“No pain, no gain”
“Go hard or go home”
“Pain is weakness leaving the body”
My younger self would have found some motivation in these and even believed them. But the more experienced me, well, not so much. Here are my thoughts on soreness and how I think it depends on your goals on whether or not it is necessary.
Soreness for the Everyday Human
If you’re an everyday human it means you’re working a full time job or a student or a both. Maybe you have a side business and a family. Maybe you’re taking care of family members. Either way, time and energy is something you value and you don’t have a ton of time to exercise, but you still want to improve your fitness. If this is you, soreness is the last thing you want. Soreness for you should be because you tried a new exercise or happened because you had a little extra energy to push yourself one day. Soreness for you isn’t something you should seek out or put value in on whether or not you had a “good workout.” Your 30-45 minutes in the gym shouldn’t make it hard for you to sit on the toilet or wash your hair for the next 48 hours. The soreness you feel should be minimal to non existent for you most of the time.
How do you minimize soreness while still getting results?
Stick to exercises that you are familiar with and then practice progressive overload by adding 2-4 reps, 1-2 sets, or 2-10 pounds to these exercises every couple of weeks. This will allow your body to adapt to the movements, but still improve your performance. Keep it simple. That is exactly why the program the Everyday Human exists!
Soreness for the Athletic Human
An Athletic Human is someone who competes in a sport frequently. You could be a high school or college athlete or just the recreational adult league athlete. Either way, playing sports is one of the things you do for fun and enjoyment, so being super sore is going to hinder your performance and enjoyment. I play basketball 2-3 times a week, so I usually hold back a tiny bit on my leg days so that I can play without being in pain and discomfort. Now this doesn’t mean I don’t work hard. That isn’t what I’m saying. But you do need to work smart and try avoid or adjust exercises that usually leave you with more muscle soreness.
So what can you do?
Minimize the range of motion for certain exercises can help limit soreness while still giving you the stimulus you need as seen in this clip. You can lower the volume by doing less sets, reps, or weight (not all three). These strategies can help you continue to improve in the weight room without taking away from your sport which is ultimately the priority. A reminder that you’re an athlete not a bodybuilder or powerlifter.
Soreness for the Strong Human
Here is where things get a little more tricky. If you’re a strong human the weight room is a priority. Building muscle and strength is what you seek to do each time you step foot in your iron paradise. For you soreness is going to be necessary at times. You can’t gain a legitimate amount of muscle without it. You can gain strength without it, but it is going to take you a much longer time and you’re probably not that patient. Now this doesn’t mean you are SEEKING it out for every workout or feeling like your workout sucked because you aren’t sore for 3 days straight. Your body still needs time to recover and if it is constantly sore, you’re going to have a harder time seeing progress.
So what should you do?
First step is you HAVE to prioritize recovery. This means you need to eat right, sleep right, and if you really want to optimize you should do some soft tissue work or other form of recovery to minimize the soreness and lower the recovery time. You also should auto-regulate during your lifts and listen to your body day to day. Push yourself hard on days you feel great and take the foot of the gas on days you don’t or better yet, take a day off to let the body heal. Walk a fine line with soreness and feeling fresh. Soreness is going to happen because you’re busting your ass, but it shouldn’t be what you’re seeking in your lifts.
Regardless of what kind of human you are, soreness should not be sought after. Soreness does not mean you had a good workout. Lack of soreness does not mean you had a bad workout. If you aren’t sure the last time you went into a lift without being sore or feeling fresh, then you’re missing the point of lifting weights.
Work hard, work smart, and work consistently.
I have some big things I’ll be rolling out over the next few weeks and heading into 2023, so make sure you stay tuned and subscribed to my newsletter, follow me on Instagram (@t_mercfit), and my Facebook page so you don’t miss out on some opportunities to work with me on your way to becoming a healthy human!
Make it a great day!