Muscle hurts why?

[WantingMuscle7]

Why would my biceps hurt today (wednesday) if I worked them out monday and they didnt hurt tuesday.

[Darkhorse]

The DOMS that is felt the day after, or even not until 2 days after, is most likely a result of an inflammatory response. Prostaglandins are released in the tissue which hyper-sensitize the nerves. This is not the only reason but most research seems to agree that this is the most likely mechanism.

Microtrauma can occur with or without this type of soreness. At the same time, a certain degree of growth can also occur with or without microtrauma depending on how you define microtrauma. It isn't necessary to have major microtrauma. We only need to disrupt the membranes enough to get satellite cells activated and fusing with existing fibers. Without this step, the fiber may enlarge slightly, but it cannot grow significantly because of a fixed nuclear to sarcoplasmic ratio. Unless new nuclei are added from satellite cells, the volume of the fiber will not increase beyond rather small increments.

So my point is that although DOMS, microtrauma, and hypertrophy are all related, they are not entirely dependant on one another.

However, a low level of DOMS is a good indicator of what kind of stimulus you created for the tissue and usually indicates that you are in the process of growth if you can maintain an adequate stimulus over time. I like to be a little sore thorughout the entire cycle. When my training is too infrequent and/or my increments are too small, the soreness usually goes away and gains "seem" (this is subjective) to be slower. Then again, I have made good gains at times with little or no soreness...

- Bryan Haycock

The first paragraph is an scientific explanation for your delayed muscle soreness. The rest is just bonus points. If anyone needs to look for actual scientific research, there's one of two places I always look to:
1. Pub Med journals
2. Hypertrophy-Specific

Just FYI-

[WantingMuscle7]

So is the soreness saying I did a good workout or bad?

[Darkhorse]

Soreness is a very poor indicator of whether or not you experienced a good or bad workout. An good workout doesn't necessarily lead to soreness. The effectiveness of a workout depends on what type of workout is imposed on tissue that is at a certain level of conditioning (resistant to damage). What I mean is that if your muscles are somewhat deconditioned, your soreness will be greater. I rarely feel any significant DOMS, just slightly. It goes away fast. Maybe you pushed alot harder than usual, or you didn't have very good postworkout nutrition. Either way, you'll be fine. If you did the exact same workout next week, you'll probably experience alot less soreness due to your muscles being better conditioned to what you're doing. In short, view it as a good thing...

[BG5150]

Wanting: You seem to have been lifting for a while now. Why the sudden DOMS? Did you change something? Do a lot more volume? Take some time off?

Just curious.

[WantingMuscle7]

I tried new exercises week before wasn't one of my better workouts this week I switched back to my old exercises which I feel gives me a better workout so maybe that was it.

[bakkily]

Going along with this, I have been doing omost the same lifts for the last 7 mounths or so, someone told me that you should change your lifts about, because the body will be used to the ones that you have been doing for a while. While you start the new ones, your body will strenghen evan more and more.

Should I do this, say for my biceps, I have been doing standing French curls for some time, I have added more weight to it over time. But I don't feel like I work my biceps up too much. And I don't have any dumbells, was thinking of hitting the schools gym for some lifting...just wondering what he said is true.

[Darkhorse]

for my biceps, I have been doing standing French curls

I'm sure you mean hammer curls, I hope. Well, when I'm not on a specific program, the best rule of thumb is if you stop adding weight to your lift, switch it. This way you'll always continue to add weight to each workout. More weight equals more muscle.

[BG5150]

Your mucsles will definitely get used to the same routine day after day--especially 7 months. Changing exercises is a great tool to spur growth.

However, COMPOUND lifts should be the core of your routine if you want to get bigger. Forget about bicep-specific lifts. Concentrating on the "big four" will help with all those auxillary muscles. Those four are: Bench, Dead Lift, Squat and Chins.

[Darkhorse]

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well said.