Posted: 2/3/2010 10:26:01 AM EDT
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I have been noticing that when I am working out my muscles are not getting fatigued as they once were. I have tried everything from doing more weight less reps to less weight with more reps, and I am still not getting it. I was always under the impression that when your muscles are sore they are building up, thus becoming bigger and stronger. Is my body still building muscle even though I am not sore, or am I doing something wrong with my work out routine? |
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Quoted: I have been noticing that when I am working out my muscles are not getting fatigued as they once were. I have tried everything from doing more weight less reps to less weight with more reps, and I am still not getting it. I was always under the impression that when your muscles are sore they are building up, thus becoming bigger and stronger. Is my body still building muscle even though I am not sore, or am I doing something wrong with my work out routine? So are you talking about fatigue or DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness)? If you are talking about the muscle soreness you feel the next day, well the more you workout the more efficient your body becomes at repairing the muscles which will prevent you from feeling that soreness like you used to. If you were to take a break from working out for a while and then come back, you would feel it once again. |
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Try changing your exercises...a seemingly small change in grip, angle, orientation, etc. can made a big difference. Example: use dumbbells instead of a barbell (or vice versa). Alters range of motion and/or muscles recruited.
Pre-exhaustion and post-activation. Lead or follow a compound exercise with an isolation exercise involving the primary mover(s) in the compound exercise. Example: perform leg extensions immediately before or after each set of squat or leg presses. Intensity techniques: Rest-pause sets and/or drop sets. Google rest-pause...a drop set is following your final working set with and immediate (no rest) set at a lighter weight. Forced reps/accentuated negatives: the greatest muscle growth stimulus occurs during the eccentric (muscle lengthening) phase of a lift; adding additional negative reps creates a lot of muscle trauma and hence growth. Two up one down technique: if you can pick something up with both arms/legs, lower it with only one...thus further accentuating the negative/eccentric phase. The only quick examples I can think of are leg curls and machine preacher curls. Ultimately we are all subject to the law of diminishing return: The longer/harder you work out, the harder it is it is to do the damage necessary to stimulate growth. |