with a friend and your competitive drive kicked in. Whatever the reason, if you did more in the gym than your body is used to, it’s normal to feel sore within the next few days.

What do I do if I am too sore?

If you end up overdoing it at the gym and your body is screaming at you via sore muscles, the best thing to do is rest. Take a few days off from the gym and wait until there is no more soreness.

In addition to rest, make sure to fuel your body with proper nutrition and put some ice on the sore body parts to help with recovery.

Never Sore

If you wake up every morning and you never feel sore, this might be fine, but it might also mean that you aren’t pushing yourself as hard as you can be in the gym. This is the time to be honest with yourself and see if you need to increase your gym volume.

A good way to figure this out is not to look at soreness but rather ask yourself:

1. How many more reps do I think I could have done on my last set? If you had about 2 reps left before failure, you are probably going hard enough. If you think you could have done 5 more reps, you need to increase your intensity.
2. Did I struggle on my last few reps? If you completed your last few reps with ease, you probably need to increase your intensity. However, if you started making some ugly faces and maybe even a grunt or two, you are on the right track.

Is it bad to never be sore?

While it definitely is not bad to never be sore, the only reason this could be a problem is if you are not pushing yourself hard enough in the gym, and therefore you are not experiencing muscle growth or improvements in overall fitness. However, if your intensity is good, not being sore is not an issue.

When is it OK to not experience muscle soreness?

There are a few reasons that you might never be sore after your workout:

Lack of intensity

As mentioned above, if you are not pushing your muscles to their limits, then your muscles have no reason to grow and they might not feel sore. Now, your muscles might not feel sore even if you are pushing them and experiencing muscle growth, but this is something to be cautious of.

You have great recovery

Some people are just blessed with great genetics for recovery. You might not feel sore just for this reason alone. Typically, some body parts will recover faster than others too. So you might never feel soreness in your arms after a workout, but you experience some soreness in your legs.

You’re doing everything right

Believe it or not, if you’re doing everything right you might never feel sore. This means that you’re doing just the right amount of volume and intensity in the gym, you are fueling your body with healthy macro and micro nutrients, hitting your protein goal, and getting enough sleep. A true recipe for muscle building perfection!

Final Verdict: How sore should you really be?

We’ve talked about being too sore and not being sore at all, but the question still remains – how sore should I be after my workout? The answer is actually a simple one.

You want to feel some soreness, but only when you are stretching that body part.

That is the perfect amount of soreness. If you hit your legs yesterday, and today when you stretch your hamstrings you feel soreness, you probably did the perfect amount. This means when your body is completely still, you are not feeling soreness.

There you have it. For 99% of the population, there is no reason or added benefit to focusing on soreness when exercising. Instead, focus on doing the proper amount of volume and intensity and reap the benefits of improved fitness, energy, and overall enjoyment!