Not getting sore from body weight and dumbbell home workouts. Would switching to cables help?

[EddieBrock]

I've been doing a variety of body weight/dumbbell workouts along with tennis and the elliptical and it's been working pretty well!

The only thing is I used to be sore for 3 days after working out, then it has gradually gone down and now I don't feel sore at all the next day. It's not like the worldouts feel easy. I'm working just about as hard as I can and feel fatigued by the last few reps. With pullups I'm up to about 6 with no assistance from 3 when I started and with many other exercises I've slightly increased the weight or reps.

It's also not like I'm doing the same workout every time. I'm alternating between several different P90x workouts so I'm doing a variety of different push ups, pull ups, and dumbbell exercises.

Does the fact I'm not sore mean it's not as effective? Would changing to using the Bowflex help? It seems like the exercises are similar to the dumbbell except they are done with cables. I'm primarily trying to lose weight and since I'm already getting fatigued at the current weight with dumbbells I'm a bit reluctant to increase weight anymore.

Should I maybe take a break from resistance training and do more yoga/pilates or leg workouts?

 

[yossarian]

go to @Hitman for this

my understanding is that soreness subsides as you become more consistent with the same type of movement pattern and is not a great indicator of effectiveness of a workout

 

[EddieBrock]

my understanding is that soreness subsides as you become more consistent with the same type of movement pattern and is not a great indicator of effectiveness of a workout

Thanks! I'll post it on the Hitman thread

 

[movdqa]

You might look at joining a gym if it's safe to do so in your area. That or building one at home.

 

[EddieBrock]

You might look at joining a gym if it's safe to do so in your area. That or building one at home.

I already have a home gym with dumbbells, the Total Gym, and Bowflex as well as a pull up bar and push up stands. I just don't know what workouts to do.

 

[movdqa]

I already have a home gym with dumbbells, the Total Gym, and Bowflex as well as a pull up bar and push up stands. I just don't know what workouts to do.

Maybe a barbell with a cage for deadlifts, shoulder press, squats, bench press. I've never used the Total Gym nor the BowFlex.

 

[TagUrIt]

You have plateaued. Time to change up the workouts. Being in a constant state of soreness doesn’t mean you’re not being challenged. But at the same time your body will adapt to whatever workouts you’re doing if you follow the same routine. Every 4 weeks there should be a change in routine. If you want a challenge try sandbag workouts, I really enjoyed them.

 

[travlerajm]

Plateauing is not necessarily a bad thing. It means your body has gotten used to your routine. If your routine makes you healthier and stronger and keeps you active, and being less sore makes it easier for you to keep doing it, then that’s a really good thing!

The same can apply to other activities like tennis. If you try to play 2h of singles once per week, your legs will be sore afterward for 3 days every time. But if you play singles for 2h 3x/week, your body will adjust and it will be easy.

 

[Ronaldo]

Plenty of Crossfit gyms. May want to take some classes to introduce new ideas and workouts.

 

[WildVolley]

...

Does the fact I'm not sore mean it's not as effective? Would changing to using the Bowflex help? It seems like the exercises are similar to the dumbbell except they are done with cables. I'm primarily trying to lose weight and since I'm already getting fatigued at the current weight with dumbbells I'm a bit reluctant to increase weight anymore.

For most people, the goal of exercise isn't to get sore.

In my experience, high levels of soreness after exercise were correlated with poor strength gains. I had my best strength gains when having very limited soreness and being able to work fairly consistently over a period of time, while being able to increase weight and/or intensity of the workout.

How are you assessing your gains? I see you mention weight loss. More soreness won't help you lose weight as it will limit how quickly you can exercise hard again.

 

[EddieBrock]

For most people, the goal of exercise isn't to get sore.

In my experience, high levels of soreness after exercise were correlated with poor strength gains. I had my best strength gains when having very limited soreness and being able to work fairly consistently over a period of time, while being able to increase weight and/or intensity of the workout.

