Female athlete holding a dumbbell in the gym, illustrating that you can build muscle even if you’re not sore after a workout.

If your trainer keeps making you so sore that you can barely walk, get a new trainer.

Why?

Because being sore after training isn’t nearly as important as many people think.

A lot of gymgoers believe soreness is proof a workout “worked”—that if you’re not stiff and achy the next day, you didn’t train hard enough or won’t build muscle. That idea sounds reasonable, but it’s wrong.

Soreness is a side effect of certain types of stress, not a requirement for muscle growth. You can build plenty of muscle without feeling sore, and you can feel extremely sore without building much muscle at all.

What actually matters is whether your training is hard enough to stimulate growth, manageable enough to recover from, and consistent enough to progress over time.

In this article, we’ll explain what soreness really means, when it matters, when it doesn’t, and how to tell whether you’re building muscle—even if you feel fine the next day.

Key Takeaways

  • Not being sore doesn’t mean your workout was ineffective or that you aren’t building muscle.
  • Soreness is mostly a sign of unfamiliar stress (new exercises, new ranges of motion, or a big jump in training volume or intensity).
  • You can build muscle with little soreness, and you can get very sore without building much muscle.
  • Chasing soreness usually backfires by making recovery harder and progress less consistent.
  • The best indicator your training is working is steady progress in performance (more weight, more reps, better form).

If I’m Not Sore, Am I Still Building Muscle?

Male athlete doing pull-ups, demonstrating that not being sore after a workout doesn’t mean you’re not building muscle.

Yes—even if you’re not sore after a workout, you can still be building muscle. 

Muscle soreness (especially delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS) is mostly a sign that your body experienced a stress it’s not used to—often a new exercise, a new range of motion, or a big jump in volume (how much training you’re doing) or intensity (how hard you’re training).

But once you’ve been training consistently, your body gets better at handling the same stimulus. This is known as “the repeated bout effect,” and it’s why you can keep training hard, getting stronger, and growing without feeling sore, stiff, and achy the next day.

That’s why using soreness to judge whether you’re building muscle is usually a bad idea.

A better question is “Am I progressing?” 

If your performance is trending up over time—more weight, more reps, better technique—then you’re doing the thing that actually drives results.

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Does Soreness Mean Muscle Growth?

Research shows that muscle damage may contribute to muscle growth—but it isn’t required.

That’s why workouts that produce a lot of muscle soreness don’t necessarily lead to more growth, and why workouts that cause very little soreness can still build plenty of muscle.

For instance, an hour of downhill running can leave your legs very sore, but it isn’t going to do much toward building bigger quads, glutes, and hamstrings.

The same thing happens in the gym. You can change your workouts in ways that increase muscle damage and soreness, but that doesn’t automatically translate into more muscle growth.

There are several real-world scenarios that show how weak the link between soreness and growth really is:

  • People who train infrequently tend to be much sorer after a workout, yet build far less muscle than people who train regularly.
  • Muscle soreness usually decreases as training frequency increases—even though higher training frequency often leads to better muscle growth.
  • Some muscles, like the shoulders and calves, rarely get very sore from training but can still grow substantially over time.

All of this points to the same conclusion: soreness isn’t a reliable signal that a workout is building muscle.

Should I Be Sore After Every Workout?

Male athlete deadlifting in the gym, showing effective strength training without needing muscle soreness to build muscle.

No—and trying to be sore after every workout is usually a mistake.

Soreness is unpredictable and hard to control. You can chase it by constantly changing exercises, adding excessive volume, or emphasizing slow negatives, but none of that guarantees better results.

What it does guarantee is harder recovery, more fatigue, and a higher risk of stalling progress.

The workouts that build the most muscle over time are the ones you can repeat consistently while gradually doing more work. If every session leaves you wiped out and sore for days, that becomes harder to do.

This is why most effective training programs don’t aim to make you sore—they aim to make you stronger.

Soreness might show up occasionally, especially when you introduce something new. But it shouldn’t be the goal, and it shouldn’t be the standard you use to judge whether a workout was “good.”

If you’re training hard, progressing over time, and recovering well between sessions, you’re doing exactly what you should be doing—even if soreness is rare.

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When Not Being Sore Might Be a Problem

Not being sore is usually fine—but there are a couple of cases where it can be a sign something’s off.

You’re Not Training Hard Enough

If you’re not experiencing soreness because your workouts are too easy, that is a problem.

To build muscle, you need to train close to failure—usually stopping one or two reps short. If you’re doing that, you don’t need to worry about whether you’re sore or not. You’re building muscle either way.

But if the reason you’re not sore is that you’re lifting very light weights for very few reps, far from failure, then you’re not training hard enough, and you shouldn’t expect much muscle growth.

You’ve Hit a Plateau

If you’re lifting the same weights for the same reps week after week—or even month after month—you probably won’t feel very sore. But you also won’t be building muscle, even if you’re training close to failure.

This is known as a weightlifting plateau. And once you hit one, progress stalls unless you change something.

To keep growing, you need to find a way to break through it. This guide walks you through exactly how to do that:

6 Proven Ways to Break Through Weightlifting Plateaus

The Bottom Line on Whether Soreness Matters for Muscle Growth

Muscle soreness isn’t a reliable sign that a workout was effective—or that muscle growth is happening. You can build plenty of muscle without feeling sore, especially once your body adapts to regular training. 

What matters is whether you’re training hard enough, progressing over time, and recovering well between sessions. If your strength and performance are improving, your program is working—even if soreness is rare.

FAQ #1: Is not being sore after a workout bad?

No. Not being sore usually means your body has adapted to your training and is recovering well. As long as you’re training close to failure and your performance is improving over time, a lack of soreness isn’t a problem. Soreness comes from stressing your body in a way it’s not used to, not a requirement for muscle growth.

FAQ #2: Not sore after workout—does that mean it wasn’t effective?

No. A workout can be very effective without causing soreness. What matters is whether it stimulates your muscles enough to spur growth and whether you can recover from it and progress. If you’re lifting more weight, doing more reps, or improving technique over time, the workout is doing its job.

FAQ #3: Why don’t I feel sore after working out?

You usually don’t feel sore because your body is used to the type of training you’re doing. Consistent workouts, gradual progression, good sleep, and eating a healthy, high-protein diet all reduce soreness. This is normal and expected as you become more experienced—it doesn’t mean your workouts stopped working.

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