Does Muscle Soreness Mean You've Had a Good Workout?

What’s Happening

Listen up: If you’re lifting until you feel the pain, you should probably reassess the way you approach fitness.

IT’S THE DAY after leg day and you’re having a hard time walking. You’re deadass sore, and it’s difficult to do just about anything. (yes, really)

That must mean you had a solid workout.

The Details

“Contrary to popular belief, the level of soreness you’re feeling in your body has nothing to do with whether you had an effective workout or not,” says Ebenezer Samuel, C. Often, the feeling you get after a workout is a phenomenon called delayed onset muscle soreness .

Exercise causes small micro-tears in muscle fibers—which is completely normal, and how muscles grow back bigger and stronger. But, these micro-tears can cause some inflammation, which leads to pain.

Why This Matters

If you’ve spent most of your life evaluating the efficacy of your workouts on the level of pain you feel on the days afterward, you’re not alone. Here, Samuel talks about why muscle soreness shouldn’t be your marker of a good gym session—and what should be your north star instead. Does Muscle Soreness Mean You Had a Good Workout?

Health experts are weighing in on what this means for people.

Key Takeaways

• Soreness is a fact of life in fitness.
• Importantly, but, Samuel notes that there is a difference between the burn you feel in your muscles post-workout, and the pain you feel in joints.
• Muscle soreness is a different story, and is going to happen when you strength train.

The Bottom Line

” Here’s why you should be smart about muscle soreness. Pushing Through Soreness Can Lead to Overtraining If you’re aiming to work yourself up to soreness for every workout, you might lead yourself into overtraining .

How do you feel about this development?