Stopped Getting Sore? Why Strength Gains Matter More

Nikkiey: Hey everyone, what's up? Nikkiey here with WarriorBabe, and in today's video I'm going to explain why feeling sore after a workout doesn't always mean you're making progress. It doesn't always mean that you're tearing down the muscle in the right way in order to build it up.

Maybe you currently feel like you aren't pushing yourself enough in the gym. Maybe you're not sore the next day after your workout, and you're spinning your wheels trying to figure out why you aren't seeing the results you'd expect for how hard you're pushing yourself. By the end of this video, you're going to have a whole new perspective on why being sore after a workout isn't the best indicator of your progress. You'll learn what to focus on instead to put you on the right path to building muscle and changing your body composition.

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I get asked this a lot: "Nikkiey, I'm not sore this week. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" "I was really sore at the beginning of my new workouts, but I'm not that sore anymore." "This month I'm not as sore as I was last month with my workouts."

Understand this: soreness is not an indicator of your progress. Making progress is the indicator of your progress. You could never get sore and still be consistently building muscle and burning away body fat.

You can progressively overload just a tiny bit, to the point where you don't get sore. What matters most is that your body is adapting and getting stronger because you are overloading. By progressive overload, I mean that your sets, your reps and your weights increase over time. If you keep progressively overloading but you don't get sore, your body is still adapting and it's still getting stronger.

So many people say, "This week I increased my weight a little bit in some of my workouts." I want you to know that is exactly what you should be focusing on. That is amazing feedback. It's way more important than whether or not you're sore after your workouts.

As a pro tip, every four to six weeks you should play around with your set counts and your rep counts, because that's going to help you progress. That is progress. That is your best indicator that you're doing well with the workout program you're following, not your level of soreness. If you never get sore but your strength is going up, guess what? You're doing great.

Chasing the feeling of soreness after every single workout as a sign that your workout program is solid, that it's freaking amazing, is a terrible indicator and a terrible focus to have. Actually, soreness can be an indicator that you've done too much. If you are really, really sore and it lasts more than two to three days, you probably went way too hard or did way too much in that workout.

And guess what? I am so guilty of this sometimes, and I bet you are too. That's why I'm sharing this with you today. This probably happens to all of us, to you and me. We get so freaking excited about the workout we have programmed that day. You hit some pre-workout, which makes you maximize your intensity during the workout, to the point where you can't walk for three days after leg day.

You probably don't feel like that during the workout. You probably feel amazing. But the damage you did means you can't walk. That, my friends, is not optimal. At that point, your body isn't adapting, and adapting is what builds muscle and gets you stronger. Instead, it's healing the damage that was caused in that workout. You can heal, but you're never going to adapt.

So the best indicator of your progress is progress. If you're getting stronger, you're building more muscle, which means you're moving forward and you will get the results you want.

But the reality is, sometimes you will be sore. Each workout depends on so many other variables. Did you have a good night's sleep the night before? Are you hydrated? Are you giving yourself proper fuel with your nutrition? Are you under a lot of stress? All of those play a part in that specific workout and your ability to recover. So sometimes you may be sore.

The moral of today's topic is this: if you're not getting sore, but you can do another set, add more reps or add five more pounds compared with the previous week, then you are progressing. It is okay not to be sore. Don't use soreness as your primary indicator that you had a successful workout or that your workout programming is successful. Progress is your primary indicator. If you're getting stronger, you are building muscle, which means you are making progress.

So that's all I've got for today. I hope you learned something, especially about soreness and your workout programming, and that you can apply this mentality to your journey right now.

Let me know in the comments below what else you want to learn about, and I'll make more videos on the topics you're interested in. If you want sustainable nutrition, macro and workout information for your individual needs and goals, head over to WarriorBabe.com. There you'll find many more resources on this topic, on nutrition and on mindset that will help you build the lean, toned body you want and, most importantly, help you keep the results forever.

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