Fitness Together Brecksville: If I'm Not Sore, Does That Mean it Was Not an Effective Workout?

Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff of expert personal trainers. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the personal trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

If I’m Not Sore, Does That Mean it Was Not an Effective Workout?

Fitness Together personal trainer Adam Teplitz working with a client on the TRX

Amanda Ricci: "No pain, no gain" is a common myth that is continued to be believed by many gym goers today. They believe that unless you're really sore the next day or two after a workout that that means the workout wasn't effective. This soreness is also referred to as DOM's, or delayed onset muscle soreness and it can occur anywhere from 6 to 48 hours after a workout. DOMs is the microtrauma in the muscles and surrounding connective tissue that causes inflammation.

The good news is that you don't have to be crippled the next day after a workout to have received a great workout. Your level of soreness following a workout should not be used to indicate that you had an effective session at the gym or with your trainer. Some people based on their genetics vary as to how sore they will be following a workout. If you are sore it is indicative that you started a new training routine and your muscles are starting to adapt to those exercises. Those muscles will repair themselves following a workout and then become stronger. It is important to give your muscles a break in between strength training workouts so that they can recover. If your working with a trainer they can design a more customizable program for you if they know that you like to work out two days in a row to make sure that they work different muscle groups.

There are some dangers to being too sore after a workout in that it can lead to repetitive injury and over training. If your the type of individual that likes to consistently change up your workouts this is something to be careful of since you need to make sure your giving those muscles adequate time to recover in between workouts and that your not experiencing any of the signs or symptoms of overtraining. Some symptoms of overtraining include: irritability, reduced ability to sleep at night, not feeling hungry and also lack of motivation. In addition, you may feel constantly tired and achy.

Some ways to recover from DOMS include: taking an Epsom salt bath, increasing protein intake (to increase protein synthesis), sleep, foam rolling, and omega 3 supplementation ( to decrease inflammation).

Steven Madden: Soreness after a workout is the result of small tears in the muscle fibers. We refer to this as delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS for short. You usually feel these 24-48 hours after a workout, and they are a sign of either high intensity, or a change in movement routine. People don't always like being sore, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. It's also not necessarily a good sign either. When you change your routine, the first couple of times, you should get sore, however if this persists, that might mean you are over training, or have even sustained an injury. A workout without any soreness may just mean it will soon be time to switch things up, but not that you didn't get a good workout.

Brooke Kratche: While being sore can give you a good idea of the quality of workout you did, it is not the only measure. Soreness is simply a result of the muscles finding energy in other places than its immediate energy storage. It takes apart the compounds and what is left is lactic acid which is what you feel when you are sore. Not feeling sore just means your body had adequate energy stored up for your workout. As your muscles grow, they create larger storage units for energy meaning you need to do even more to feel soreness following the workout. Therefore, don't feel like you had an inadequate workout if you are not sore afterwards, just know your body is adapting and getting stronger!

Adam Teplitz: Muscle soreness is not an indicator of an effective workout. Sore muscles does not mean you had an effective or productive workout. On the other hand, not being sore does not mean the workout wasn't effective. As far as effectiveness goes, muscle soreness means nothing.

Muscle soreness occurs when you make them do something they're not used to doing. A new exercise, taking less rest between sets or an increase in weight lifted. Certain exercises that have more of a stretch component can lead to increase soreness as well.

The best indicator of whether your workouts are effective is progress, not muscle soreness. Are you getting stronger? Are your clothes fitting better?

Justin Traft: Client always ask if I am not sore was the workout still effective. Great question . Here's my thoughts. I have trained for a long time now. Not every workout do you need to barely be able to lift your arms or sit on your seat afterwards. Honestly some of the most effective workouts are the ones that don't have soreness after because you are either doing a cardio movement exercise or a muscular endurance exercise resulting in calorie burn or just good ole fashioned muscle burn. Not every person wants to or needs to look like Arnold to get a effective workout. When your body is motion and its working it always more then just sitting in your chair or sitting on a couch. Your still doing your body good. Being active is key to longevity in life! So don't always get caught up in how much you can curl or how much you can squat because your still doing good for yourself! Now I am not saying push yourself I am a firm believer in that. But give yourself credit where credit it do!

Michael Roberto: When a person exercises, they will sometimes experience soreness in their muscles. Overtime they will become less sore. This does not mean that they had an ineffective workout and should quit. It simply means that their body has adapted to the demand of exercising with heavy weights or a change in the time you rest between exercises. Ultimately, to gauge if your workouts are effective will be the progress that you’re making. Can you lift more than you did when you started? Have you lost weight? Things like that will tell if your workouts are working.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

If I'm Not Sore, Does That Mean it Was Not an Effective Workout?

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