A Sore Subject
January 29th 2007 11:33
Last Friday my leg workout consisted of squats only. I was reminded again of
to sing the praises of the squat and ponder why people would use the silly lower back machine in the gym when a few squats would do more for their lower back than a lifetime of lower back machine nonsense. Instead I would like to focus on the process of using their effects to analyze the efficiency of workouts.
At 48 hours after the all squat workout some useful information is available to me. For one thing I am reminded that weight training involves the paradox of tearing down to build up. My legs are feeling the soreness of having been pushed to do all those squats. The extent to which I am debilitated is an indication that serious training has occured-not insane training because I can walk and getting out of a chair is not a fearsome event-but productive training. I am pleased.
If you have gone through a workout, you should be able to feel some soreness too at about 48 hours. To a serious bodybuilder soreness is a pleasure of a sort; it signals that the efforts to tear down tissue have been a success and that the body will build it back plus the little extra that means bigger muscles. No soreness? That speaks volumes about your training.
When you are new to weight training soreness probably causes you less joy, but it is an inevitable and useful part of sculpting the body. If you feel little or nothing in the days after a workout you are probably not pushing yourself,i.e. wasting your time. Veterans can tell when the soreness is too great and when it is insufficient, but for a beginner the expectation should be that you are pretty sore and a little uncomfortable. To make progress in weight trainer you should accustom yourself to assessing your level of soreness on a regular basis and calibrating it so that it is just the right amount. Less soreness means that adaptation is taking place and you need to consider ramping the difficulty of your work.Extreme soreness on the other hand is not useful.
Your soreness can teach you more about yourself than just that you have worked hard. It can confirm that the movements you have chosen for certain body parts are in fact working those body parts. Sounds a little crazy,but I see people doing movements all the time that are not producing what I suspect they think they are. I did squats and two days later my quads are sore and my rear end. This rear soreness is important to me,because I want to firm up that part and squats are apparently at work on the project. I am also sore in my inner thighs and that's good too. (OK. I can't help it. Squats rule! )
Note with care what is sore after every workout and set your exercise selection in accordance with the results. If you train a muscle and feel nothing, start looking for different exercises or your form in your movements. Fail to tap into this feedback loop and you will be flying blind. Weight training is a thinking and analytical enterprise. Your servant, as always.
At 48 hours after the all squat workout some useful information is available to me. For one thing I am reminded that weight training involves the paradox of tearing down to build up. My legs are feeling the soreness of having been pushed to do all those squats. The extent to which I am debilitated is an indication that serious training has occured-not insane training because I can walk and getting out of a chair is not a fearsome event-but productive training. I am pleased.
If you have gone through a workout, you should be able to feel some soreness too at about 48 hours. To a serious bodybuilder soreness is a pleasure of a sort; it signals that the efforts to tear down tissue have been a success and that the body will build it back plus the little extra that means bigger muscles. No soreness? That speaks volumes about your training.
When you are new to weight training soreness probably causes you less joy, but it is an inevitable and useful part of sculpting the body. If you feel little or nothing in the days after a workout you are probably not pushing yourself,i.e. wasting your time. Veterans can tell when the soreness is too great and when it is insufficient, but for a beginner the expectation should be that you are pretty sore and a little uncomfortable. To make progress in weight trainer you should accustom yourself to assessing your level of soreness on a regular basis and calibrating it so that it is just the right amount. Less soreness means that adaptation is taking place and you need to consider ramping the difficulty of your work.Extreme soreness on the other hand is not useful.
Your soreness can teach you more about yourself than just that you have worked hard. It can confirm that the movements you have chosen for certain body parts are in fact working those body parts. Sounds a little crazy,but I see people doing movements all the time that are not producing what I suspect they think they are. I did squats and two days later my quads are sore and my rear end. This rear soreness is important to me,because I want to firm up that part and squats are apparently at work on the project. I am also sore in my inner thighs and that's good too. (OK. I can't help it. Squats rule! )
Note with care what is sore after every workout and set your exercise selection in accordance with the results. If you train a muscle and feel nothing, start looking for different exercises or your form in your movements. Fail to tap into this feedback loop and you will be flying blind. Weight training is a thinking and analytical enterprise. Your servant, as always.
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Comment by Claire S