How are you assessing your gains? I see you mention weight loss. More soreness won't help you lose weight as it will limit how quickly you can exercise hard again.

I'm glad to hear that getting sore isn't a requirement for strength gains! Before I would only do strength training once a week since I couldn't play tennis within a few days of doing it since I'd be so sore. Now I feel like I could do the same exercises again the next day.

My main goal is definitely still weight loss. I've made some great progress (getting close to 10 lbs lost!), but would ideally still like to lose another 10 lbs.

Second to weight loss is just getting stronger and more defined. I'm able to do some more reps/weight, but not for all exercises and the ones where I can do more it's like 5 lbs. My biggest improvement has been with pull-ups. Probably a combination of losing weight and getting stronger.

Of course I'd also really like to continue working out in a way that I can avoid injury and still play tennis, so I'm trying to incorporate some kind of flexibility workout since I'm not flexible in the least and I've had multiple injuries these past 5 years or so.

 

[movdqa]

I'm glad to hear that getting sore isn't a requirement for strength gains! Before I would only do strength training once a week since I couldn't play tennis within a few days of doing it since I'd be so sore. Now I feel like I could do the same exercises again the next day.

My main goal is definitely still weight loss. I've made some great progress (getting close to 10 lbs lost!), but would ideally still like to lose another 10 lbs.

Second to weight loss is just getting stronger and more defined. I'm able to do some more reps/weight, but not for all exercises and the ones where I can do more it's like 5 lbs. My biggest improvement has been with pull-ups. Probably a combination of losing weight and getting stronger.

Of course I'd also really like to continue working out in a way that I can avoid injury and still play tennis, so I'm trying to incorporate some kind of flexibility workout since I'm not flexible in the least and I've had multiple injuries these past 5 years or so.

Weight loss and getting stronger at the same time is a challenging approach as they are conflicting ideas. I think that you can do it with ideal nutrition but that takes work too. How about one week weight-loss and one week strength training? I've dropped eight pounds in four weeks which is fairly normal and I'm doing cardio, flexibility and strength but a lot more cardio than the other two. But I lost my job four weeks ago and this makes getting in workouts a lot easier.

 

[EddieBrock]

Weight loss and getting stronger at the same time is a challenging approach as they are conflicting ideas. I think that you can do it with ideal nutrition but that takes work too. How about one week weight-loss and one week strength training? I've dropped eight pounds in four weeks which is fairly normal and I'm doing cardio, flexibility and strength but a lot more cardio than the other two. But I lost my job four weeks ago and this makes getting in workouts a lot easier.

Congratulations on losing 8 lbs in 4 weeks! It's taken me longer than that to drop 8 lbs.

When I say weight loss I guess I really mean body fat %. Specifically the body fat on my stomach, but I know you can't spot reduce fat. I'd like to be able to wear some of my old tennis shirts without my stomach protruding out. I'm doing tennis once or twice a week, then a balance of cardio, strength, and 1 day of flexibility.

So even if my weight on the scale goes up if I get stronger and lose my belly I'm happy.

 

[movdqa]

Congratulations on losing 8 lbs in 4 weeks! It's taken me longer than that to drop 8 lbs.

When I say weight loss I guess I really mean body fat %. Specifically the body fat on my stomach, but I know you can't spot reduce fat. I'd like to be able to wear some of my old tennis shirts without my stomach protruding out. I'm doing tennis once or twice a week, then a balance of cardio, strength, and 1 day of flexibility.

So even if my weight on the scale goes up if I get stronger and lose my belly I'm happy.

It's pretty hard to lose a lot of weight without losing some amount of muscle. That's my experience.

It's easier to lose weight if you can get as much sleep as you want, and don't have to worry about making a living as you have to the time to workout and do food preparation.

It is nice to gain muscle and lose fat; I found this difficult to do and maintain while working though.