You don’t need to be sore after a workout to build muscle, but being sore might help you build a little more muscle—scientists aren’t sure how much, if at all.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Stimuli and sensors that initiate skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise.

Narrative Review

2019 Jan 1

The study says you don’t need to tear your muscles to make them bigger, but it’s not sure if getting a little sore helps you grow even more — which is exactly what the claim says.

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No contradicting evidence found

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According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Stimuli and sensors that initiate skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise.

Score: 1

DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00685.2018

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