resting

[Ronin]

Soreness is a touchy issue, some people feel sore after every workout, others NEVER do and both progress.
Working out has an OVERALL effect on your entire system, alternating parts may work in the short run, but it will catch up to you, specially if you do workout intensily and to failure.
If you workout on an irregular basis and with high intensity you will find your self being more sore than if you stick to a "schedule", indeed, many people now advocate that type of training, which never allows the body to "prepare" itself for a workout, thus forcing adaption, or so the theory goes.

[Nid]

Ah yes..."strategic deconditioning" I believe.

[Chudo]

I place quite a bit of stock in soreness. If I am not a at least a little sore the next day then the exercises I did were either ineffective or I didn't apply enough intensity during the exercise. Doing the same exercises over and over will eliminate soreness as well. It will also eliminate your gains in both strength and size (unless your a genetic freak of course).

Soreness is an indication of miniscule tears in your muscles. This tearing is a direct result of muscle adaptation. The reason you are sore is because your body is adapting to the new load or stimulus. it is this adaptaion and therefore soreness (along with propper nutrition) that causes gains in strength and size.


Avoid muscle adaptation. Confuse your muscles. Soreness is your friend.

[Ronin]

I agree, I love the feeling of my legs being so sore they ach for 3 days, after a serious squat workout :)
One of the reasons I leave my Strength training till Fridays...

[Shuma-Gorath]

I'm skipping my leg workout today because I manged to throw someone twice my weight in Judo yesterday and I felt it walking to to class this morning. I figure I got my ballistic workout in already.

[Nid]

The reason you are sore is because your body is adapting to the new load or stimulus.

Yes. But which stimulus? It's certainly not directly and neccesarily related to making muscular inroads, otherwise everyone (who works out with the same intensity) should be sore after their workouts. I, for one, am not. That goes for others too. Not unless the exercises haven't been done in a while, or perhaps not in the same way. Some do feel sore on a regular basis, apparently. I can't speak for you, nor can you for me. But if soreness indicates progress then I must not be making progress. But I am, and I don't feel soreness. This is a sticky subject as has been noted.

Doing the same exercises over and over will eliminate soreness as well.

Correct. But that doesn't neccesarily negate progress therein.

Avoid muscle adaptation.

No. That's precisely what I want them to do.