Do you need even an ounce of soreness to make optimal gains??

[AnabolicKarma]

Ok, well i have searched the boards, typed in muscle soreness, and if anyone knows a better thread for me to answer my ideas..then thats cool...The basic jist of it, is i am about to start my first cycle...and i was wondering..i still make gains...both in strength and mass...but my strength goes up a ton more then gaining a pound or two here and t here of lean muscle mass...

DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH THE TYPES OF MUSCLE FIBERS I HAVE???

HOW MUCH DOES A MUSCLE HAVE TO RIP TO REPAIR AND GROW NEW MASS..ARE THE TWO CORRELATED AS FAR AS IF IT RIPS MORE U HAVE MORE POTENTIAL TO GAIN ALOT MORE MASS...IF EVERYTHING ELSE IS DONE RIGHT?


Like i can do 10 sets of ten at 225 squat
10 sets of 10 on bench,
10 sets of 100 on deadlifts...
with other exercises thrown in there...i am trying to do something new to shock my system instead of doing
(for now i am doing A GERMAN VOLUME APPROACH ON KEY BASIC COMPOUND EXERCISES))


I MEAN I JUST FEEL I AM NOT GAINING AS FAST AS I CAN IF I AM NOT VERY SORE AFTER A WORK OUT?? GIVE ME YOUR FEED BACK BROS!!

I CANT WAIT TO START MY CYCLE NEXT SUNDAY!! I AM STOKED! WOHOOOOOOO


I WILL POST MY PICS AND ALL..PLEASE HELP ME ALONG ON MY FIRST CYCLE..I WILL POST MY DIET..ETC!! tHANKS!

[TheMudMan]

I'm no expert in anyway I've only been training for 7 years now and I'm still learning.

I still get sore the day after I train. I make sure I go to failure on every set. Not MENTAL failure but MUSCLE failure and I never worry about how much weight I push because I'd rather do every set with good form than not hit the body part I'm training.

I think this is a great question because as I'm trying to answer this I realize everyone is different and their muscles may heal faster than say mine do and that may be why I feel sore the day after.

I'm sorry if I confused you more but I hope someone has an answer to this because now I'm curious.

[BigGreen]

Originally posted by AnabolicKarma


I MEAN I JUST FEEL I AM NOT GAINING AS FAST AS I CAN IF I AM NOT VERY SORE AFTER A WORK OUT?? GIVE ME YOUR FEED BACK BROS!!

Honestly, the answer to this would be very dependent on what you exact definition of "VERY" is....if it implies you should be basically unable to walk the next morning after every squat session, then I would suggest that, unless you have INSANE recuperative abilities, that would be most indicative of overtraining. Muscle soreness and muscle growth are all too often conflated in my opinion. To illustrate, you'd most likely be sore as all hell after running 16 miles, especially in the quads and calves, but I don't think anyone would be so bold as to suggest 16 mile runs would be a good way to go about inducing hypertrophy in these muscles. Now, this is an extreme, and rudimentary example at that...but it does elucidate to some degree what I'm talking about. None of this, however, is to suggest that *some* muscle soreness (more like a prolonged pump that carries over to the next day as opposed to a painful soreness) isn't a good thing. In fact, I continually strive for that and am not as happy as I could be with my workouts when I don't get that. At the heart of the issue, I believe, is what may be our two different conceptiosn of "Very sore". By the way, it's only a matter of time till Warrior stumbles in here and gives a more satisfactory answer than I.