[Gozilla36]

In my few years of resistance training and reading about resistance training, I have never read anything about the level of pain after a workout.

Using different techniques, I have experienced everywhere from no pain and weak muscles afterwards to extremely sore muscles that I literally can't move more than a few degrees. (Here recently, after a bicep workout, the tendon area leading to the biceps was so sore, my arms were stuck at 90 degrees and I had to walk around like a robot.)

I have also experienced workouts that give me sore muscles within a couple hours and others that show no signs of soreness 'til I wake up 16 hours later.

My question to anyone who can help is this... Where should the soreness factor be? Should it take my muscles 1 day, 3 days, or maybe 6 days to heal completely?

Also, what are the pros/cons to the varying amounts of pain?

What causes these different levels of pain?

Thanks for the help!!! :)

[therealgame]

pain???
theres a chick in the gym i go too thats a pain but i wont get into that..
today after doing cable tri's my forarm is alitle sore..with me if i feel pain while working out then i stop..a little sore after a workout i can handle..but pain..i think the only thing you gain is problems...

[Gozilla36]

My guide to when to stop is, "wait 'til it burns pretty good, then do another rep or two." If the muscles I work aren't sore the next day, then I didn't lift heavy enough.

Buy the way, in my earlier post, "pain" is refering to after the workout. Not during the workout.

I am normally sore for two or three days. When my muscles are no longer tender, that's when it's time to hit them again...

Wrong approach???

This is the idea I have adapted from the 'older' bodybuilders. Do you guys advise against it?

Does anyone have better results with less lifting?

[Ironslave]

Welcome, the soreness you are feeling in your arms is a result of working the short head of the biceps brachii and the brachialis, both of these distally insert into the elbow. Thats perfectly natural after a good biceps workout.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is not perfectly understood. Chances are it is a result of many physiological factors, such microtears healing in the proteins of the muscle fiber and joint inflamation. I like your attitude of thinking if you arent sore you didnt work hard enough, but DOMS is not a great indicator of muscle growth. I usually get some DOMS after each workout. Id reccomend reading the training frequency sticky at the top of this forum, theres a pretty good discussion between myself and another member who is completing his masters degree.

[18inchGun]

yea i do the same thing, if i wake up the next day and i am not sore, then i feel that i havent lifted hard enough, its worked for me thus far, i wonder if guys like ronnie and cutler still get sore?

[HyperStyle]

It's great waking up with intense muscle soreness, it's a good sign for me I worked my ass of in the gym!