Aching/DOMS

J

jakee

0
right.. background is im 17 years old, 5'9, weigh around 60kgs, my goals are to generally get bigger really..

ive been going to the gym properly since september 2011, so roughly 5 months now..

ive made pretty decent progress in almost every aspect, i work basically every body part except my legs

but ive noticed that i've stopped aching? some people say this means you arent doing enough to grow, some say you do etc, so confusing!

i change up my workouts every few weeks etc just to keep my muscles guessing, but i never seem to really get DOMS?!

i just dont understand why im not getting them, cos im used to it or what?

and can someone finally answer to me whether considering i never ache, could i still grow this way?!
 
Everyone is different. Some people can recover very quickly, its just in their genes. I'm similar to you in that I hardly ever get DOMS. The only time I'll get it is after real ass kickers. As long as your workouts are pushing you, leaving your muscles at that exhausted state, you are making gains.
 
DOMS are a result of micro-tears and tissue damage in your muscle fibers. As you get used to the type of training that's causing them, your body adapts to prevent so much damage to the muscle.

Since muscle growth is a product of repairing damaged tissue, I've read articles linking DOMS to increased muscle growth and, thus, the consensus states that you see less progress after you stop feeling them. However, there's also conflicting research stating this to be wrong, and that the damage is still there sans the swelling and pain. Personally, I'm not completely clear on the topic yet, and am still waiting to find some agreeing, conclusive studies.
 
A couple of years ago, there was a Japanese study that tested to see if muscles were recovered even when DOMS was present. The consensus was that muscle recovery and DOMS were seperate events.

Although DOMS can be an indicator of muscle damage, and therefore growth, DOMS is actually caused by chemical pain signals in the muscle as a response to microtrauma - not the microtrauma itself.

Bottom line: gauge your progress based on whether or not your size/ strength improves, not whether or not you are getting sore. There is also some evidence that DOMS could be an indication of adhesions forming in the muscle, so DOMS itself is probably not a great thing. If you can make progress in muscle size and strength without DOMS - all the better :)
 
thanks everyone, interesting stuff aha. I would just simply check by eye to see if I'm getting bigger etc, but thing is I just didn't wanna waste time? like, I'd rather not be wasting my time expecting to get bigger when I'm don't, but I'll give it a shot, thanks guys :)
 
TrainerMike said:
A couple of years ago, there was a Japanese study that tested to see if muscles were recovered even when DOMS was present. The consensus was that muscle recovery and DOMS were seperate events.

Although DOMS can be an indicator of muscle damage, and therefore growth, DOMS is actually caused by chemical pain signals in the muscle as a response to microtrauma - not the microtrauma itself.

Bottom line: gauge your progress based on whether or not your size/ strength improves, not whether or not you are getting sore. There is also some evidence that DOMS could be an indication of adhesions forming in the muscle, so DOMS itself is probably not a great thing. If you can make progress in muscle size and strength without DOMS - all the better :)
Click to expand...

That study sounds interesting! Do you have the reference? I'd love to read it.
 
1) OP, start training your legs. You want to be generally bigger, right? Well if you don't train your legs, you won't be generally bigger, you'll only be bigger in half your body. Your legs will still be twigs, and it'll either stall your progress, or it'll result in looking like Johnny Bravo if you do manage to grow anything.

2) As has been said above, DOMS and growth are seperate events. At least half of the muscle mass I've developed (more importantly, the latter half of the muscle mass I've gained; and the more you gain, the harder it is to gain more on top of it) has come with very little DOMS.

3) Muscles do not guess. Muscle fibres either receive an electrical signal, or they don't. If they receive an electrical signal, they contract. If they don't, they don't. Muscles do not know any more than this. They cannot guess or get confused.
 
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