Strength and Conditioning serves as a necessary foundation for more advanced training techniques. First point of every program is to make sure the body is ready for what it is going to be doing. I know you have been told that shocking the body is how you get results. This a true statement! However, If you haven’t prepared your body, the likelihood of you either injuring yourself or becoming so sore that you aren’t able to train for a week, is most likely. Neither of those outcomes are going to get you results. I hear people declare, often just too happily, that they are in a lot of muscle pain after a workout, just to get a satisfying congratulating response from their friends. Obviously they are under the impression that only if they are sore after a workout, have they worked hard enough.
The questions you should ask yourself are, why am I feeling sore? Do I have to feel sore after every workout? And does it mean if I am not sore after a workout I am not going to get a result? Let’s get to the bottom of these questions!
Why am I sore?
A very common answer to this question, and a term I am sure everyone has heard before, is DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). DOMS are the outcome/result but what caused it?There still is much debate and common misconception is that Lactic Acid is one of the culprits of DOMS. This is not correct as Lactic Acid doesn’t stay in the bloodstream long enough to cause DOMS. During intense weight training muscle cells get damaged and that’s one factor that causes the pain. Lactic acid and other metabolites (toxic waste within the bloodstream) are responsible for the burning feeling when you are doing intense exercise. Lactic acid is important as it warns you when you reach your limit and it should stop you from over working your body and causing serious damage.
The exact causes of DOMS and studies done on this subject are still inconclusive. Based on my own experience with clients and training myself, I know that the body’s initial response to an exercise is far more magnified when starting a training program for the first time or after a long break. This is why we prepare the body for each phase of exercise with increased duration of the activity and slowly increasing the load or intensity.
Are we getting results if we are not sore after training?
The answer to this question will change depending on the training phase and your goal. If your goal is to increase muscle mass and you are in a loading phase then yes, you should work your muscles to the limit and will feel DOMS. In this instance you are trying to get a shock response from the body!
If your goal is endurance strength, mobility or cardiovascular fitness then suffering DOMS will only hinder you getting your results. To reach these goals your training has to be accumulative meaning the duration of the activities are longer and frequency higher. In every training cycle there will be a phase where you going to feel he muscle pain. These are usually at the beginning or start of your program and when you switch from one routine to the next.
There is so much information out there and it has never been so accessible as now. As a result, we only tend to take in the highlights. Think of your goal as a destination and the workout program as a road map. Find the safest, fastest route. If you get side tracked by the scenery along the way, it will take you longer to get where you want to go!
We all know knowledge is power but information can be confusing and misleading. Find out what is the most important goal you wish to achieve from exercise then source information accordingly.
If you need to get a head start you can book in here and we can help figure things out for you with a custom assessment and testing. Whether it is a remedial massage you are in need of or a bit more guidance in regards to training, we can help get you on the right path.