Is feeling sore after lifting weights tearing the fibers for growth?

[acslater55]

Perhaps you are being overly cautious.

If you don't take high doses of Ibuprofen, it will have NO effect on muscle growth. Not sure what they mean by HIGH doses, but I only take 400 mg usually before bed if I am in a lot of usually DOMS type pain. Or if some sort of muscle bruising, as in a fall. It does seem to help for the more intense pain. (normally if you train often, you won't get intense pain anyway).

I never take more than 400 mg, and seldom take more than 1 dose in a day. It seems to do nothing for me if I have a headache. And only for 1 day, as DOMS tends to decrease rapidly after it peaks.

From your link ...

"We conclude that a moderate dose of ibuprofen ingested after repeated resistance training sessions does not impair muscle hypertrophy or strength and does not affect ratings of muscle soreness. "

Yea, maybe higher doses would be counter-productive, I guess we don't really know. I appreciate your reply!

 

[Vince Carter]

Not trying to flame here, but I'm not a huge fan of ibuprofen unless it is absolutely needed.

Anti-inflammatory drugs can inhibit muscle growth

I would agree 1200mg is a whopper dose though I note they call it a 24hr probably cumulative dose. Whereas I'm used to old military that handed out Motrin by the handful, 800mg tablets. Handed out so much that we all had big bottles of what we called the "Air Force Vitamin" or "Vitamin M". I never take less than 800mg but I digress...

 

[DragonBits]

I would agree 1200mg is a whopper dose though I note they call it a 24hr probably cumulative dose. Whereas I'm used to old military that handed out Motrin by the handful, 800mg tablets. Handed out so much that we all had big bottles of what we called the "Air Force Vitamin" or "Vitamin M". I never take less than 800mg but I digress...

This part is weird.

"The results partly contradict studies in older populations, which have indicated that anti-inflammatory drugs can protect against age-related muscle-mass loss. The researchers think, therefore, that the mechanism regulating muscle mass differs between the old and the young. "

 

[Dave B.]

To add on to this thread, you can also completely destroy your muscle tissue to the point where you can bring on kidney failure, a condition called rhabdomyolysis.

An example scenario for this rare condition is that of an otherwise young, fit person (let's say a construction worker) decides that he is going to start going to his girlfriend's spin class. Being 26 years old and bulletproof, he jumps right in and kills it on the bike for 60 minutes on the first day. Then does it again two days later, even though he might be just a little sore from the first time. He doesn't want to look like a wuss after all! This causes catastrophic breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue and a couple days later he is vomiting and peeing blood, a rhabdo victim.

The problem is that cycling is an almost 100% concentric contraction movement, which does not cause soreness (as much as it would if the action were 50/50 eccentric and concentric like most other exercises). While one leg pushes down on the pedal, it gives a "free ride" to the other leg, which would normally be in an eccentric contraction mode (while walking or running).

Squats, by contrast, load the muscles tremendously during the eccentric phase (slow descent) which is why squats cause DOMS for people who don't do them frequently enough. Want bad soreness? Squat once a week. Want to get rid of squat soreness? Squat 3x per week. Want the worst soreness? Take 2 weeks off and then do a squat workout with the same weight as your last workout . . .

So yeah, you don't need to be sore to get fit or strong. The more eccentric contractions you do that you *aren't conditioned to*, the more sore you will be. People mistake soreness for "a good workout" and that is wrong. If you want to hurt, fine, just get someone to hit you with a stick. Hurting and training aren't the same thing. A well-designed program will let you train, recover, and rebuild before the next stress is applied.

 

[ChristinaMack]

Some people aren't sore after exercise but some are unhappy unless they are sore after exercise. One of the exercise as heavy lifting or stair climber at gym results in accumulating lactic acid in muscles. Lactic acid is normal but sometime it can irritate and cause muscle discomfort and soreness. But the fact is lactic acid is removed after few hours so it has nothing to do with soreness. The actual cause may be the swelling in the muscle. The swelling and inflammation can remain for days after exercises and hence that may lead muscle soreness.

 

[Weasel]

I also always wondered if the soreness has anything to with you’re level of free testosterone? It seems like when my testosterone is higher my muscles get sore easier after a workout.

I 100% agree with this statement.

 

[matsa123]

Muscles tend to sore after a workout, it means that your muscles, afterwards the healing process your muscles will be stronger.