#FitnessQuestions #MuscleSoreness #ResistanceTraining #FiberRecruitment
Hey everyone! 👋
So, I’ve been doing some thinking about when you start a workout routine, especially with resistance training. You know how in those first few weeks, it seems like we’re not really building new muscle yet? Instead, it’s more about “fiber recruitment” – getting those underused muscles to wake up and join the party. 💪
Here’s what I’m pondering:
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Soreness vs. Muscle Damage: If we’re not actually damaging and rebuilding our muscle fibers during this time, why do we feel so sore afterward? 🤔
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Understanding Fiber Recruitment: My take on fiber recruitment is that your body has some muscles that have been pretty lazy (not being used much). So, we need to keep training to basically teach these fibers how to engage again.
- The Soreness Mystery: I’ve always thought that soreness was due to muscle damage – the good kind that helps our muscles grow. But if that’s not the case during the initial phase, what’s actually causing the aches and pains?
I think it could be related to micro-tears and the adaptation process our body goes through. But I’d love to hear your thoughts!
💬 Question for you all: Have you experienced this kind of soreness when starting a new workout program? What did you think caused it? Any tips you can share for handling that initial discomfort?
Looking forward to hearing your experiences! Let’s get chatting! 🗣️
It’s not that you don’t build ANY muscle, you still are to a slight extent. Also it’s a case of a 1) new and difficult stimulus to the body 2) fatigue.
Just like any sport can make you feel sore, especially if you’re starting off, even if that sport doesn’t build any/little muscle.
Delayed onset muscle soreness isn’t really indicative of anything productive. It’s a reaction to an eccentric muscle contraction that you’re not nearly adapted to. Take the squat: when you lower yourself down into a squatting position, that’s the eccentric portion. Pushing yourself back up is concentric.
Your first day of training you squat 50 pounds, and get sore as hell the next day. Can barely walk. The day after that you squat 55 pounds, and get somewhat sore the day after. On to 60, 65, 70, eventually 100 and you’re not really getting “sore” the day after training like you did the first time. Yet you’re getting stronger! But if one day you skip the weights and just do two hundred air squats instead, you’ll be struggling to get out of bed the next morning again. The body weight squats won’t get you any stronger at this point, you’re already handling much heavier weights. But the volume of eccentric work will make you good and sore.
Because that isn’t exactly true.
As you develop your mind-muscle connection, perfect your form, learn more about anatomy, et cetera, you will get better at accruing microtears in the specific muscles you are working, yes, which will result in more growth in that newbie gains phase. Increasing your fiber recruitment will contribute to this, but you aren’t *not* using the muscles in your pecs and arms when you do your first bench press.
I don’t know the science behind but I do want to add in that you can be sore without actually building muscle. Your body recovers and in most cases builds extra muscle to meet the demands of your work outs. Take the case of overworking a muscle group though: Your body is now mainly just interested in getting your muscle back to where it was before you over-worked it. As far as whether you build muscle in the beginning stages along with fiber recruitment, I don’t know. But it is possible to be sore without making gainz, which could help with an explanation to the original question.