Odd soreness discovery

[Balloon]

I am starting to question what i have been doing for the last year.

Basically I usually train legs using atleast 10 sets.

I haven't trained legs for 1 month, the size has gone down.

I currently don't have a gym memebership but have a 135lb barbell at home.
I decided i wanted to stimulate my legs, so i grabbed the barbell, no warmup, started squatting.

Very deep, 10 reps....then i stopped......breathed,,,,5 more reps,,,,breathed, 3 more reps....then dropped the bb.

I was pretty knackered...but this was not the type of intensity used during 20 rep squats.


I was very out of breath so decided to call it a day, i was pretty dissapointed in ymself for not doing anymore sets.

a 1/2 hour after the set, my legs started feeling sore and weak when i tried to climb stairs, then the next day, some of the worst soreness deep within the inner and outer quad.

Now i am really confused, if one high rep set of squats can leave me feeling like this, then do i need 10+ sets for growth? or is it just that i haven't worked legs for a month.

I am positive that my legs will grow because they are so damn sore.

[wes]

I am starting to question what i have been doing for the last year.

Basically I usually train legs using atleast 10 sets.

I haven't trained legs for 1 month, the size has gone down.

I currently don't have a gym memebership but have a 135lb barbell at home.
I decided i wanted to stimulate my legs, so i grabbed the barbell, no warmup, started squatting.

Very deep, 10 reps....then i stopped......breathed,,,,5 more reps,,,,breathed, 3 more reps....then dropped the bb.

I was pretty knackered...but this was not the type of intensity used during 20 rep squats.


I was very out of breath so decided to call it a day, i was pretty dissapointed in ymself for not doing anymore sets.

a 1/2 hour after the set, my legs started feeling sore and weak when i tried to climb stairs, then the next day, some of the worst soreness deep within the inner and outer quad.

Now i am really confused, if one high rep set of squats can leave me feeling like this, then do i need 10+ sets for growth? or is it just that i haven't worked legs for a month.

I am positive that my legs will grow because they are so damn sore.

One set of 20 reps with good weight can be very result producing,but c`mon,you hadn`t done legs in a friggin` month.

[tonymctones]

One set of 20 reps with good weight can be very result producing,but c`mon,you hadn`t done legs in a friggin` month.

LOL no doubt if that weight was decently heavy for you, you probably would have been sore at 10 reps with one set.

[GoneAway]

The soreness is a result of:

1. no warmup
2. no leg training for a month
3. no cool down

No one should ever feel sore after training. DOMS is a mistake that should never be taken as an indicator of growth. You did a terrible training session and are feeling the result of lack of warmup and being underprepared for the workload. Correct the 3 areas I've pointed out by warming up, cooling down, training legs regularly, and you'll never feel sore again.

[Soundness]

I am starting to question what i have been doing for the last year.

Basically I usually train legs using atleast 10 sets.

I haven't trained legs for 1 month, the size has gone down.

I currently don't have a gym memebership but have a 135lb barbell at home.
I decided i wanted to stimulate my legs, so i grabbed the barbell, no warmup, started squatting.

Very deep, 10 reps....then i stopped......breathed,,,,5 more reps,,,,breathed, 3 more reps....then dropped the bb.

I was pretty knackered...but this was not the type of intensity used during 20 rep squats.


I was very out of breath so decided to call it a day, i was pretty dissapointed in ymself for not doing anymore sets.

a 1/2 hour after the set, my legs started feeling sore and weak when i tried to climb stairs, then the next day, some of the worst soreness deep within the inner and outer quad.

Now i am really confused, if one high rep set of squats can leave me feeling like this, then do i need 10+ sets for growth? or is it just that i haven't worked legs for a month.

I am positive that my legs will grow because they are so damn sore.

Revelation.

Yes, it is pointless to do 10 sets. 1 very very hard set to failure is optimal. Additional sets will simply add recovery demands, hindering progress.

[Rimbaud]

I always make it a point to do at least 15 minutes af light cardio after training legs. Seems to keep them from getting too sore.

[iron_dawg]

never be sore again on legs I doubt that my friend...I haven't had a leg session where my legs weren't sore after training them.

[burn2live]

The soreness is a result of:

1. no warmup
2. no leg training for a month
3. no cool down

No one should ever feel sore after training. DOMS is a mistake that should never be taken as an indicator of growth. You did a terrible training session and are feeling the result of lack of warmup and being underprepared for the workload. Correct the 3 areas I've pointed out by warming up, cooling down, training legs regularly, and you'll never feel sore again.

x2

Also, failure training tends to bring on DOMS.

[GoneAway]

x2

Also, failure training tends to bring on DOMS.

