Your Fitness Is Improving Instead, better indications that you're getting fitter include being able to perform more sets of an exercise with the same weight; being able to perform more repetitions; being able to lift heavier; finding your usual workout easier; and being able to do more in less time.
The best way to know if you're gaining muscle is by having your body fat percentage measured over time. Any improvements in body fat percentage and increases in weight likely means you are gaining muscle.
Soreness following a workout is not an indicator of a good workout, nor is the absence of soreness an indicator of a poor workout. Feeling sore is an indicator of tiny microscopic tears in the muscle resulting in inflammation, often referred to as DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness).
Are you still getting results? The answer is YES. Just because you don't feel muscle soreness as intensely as when you first began doesn't mean a workout is not benefiting you. Your body is an amazing machine and it adapts very rapidly to whatever challenges you present it with.
Your body is adapting
As your body continues to get stronger, and your muscles adapt to the new type of movements you're doing, you won't feel as sore afterwards.
Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) has been regarded by majority of authors as the best indicator of aerobic capacity of an organism, and at the same time, the best indicator of an athlete's physical capacity.
"Muscle soreness occurs because muscle and the connective tissue around it get damaged during exercise," explains Dr. Hedt. "This is completely normal and nothing to worry about, though. In fact, it's needed for muscle growth, since muscle is built back stronger during this repair process."
When you gain muscle, you'll notice that your muscles naturally look more defined and are more visible, Berkow said. (To see your abs specifically, you'd have to also lose fat.) Your muscles would also be larger in size or feel "harder." If you gain fat, you'll notice more softness, she said, and you'll gain inches.
Gaining muscle and not losing fat often comes down to diet. It's possible that you're eating too much and may need to decrease your calories slightly. You'll also need to analyze your workouts and overall daily activity levels and consider adding in more calorie-burning activities to boost your fat loss efforts.
There isn't necessarily a stopping point that is set in stone at which you should switch from cutting to bulking, but it is often recommended that you first lose fat until you are within the recommended ranges for bulking (10-15% body fat for men and under 23% body fat for women), and then switch to building muscle.
Gaining weight after working out is likely due to muscle fiber inflammation, muscle glycogen and water weight gain, and over time, muscle mass gain. If weight loss is your goal, seeing an increase on the scale when you've been making an effort to exercise can be frustrating.
Most beginners will see noticeable muscle growth within eight weeks, while more experienced lifters will see changes in three to four weeks. Most individuals gain one to two pounds of lean muscle per month with the right strength training and nutrition plan.
DOMS usually occurs the day or two after a workout. “Your workout can still be effective if you're not sore afterward,” says Battle. “But in general, the next day, you want to feel like your muscles got worked.”
Boosts your workout performance
However, ongoing studies suggest that afternoon or evening exercise may improve athletic performance. One very small study found that muscle fatigue is lower during evening workouts than morning workouts. This can help you build endurance by exercising for longer periods.
The best way to measure your cardiovascular fitness is to measure VO2 Max. This is a measure of how your body consumes and uses oxygen while you exercise. For the most accurate measurement, your doctor can perform a stress test.
You can build strength in 30 minutes
When it comes to strength training, 30 minutes is the perfect amount of time to effectively work all the big muscle groups; the legs, the chest and the back.
Some people will feel stronger in just 2-4 weeks. For others, depending on their muscle fiber makeup, other genetic qualities, and the quality of their workouts, results in strength are generally seen in 8-12 weeks, according to the researchers. Skeletal muscles aren't the only muscles that get stronger with exercise.
The short answer is yes. It comes in handy for two different things: gauging your effort in a HIIT workout, and strengthening the mind-body connection. When you're doing a high-intensity interval training workout, the burn is a good indicator of your cardiovascular effort and can help you monitor your fitness level.
Within three to six months, an individual can see a 25 to 100% improvement in their muscular fitness – provided a regular resistance program is followed. Most of the early gains in strength are the result of the neuromuscular connections learning how to produce movement.
He explained that "muscle is more dense than fat, so an identical volume of it will weigh more than fat." Exercise physiologist Krissi Williford, MS, CPT, of Xcite Fitness, agreed and said even though your muscle mass weighs more than your fat, "it takes up less space, which is why you look leaner and more toned."
You're gaining muscle. The scale might be stuck because you're building up your biceps and glutes—and that's a good thing. The number on the scale is less important than the breakdown of how much water, muscle, and fat are in your body, Jovanovic says.