A big misconception surrounding training is that you need to leave the gym feeling sore or finish a run absolutely exhausted. This couldn't be further from the truth.
Of course, you have to push yourself and test your fitness periodically, but when you're training you have to leave enough room to progress and consistently make the sessions a little harder week after week. The point of strength training is to promote physiological changes to your body (increased strength, body awareness, reduced likelihood of injury etc.) that will carry over and enhance sport performance. There are plenty of other ways to see if you are making progress rather than leaving the gym with your muscles screaming in pain.
Trying a new exercise or program will leave you feeling sore for a few days after your workout, but this doesn't mean you've just worked some new muscles or you need to constantly change your program to prevent your body from getting "used" to your workouts. Keeping a consistent program and training schedule will allow for realistic and permanent change to occur over time.
Losing body fat, going up in weight or reps, completing the same session with less fatigue or with less rest between sets. These are all additional ways that indicate that we've had a good session and are making progress. If you truly want to make permanent and sustainable change and achieve the goals you've set from the start, you have to be committed to the long-term journey. The results won't happen overnight.
If you are feeling sore after the gym it is a sign that you most likely overdid it in your last session and haven't been able to recover properly. This will affect the quality of your training later in the week. This delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) leaves your muscles in a vulnerable state, and when you train too soon after or make this soreness a regular occurrence, you increase the chance of injury, illness, and missing out on weeks of training. Training in the gym is supposed to aid in your sport performance, and so when we are feeling sore after strength sessions this will interfere with subsequent sports training.
In order to prevent this from happening, it is important that you take a less is more approach if you are doing your own programming or listening to your coach's advice when they are prescribing your exercises.
Getting consistent sleep every night, eating plenty of whole foods, and consuming lots of protein in your diet is a great way of ensuring you are recovering session to session.
If you're a parent who wants to ensure their young athlete receives the right support and guidance to improve their sport performance, get immediate access to "A Parent's Guide to Avoiding the Top 3 Problems Facing Young Athletes Today."
For further information on how we can help, contact us today.
Matt Hucul
Strength Coach
Inner Athlete Performance
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