Why your muscles don't hurt as much the second time you lift
Reduced muscle lengthening during eccentric contractions as a mechanism underpinning the repeated-bout effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Muscle lengthening increased over sets in the first bout but stayed flat in the second—despite identical mechanical output.
People assume muscles adapt by becoming stronger or more resilient. This shows they adapt by changing how they move—literally limiting their own stretch to avoid damage.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re new to lifting, do the same exercise twice—4 weeks apart. You’ll feel dramatically less sore and recover faster the second time, even if you push just as hard.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Muscle lengthening increased over sets in the first bout but stayed flat in the second—despite identical mechanical output.
People assume muscles adapt by becoming stronger or more resilient. This shows they adapt by changing how they move—literally limiting their own stretch to avoid damage.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re new to lifting, do the same exercise twice—4 weeks apart. You’ll feel dramatically less sore and recover faster the second time, even if you push just as hard.
Publication
Journal
American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology
Year
2015
Authors
W. Lau, A. Blazevich, M. Newton, S. Wu, K. Nosaka
Related Content
Claims (10)
The second time people do a tough arm workout, their muscles show less 'swelling' on ultrasound scans, meaning there's probably less damage or inflammation.
After doing a hard arm workout twice, four weeks apart, people feel stronger sooner the second time—even though they did the same amount of work.
We know muscles stretch less the second time you do a tough workout, but we don’t yet know why that happens.
When people who don't normally lift weights do a tough arm exercise twice, four weeks apart, their biceps don't stretch as much the second time, even though they're trying just as hard.
People feel less sore after doing the same tough arm workout a second time, four weeks later.