workout soreness

[LatinoMan]

Ive been working out
and i noticed that im always sore whenever I work out any muscle group however whenever i finish working out biceps Im never sore the next day.

why does this happen/does that mean im not getting better?

[JackOfClubs]

Well if you aren't doing it frequently, its gonna hurt. Also, work muscles every other day. Ex: Torso/arms on Monday, Legs on Tuesday, Torso/arms on Wednesday, etc...

[Lord C]

I know your problem man. Biceps are hard work because you can get them to grow but it's maintaining them that is the problem. Obviously you want to be feeling something to know that you've definitely worked yourself.

My advice is dependent on how many reps and sets you do. The obvious advice would be to add more weight to what you're lifting.

However, if you're doing not many reps and sets then I'd say try to do more because that's when you will build your muscles the most, when you're really pushing them. But if you are doing quite a lot of reps then just add more weight on.

Either that or you can start doing bench presses with the proper bar at the gym (unless you already do that) because that really does a lot of work to your arms and chest.

[scuba steve]

well to be honest if any muscle group is "sore" when you are working out then it means that you are either using weights too heavy for you ability or your just not using the right stance if you're using free weights... however if you aren't working out regularly like for example you tend to skip weeks out or over 2 days you may be going back with too much enthusiasm to start exercising, thus you will overwork yourself exposing your muscles to extremes that haven't been handled in a while, pulling or stretching them.

[SammyGoNuts]

Stretches and anything that counts as warming up tend to help me.

[CaptainObvious]

well to be honest if any muscle group is "sore" when you are working out then it means that you are either using weights too heavy for you ability or your just not using the right stance if you're using free weights... however if you aren't working out regularly like for example you tend to skip weeks out or over 2 days you may be going back with too much enthusiasm to start exercising, thus you will overwork yourself exposing your muscles to extremes that haven't been handled in a while, pulling or stretching them.

This is not true. Delayed onset muscle soreness is extremely normal. It comes on at its strongest generally 48 hours after a lift, and is a good sign that you have worked out the muscle group well.

However, the key for this thread is that the absence of DOMS does not mean you got an inadequate lift in; OP, your biceps may still be worked out well even if they're not overly sore. But if you really want to shred them more, add another set or two of something. Personally, I'm a big fan of doing my biceps sets, finishing with some concentration curls, and then after all of that doing some 8-count negative-only chin-ups. That tends to get my biceps burning the next day.

[LatinoMan]

yeah i bench press
ive been working out for about 4 weeks now
and i do free weight and machine
i either do 3 sets of 6-9
or 2 setsof 10-12

[CaptainObvious]

yeah i bench press
ive been working out for about 4 weeks now
and i do free weight and machine
i either do 3 sets of 6-9
or 2 setsof 10-12

If bench pressing is all you're doing, it's no wonder your biceps aren't feeling worked: bench press does not at all work out the biceps. Bench press primarily works the chest, as well as the front deltoids and triceps. Working out your biceps requires pulling actions, like those found in many back exercises, or ideally by doing biceps-specific exercises, primarily meaning different types of curls.

[overcome.]

If bench pressing is all you're doing, it's no wonder your biceps aren't feeling worked: bench press does not at all work out the biceps. Bench press primarily works the chest, as well as the front deltoids and triceps. Working out your biceps requires pulling actions, like those found in many back exercises, or ideally by doing biceps-specific exercises, primarily meaning different types of curls.

That's pretty much it. You're not feeling DOMS in your biceps purely because you're not training them at all. I'd recommend working chest with triceps, and back with biceps. Starting with the larger muscle groups first. Not forgetting legs, shoulders, core.

Be careful to not overtrain, too. Just because you're not REALLY feeling within the next 24-48 hours, doesn't mean that you can train the same muscle group again within the next 2-3 days. Somebody once made a lot of sense when they said to me that everytime you train a muscle group, it's like taking a certain percentage from a pie. So the pie goes from 100%, after training it goes to 70%, which needs time for recovery and proper nutrition to get back to 100%, within 5-7 days. If you train quickly again there after (the same muscle group/s), then it's like taking another 20-30% from the pie, not allowing it to ever recovery and 'grow' back. You're continuously breaking it down, leaving no time to grow.

[CaptainObvious]

Be careful to not overtrain, too. Just because you're not REALLY feeling within the next 24-48 hours, doesn't mean that you can train the same muscle group again within the next 2-3 days. Somebody once made a lot of sense when they said to me that everytime you train a muscle group, it's like taking a certain percentage from a pie. So the pie goes from 100%, after training it goes to 70%, which needs time for recovery and proper nutrition to get back to 100%, within 5-7 days. If you train quickly again there after (the same muscle group/s), then it's like taking another 20-30% from the pie, not allowing it to ever recovery and 'grow' back. You're continuously breaking it down, leaving no time to grow.

I support this except that for most people it is safe to lift the same muscle group again 48 hours after the last workout.

[overcome.]

I support this except that for most people it is safe to lift the same muscle group again 48 hours after the last workout.

I don't really support it. I made much better gains while training larger muscle groups every 5-6 days, 7 at a most. With training there are so many theories and some of which are myths, it's personal preference and what works best for you. To a degree, there's no real right and wrong. I think if you train intensely enough when you're trying to gain muscle, you won't even want to think about training the same muscle group two days later.