Is soreness a good indicator of a good workout?

What Your Muscle Soreness Means

Picture this: you’ve just had an intense workout session - one that left you thinking OMG, I'm going to be sore tomorrow! Then tomorrow comes, you aren’t even the slightest bit sore - so you might think to yourself, Well, I mustn’t have had a good workout yesterday after all. :(

But soreness is not a good indicator of a good workout. And it isn’t something that you'll always experience, so judging your workouts by soreness is not a great tracker.

We’re sore when we push our bodies in ways they aren’t used to yet: when first getting back into the gym, or doing a new movement, or increasing stimulus (reps, tempo, weight). You may experience little bouts of sore muscles a couple of days after a workout, but nothing extreme.

If you are feeling very sore all the time, then you may not have enough recovery from your training, or need more nutrition. You can start by looking at recovery factors, such as rest, water, and diet. Consider reassessing your training volume: if you're constantly overexerting yourself every session, this may hold you back from progressing.

Here are ways to help improve your recovery:

• Increase protein, which helps promote muscle growth and recovery
• Increase water: hydration helps with muscle repair, which builds muscle
• Low intensity walks to stretch out muscles and promote blood-flow between workouts
• Follow a structured progressive program that allows for progressive overload and decreases risk of overtraining

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