I train to failure every single workout and have done for years. One thing I also do is static stretch afterwards and warm up before each exercise. Never have DOMs unless I take a month or more off, in which the DOMs is the result of the muscles adapting to the lighter workload of general life and being underprepared to handle weight training. After a couple days back into a steady training regime, the DOMs goes.

No one should feel sore from DOMs if they're training regularly. It's an indicator that your muscles aren't adapting, workout to workout, and eventually they'll give out.

[HURRICANE]

I train to failure every single workout and have done for years. One thing I also do is static stretch afterwards and warm up before each exercise. Never have DOMs unless I take a month or more off, in which the DOMs is the result of the muscles adapting to the lighter workload of general life and being underprepared to handle weight training. After a couple days back into a steady training regime, the DOMs goes.

No one should feel sore from DOMs if they're training regularly. It's an indicator that your muscles aren't adapting, workout to workout, and eventually they'll give out.

GoneAway, your advice is way off track.  It makes me wonder just how much you truly know about training or how serious a trainer you really are. 

Muscle soreness is caused by tiny microscopic tears in the muscle caused by intense training.  The process the body goes through in order to heal these small tears is what we call "recuperation."  This forces the muscles to hypertrophy in order to deal with the greater physical demands we placed on them in the future.  That is called adaptation (muscle growth).  To say that feeling sore is an indicator that your muscles aren't adapting is just plain wrong.  You gauge that by whether you are progressing in the gym (weights/reps) or not and increases in muscle size. 

If you feel an overwhelming soreness in your muscles than that is a sign that you are causing trauma to the muscles which will not spur growth, but lead to overtraining.  A modest amount of soreness (which can last up to 4 days) is indicitive that you have forced a greater demand on the muscle than it is used to (which will spur growth).  In contrast to what you say Goneaway, if you are not feeling soreness in your muscles after a workout than that is a sign that you are probably not training intense enough to induce muscle growth, therefore you will not adapt and thus remain stagnant in the gym and in your physique.

I have been training for many years and if I am NOT sore the next several days after training, I feel as though I have not provided enough stimulation to cause muscle growth.  Common sense will tell you what is "Good" soreness (the kind that reflects adequate stimulation to the muscle as necessary for growth) and what is "Bad" soreness (trauma/injury to the muscle which will result in no effective growth).

Balloon, start off slower and gradually build your way back into intense training.  What you felt was trauma and NOT an indicator of muscle hypertrophy.

[GoneAway]

GoneAway, your advice is way off track.  It makes me wonder just how much you truly know about training or how serious a trainer you really are. 

Muscle soreness is caused by tiny microscopic tears in the muscle caused by intense training.  The process the body goes through in order to heal these small tears is what we call "recuperation."  This forces the muscles to hypertrophy in order to deal with the greater physical demands we placed on them in the future.  That is called adaptation (muscle growth).  To say that feeling sore is an indicator that your muscles aren't adapting is just plain wrong.  You gauge that by whether you are progressing in the gym (weights/reps) or not and increases in muscle size. 

If you feel an overwhelming soreness in your muscles than that is a sign that you are causing trauma to the muscles which will not spur growth, but lead to overtraining.  A modest amount of soreness (which can last up to 4 days) is indicitive that you have forced a greater demand on the muscle than it is used to (which will spur growth).  In contrast to what you say Goneaway, if you are not feeling soreness in your muscles after a workout than that is a sign that you are probably not training intense enough to induce muscle growth, therefore you will not adapt and thus remain stagnant in the gym and in your physique.

I have been training for many years and if I am NOT sore the next several days after training, I feel as though I have not provided enough stimulation to cause muscle growth.  Common sense will tell you what is "Good" soreness (the kind that reflects adequate stimulation to the muscle as necessary for growth) and what is "Bad" soreness (trauma/injury to the muscle which will result in no effective growth).

Balloon, start off slower and gradually build your way back into intense training.  What you felt was trauma and NOT an indicator of muscle hypertrophy.

Disagree. I'm aware of the SAID principle and other factors contributing to hypertrophy, but to think that people - natural trainer's at that - are growing workout-to-workout is absurd. I'm certainly not pro or even amateur level in musclesize, but I have hypertrophied enough to say that what I am doing is working and needn't worry about feeling sore from DOMs. A common trick by P.T.'s to keep clients coming back is to say that DOMs = growth. The clients will likely only have 3 sessions a week, maximum, with the trainer; usually not enough to adapt to the training regime. Thus, they feel sore as a result of the very brief sessions over a prolonged period of time. It's not DOMs at all. Microtears have taken place, sure, but the main reason is that they're underprepared for the workload.

The human body is very adaptable, but most people need to train much more regularly and smarter than they do in order to help their body adapt to the stresses. Most people don't prepare their body before and after a workout and the result is ongoing soreness. It's not DOMs in the good sense, as you describe it. It won't produce significant musclegains for most people and will likely lead to injury from training whilst being stiff and sore.