You wake up, swing your legs out of bed, and immediately regret yesterday’s split squat set.
Or… you feel totally normal. Like you didn’t even workout.
Most people land in one of two camps:
- “If I’m not sore, it didn’t work.”
- “If I’m sore, I overdid it.”
Neither story is quite right.
At Block, we’ve coached thousands of adults (35–80+) through strength training. And here’s what we’ve found: soreness can be information… but it’s a pretty noisy signal. You can learn from it, without worshiping it.
First, the biggest myth: soreness isn’t proof of a good workout
DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) is real. It usually shows up after unfamiliar or high-eccentric work (think: slow lowers, new ranges, new movements), and tends to peak somewhere around 24–72 hours. PMC
But soreness does not reliably tell you:
- if you built muscle
- if you got stronger
- if your program is “working”
There’s research showing DOMS doesn’t necessarily reflect the magnitude of muscle damage from eccentric exercise, and it’s not a clean proxy for productive training. PubMed
So yes:
- You can get sore from a great session.
- You can get sore from a messy session.
- You can make excellent progress with very little soreness.
Soreness often reflects novelty more than effectiveness.
And still… if you never feel anything, especially while strength training, that’s worth looking at.
If you never get sore: what it usually means
Let’s keep it simple. If soreness basically never shows up, one (or more) of these tends to be true.
1) You train frequently (5–6 days/week)
Frequent exposure reduces the shock factor. Your body stays “in practice,” so it doesn’t freak out after each session.
This is adaptation, and it’s a good thing.
2) Your recovery habits are strong
When sleep, hydration, daily movement, and protein are dialed in, soreness often drops.
Protein matters here—higher daily protein intake combined with resistance training supports better outcomes (lean mass and strength) in research reviews. PMC
In the gym, we see it all the time: two people do the same workout, one is wrecked for two days, the other feels fine. The “fine” person usually sleeps more, walks more, and eats more protein.
3) Your training is very consistent (same patterns, same ranges)
Routine reduces soreness. Novelty increases it.
New movement + new range + new tempo = soreness bingo.
4) The intensity is staying low
This one’s the important check.
If the weights, reps, range of motion, or effort level rarely change, your body doesn’t get a strong reason to adapt.
So here’s a useful question:
If you train 2–3 days per week and never get sore, are you getting measurably stronger?
More reps? More load? Better control? Bigger range?
If the answer is “not really,” you might be living in maintenance mode. Which is fine—if maintenance is your goal.
If progress is your goal, the program needs a little more challenge in the right places (without turning every workout into a street fight).
If you get sore often: yes, it can be normal
Especially if you train twice per week.
Here’s why: with fewer weekly sessions, the gap between exposures is bigger. The body recovers… then starts to lose a little familiarity with the exact stimulus… then the next session feels “new” again.
That cycle can look like:
Recover → detrain slightly → re-stress → repeat
This is one reason people who train more often tend to report less soreness, even when they’re working hard—because the stimulus is more evenly distributed.
It also explains why soreness returns hard after:
- a week off
- travel
- holidays
- inconsistent training blocks
Your body likes rhythm. When rhythm disappears, soreness shows up.
When soreness becomes a problem
A little DOMS is fine. Crippling soreness that changes your walking pattern, wrecks your sleep, or forces you to skip training… that’s a program issue.
And often, the fix isn’t “train less.”
It’s:
- slightly less novelty (reduce random exercise swaps)
- smarter volume ramps (build weeks instead of jumping)
- better recovery basics (sleep, steps, protein)
The piece most people miss: frequency changes the “dose” per workout
Here’s the trade-off we coach every day at Block:
If you train fewer days per week…
Each session needs a slightly stronger stimulus to drive progress.
If you train more days per week…
You can spread the work out, keep sessions more moderate, and still progress.
Both approaches work. They just come with different expectations around soreness.
And this is where good coaching matters: we’re not guessing. We’re watching performance trends and adjusting the dose—load, reps, tempo, range, and weekly volume—so training stays productive and sustainable.
Quick Take: What soreness is (and isn’t) telling you
Soreness can mean:
- the movement is new
- the range is new
- the eccentric demand increased
- you took time off
- you did more total work than your current tolerance
Soreness doesn’t automatically mean:
- you built muscle
- you trained “hard enough”
- you had a great program
If you want a better scoreboard than soreness, track:
- reps at the same load
- load at the same reps
- range of motion quality
- control and tempo
- how fast you recover between sessions
FAQ: Soreness, DOMS, and strength training
Is DOMS necessary for muscle growth?
No. Soreness isn’t a requirement for hypertrophy or strength gains. It’s more tied to novelty and tissue sensitivity than “results.” PubMed
Why do I get sore 2 days after lifting?
DOMS commonly peaks around 24–72 hours after unfamiliar or intense training. PMC
How often does a muscle “need” to be trained?
It depends on your total weekly volume and recovery. We do know muscle protein synthesis rises after resistance training and then trends back toward baseline within about 36 hours in some classic work, which helps explain why multiple exposures per week can be useful. PubMed
(That doesn’t mean you need to train everything every 36 hours—just that frequency can be a helpful tool.)
What helps soreness the most?
In our experience: sleep, daily walking, and sufficient protein, plus gradual progression. Protein and resistance training together consistently show benefits in research reviews. PMC
The bottom line
You don’t need to chase soreness.
You don’t need to fear it.
You can learn to read it.
Soreness is a message, not a medal.
If you want help interpreting what your body is telling you—and making sure your training dose matches your goals—we can walk through it together. A simple assessment (or a quick conversation) usually clears up weeks of guesswork.
Move Better. Feel Better. Live Stronger.
References
- Nosaka K, et al. Delayed-onset muscle soreness does not reflect the magnitude of eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage. (2002). PubMed
- Chen J, et al. Differences in the Effectiveness of Different Physical Therapy… (DOMS overview: onset/peak timeline) (2025). PMC
- MacDougall JD, et al. The time course for elevated muscle protein synthesis following heavy resistance training. (1995). PubMed
- Nunes EA, et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of protein intake to support resistance training adaptations. (2022). PMC
- Wilke J, et al. Is “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness” a False Friend? (2021). PMC