We’ve all been there. You crawl out of bed the morning after a brutal leg day, and your quads feel like they’ve been tenderized with a meat mallet. Walking down a flight of stairs feels like a feat of Olympic proportions. There’s a weird sense of pride in that pain, right? For decades, the "no pain, no gain" mantra has convinced us that if we aren't hobbling around, the workout didn't count. But honestly, does being sore mean muscle growth is actually happening, or are you just punishing your nervous system for no reason?
The short answer is: not necessarily.
Muscle soreness—specifically Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)—is a fickle indicator of progress. You can grow massive amounts of muscle without ever feeling like you were hit by a bus. Conversely, you can be so sore you can't lift a spoon and yet see zero actual hypertrophy. It’s a biological side effect, not a prerequisite.
The Biology of the Burn
When we talk about DOMS, we’re talking about that stiffness that peaks 24 to 48 hours after exercise. It isn't lactic acid. That’s an old myth that needs to die. Lactic acid clears out of your system within an hour or two of finishing your sets. What you’re actually feeling is microscopic damage to the muscle fibers and the subsequent inflammatory response as your body rushes to fix the mess you made.
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, a leading researcher in muscle hypertrophy, has spent a significant portion of his career looking into this exact question. In his research, he notes that while mechanical tension and metabolic stress are primary drivers of growth, muscle damage (which causes soreness) is only a piece of the puzzle. It’s possible to trigger growth through tension alone without tearing the fibers to the point of agony.
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Think about marathon runners. They get incredibly sore. Their legs are trashed after 26.2 miles. Yet, they aren't exactly known for having massive, bodybuilder-style quads. If soreness was the direct dial for growth, every long-distance runner would have legs like Tom Platz. It just doesn't work that way because the stimulus is different.
Why You Stop Getting Sore (And Why That’s Good)
If you’re new to the gym, everything hurts. Your body is encountering "unaccustomed stimulus." It doesn't know how to handle the load, so the damage is high. But after a few weeks, something called the Repeated Bout Effect kicks in. Your muscles become more resilient. They adapt. They learn how to protect themselves from the specific stress of that movement.
This is where people freak out. They stop feeling sore and assume they’ve hit a plateau. So they change their entire routine. They start doing "muscle confusion" or adding 15 more sets of bicep curls just to feel that ache again.
That’s a mistake.
Progress is measured by the logbook, not the pain scale. If you are lifting more weight or performing more reps than you were last month, you are growing. Period. The absence of soreness actually means your recovery systems are becoming more efficient. You’re becoming a better athlete.
The Downside of Chasing the Ache
There is a point where soreness becomes counterproductive. If you’re so beat up that your form breaks down during your next session, you’re increasing your injury risk. High levels of DOMS can also reduce the force-generating capacity of a muscle by up to 50%.
If you’re supposed to hit chest on Monday and Thursday, but you’re still so sore on Thursday that you can’t get a full range of motion, you’re missing out on high-quality volume. Consistency beats intensity almost every single time. Chasing soreness often leads to "junk volume"—doing extra sets just to feel a pump or a burn, which actually drains your systemic recovery rather than building new tissue.
Factors that influence DOMS:
- Genetics: Some people are "high responders" to soreness while others rarely feel it.
- Hydration: Being even slightly dehydrated can make the inflammatory response feel more intense.
- Eccentric loading: Focus on the "lowering" phase of a lift (like going down slowly on a squat) creates way more soreness than the lifting phase.
- Sleep: Lack of REM sleep slows down the repair process, keeping you sore longer.
Does Being Sore Mean Muscle Growth? Looking at the Evidence
In a 2013 study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, researchers looked at how muscle damage relates to hypertrophy. They found that while some damage can signal satellite cell activity (the stuff that helps muscles grow), it’s not the main engine.
Real growth comes from progressive overload. This means doing more over time.
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If you want to know if you're growing, look for these signs instead:
- Increased Strength: Are you stronger in the 8–12 rep range?
- Muscle Fullness: Do your muscles feel "harder" even when not training?
- Improved Recovery: Can you handle the same workout with less rest?
- Body Composition: Is your weight staying the same while your waist gets smaller?
Honestly, the best workouts are often the ones where you leave feeling energized, not defeated. If you’re constantly red-lining, your cortisol levels stay elevated. High cortisol is a muscle killer. It breaks down tissue and encourages fat storage around the midsection. So, that "killer" workout might actually be stalling your gains.
Nutrition and the Soreness Myth
Sometimes, extreme soreness isn't a sign of a good workout; it’s a sign of a bad diet. If you aren't eating enough protein or calories, your body doesn't have the bricks and mortar to repair the "micro-tears" you created. You’ll stay sore for four or five days because your body is scavaging for amino acids.
Basically, if you’re chronically sore, check your plate before you brag about your gym session. You might just be under-recovered.
Actionable Steps for Real Progress
Stop using soreness as your North Star. It’s a liars' metric. Instead, pivot your focus to things that actually correlate with size and strength gains.
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- Track your lifts religiously. Use an app or a notebook. If the numbers are going up over a 4-to-6 week block, you are winning, regardless of how your muscles feel the next morning.
- Prioritize the eccentric. If you actually want a little soreness to feel like you did something, control the weight on the way down for 2-3 seconds. This creates the mechanical tension necessary for growth without needing to do 40 sets.
- Evaluate your range of motion. Soreness often comes from stretching a muscle under load. Ensure you’re getting deep in your squats and full extension on your presses.
- Manage your "Soreness Budget." If a specific exercise—like Romanian Deadlifts—keeps you sore for a week, do it once a week, not three times. Optimize your frequency based on how fast you actually recover.
- Don't chase "Muscle Confusion." Stick to the same big movements for at least 8-12 weeks. This allows you to move past the "soreness phase" and into the "strength and growth phase" where the real magic happens.
Muscle growth is a slow, boring process of repetition and incremental increases. It’s not a dramatic explosion of pain every single morning. Trust the process, trust the weight on the bar, and stop worrying if you can still walk the day after leg day. If you can walk, it just means you're ready to train again sooner. And training more often, with high quality, is the fastest way to get where you want to go.