Muscle Soreness vs. Muscle Growth: What Science Says About Muscle Hypertrophy, Muscle Damage, and Smart Strength Training

Muscle soreness is not the goal—muscle growth is.

If you've ever been so sore after a leg day that walking down stairs feels like a heroic act, you're not alone. Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) has long been worn like a badge of honor in gyms. But the science behind hypertrophy, muscle damage, and resistance training tells a much more nuanced story.

This article dives into the real relationship between muscle hypertrophy and strength, soreness, and how to structure your strength training and hypertrophy training for long-term progress—not just short-term burn. We’ll unpack key findings from recent research, including the 2023 study by Bersiner et al., and explain how to maximize results without compromising recovery or performance.

What Actually Causes Muscle Soreness?

Muscle soreness, especially the kind that shows up 24–72 hours post-workout, is known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). It's most noticeable after exercises involving eccentric loading—like slowly lowering a dumbbell, or the negative portion of a squat.

Despite popular belief, soreness isn’t caused by lactic acid buildup. That burning sensation during a tough set fades within minutes and plays no role in next-day discomfort. The real culprits? Exercise-induced muscle damage, connective tissue stress, and temporary inflammation in muscle fiber structures.

But here’s the key point: muscle damage is not the same as muscle growth—and chasing soreness can actually slow your gains.

What Role Does Muscle Damage Play in Strength and Hypertrophy Training?

A certain amount of muscle damage can be beneficial. It creates stress signals that tell the body, “Hey, we need to rebuild stronger.” That’s part of what triggers muscle protein synthesis and eventually leads to muscle hypertrophy.

But beyond a certain threshold, damage to muscle tissue becomes counterproductive. Excessive soreness reduces performance in upcoming sessions, limits training frequency, and can blunt your overall training program results.

The study by Bersiner et al. (2023) makes this clear: while damage is a piece of the puzzle, mechanical tension and metabolic stress are the primary drivers of hypertrophy. In simpler terms, consistent quality work beats chasing pain every time.

Is Muscle Soreness Required for Muscle Growth?

Short answer: No.

You don’t need to be sore after every resistance training session to see results. In fact, relying on soreness as a sign of a good workout can mislead you.

Why? Because soreness often peaks after new or unfamiliar exercises—regardless of their actual effectiveness for muscle building. An odd movement might leave you aching for days, but that doesn’t mean it stimulated more muscle mass than your usual lifts.

Real hypertrophic adaptations to resistance training come from progressive overload, adequate training volume, and movement mastery—not just novelty or discomfort.

How Do Strength Training and Hypertrophy Training Differ in Muscle Response?

Strength training typically focuses on neurological efficiency and maximal strength, using heavier loads and lower reps. It stresses the nervous system more than the muscle cell itself, leading to smaller increases in muscle size compared to hypertrophy training.

Hypertrophy training, on the other hand, aims to increase muscle mass through controlled, repeated tension on the muscle. This involves moderate loads, higher reps, and a focus on muscular fatigue and time under tension.

That said, both styles of training can lead to muscle hypertrophy and strength—especially when organized well within a resistance training program that balances both goals.

What Drives Muscle Hypertrophy: Damage, Tension, or Stress?

Let’s simplify the hypertrophy response into three major drivers:

1. Mechanical Tension: The load placed on muscles during contraction.

2. Metabolic Stress: The accumulation of byproducts like hydrogen ions during high-rep sets.

3. Muscle Damage: Microtrauma from eccentric work or new stimuli.

Of these, mechanical tension and metabolic stress have the strongest ties to skeletal muscle hypertrophy, according to a review of mechanisms of resistance from multiple recent studies. While damage to the muscle plays a role, it’s not essential—and too much can slow progress.

If your goal is to maximize muscle hypertrophy, focus on exercises and programming that increase tension and stress without constantly wrecking your recovery.

Can Soreness Interfere With Progress?

Yes. If soreness limits your ability to perform key lifts or train a muscle group more than once a week, your training frequency and volume suffer. Over time, this reduces your ability to accumulate the necessary stimulus for long-term gains in muscle mass.

This becomes especially important in hypertrophy-focused training, where hitting a muscle group 2–3 times per week often leads to better results than once-a-week blasts.

So if you’re too sore to train your quads again by Thursday, you may need to rethink your approach.

What Does the Science Say About Muscle Swelling?

Some athletes associate the feeling of muscle swelling—or “the pump”—with growth. While temporary swelling does occur post-training due to blood and plasma shifts, the relationship between muscle swelling and long-term hypertrophy is indirect at best.

It’s possible that muscle swelling may contribute to muscle activation or signal some cellular responses, but it’s not a reliable indicator of whether or not your muscles are growing.

Bottom line: Feeling full after a workout can be satisfying, but it’s not a measure of success. Track performance, volume, and recovery—not just sensation.

How Should You Adjust Your Training When Soreness Is High?

If soreness is consistently interfering with your next session, it’s time to adjust your training variables:

• Reduce eccentric overload

• Lower volume and mode of strength work in unfamiliar movements

• Emphasize controlled progression instead of novelty

• Space out your resistance training over the week to allow recovery

And remember, soreness is often highest when you reintroduce an exercise or increase training volume too quickly. Gradual adaptation leads to less soreness and better long-term growth.

Smart programming isn’t about pushing to the limit every time—it’s about knowing when to push and when to pull back.

What Are the Benefits of Strength Training Without Excessive Damage?

Focusing on strength training without overemphasizing soreness allows you to:

• Train more frequently

• Accumulate more effective work across the week

• Build muscular strength and muscle mass simultaneously

• Reduce injury risk and chronic fatigue

This approach promotes both strength and hypertrophy over time and aligns well with athlete goals, general population needs, and long-term performance sustainability.

The benefits of strength training—from muscle cross-sectional area gains to metabolic health—don't require crippling soreness. They require consistency and intelligent overload.

Can Muscle Damage Be Useful in Any Context?

Yes—but strategically.

When introducing a new training program or stimulus (like blood flow restriction training, novel movement patterns, or eccentric muscle overload), muscle damage can help jumpstart the hypertrophy response.

But this needs to be managed. In trained individuals, induce muscle damage cautiously. In beginners, avoid overwhelming the system in the first few weeks of resistance training.

As Bersiner et al. suggest, resistance exercise is powerful—it can “adapt, destroy, rebuild, and modulate” muscle tissue. That’s why it needs to be wielded with precision, not just intensity.

Final Thoughts: Train for Progress, Not Pain

Soreness isn’t the enemy—but it’s not the goal either.

To promote muscle growth, performance, and long-term adherence, prioritize:

• Mechanical tension over novelty

• Training frequency and recovery over constant muscle damage

• Smart progression in load, reps, and sets

• Attention to how each resistance training session contributes to your week’s bigger picture

Whether you're programming for yourself or athletes, always come back to what actually drives results: movement quality, effort, volume, and consistency.

Key Points to Remember

• Muscle damage can help but is not the primary driver of muscle hypertrophy.

• Soreness ≠ progress. It’s a side effect, not a goal.

• Focus on mechanical tension and metabolic stress to stimulate muscle growth.

• Use eccentric and novel exercises wisely—they spike soreness and can slow performance if overused.

• Strength training and hypertrophy training should prioritize performance and progression, not pain.

• Adjust training variables when soreness limits performance or frequency.

• Long-term success comes from smart, adaptable programming—not chasing every ache.