Why am I not sore after using X3?Updated a month ago
Most people experience no soreness using the X3, especially after week 4. Soreness comes from going anaerobic, meaning contractions without properly oxygenated blood. Soreness comes from muscular damage, NOT lactic acid, as many will mistakenly tell you. You can’t actually feel lactic acid. Soreness is also INVERSELY related to growth, meaning the more sore you are, the less you grow, and this has been shown in research.
X3 changes the weight as you move so that muscle damage does not occur, but you do get a far greater growth response from the exercise. Also, the fatigue comes on so fast with X3 that anaerobia does not happen. The conjecture behind this is that individuals may be running out of ATP glycogen and creatine phosphate before they go anaerobic. This would also explain why the recovery times between workouts are so short.
Remember, soreness is not an indicator of growth!
Research Sources
Researchers found that muscle damage is attenuated before hypertrophy can begin and has no relationship to hypertrophy.
–Hyldahl, R. D., Nelson, B., Xin, L., Welling, T., Groscost, L., Hubal, M. J., ... & Parcell, A. C. (2015). Extracellular matrix remodeling and its contribution to protective adaptation following lengthening contractions in human muscle. The FASEB Journal, 29(7), 2894-2904.
and
Moore, D. R., Phillips, S. M., Babraj, J. A., Smith, K., & Rennie, M. J. (2005). Myofibrillar and collagen protein synthesis in human skeletal muscle in young men after maximal shortening and lengthening contractions. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 288(6), E1153-E1159.
“Hypertrophy – can be initiated independent of any discernible damage to the muscle.”
–Flann KL, LaStayo PC, McClain DA, Hazel M, Lindstedt SL (2011) Muscle damage and muscle remodeling: no pain, no gain? J Exp Biol 214:674-679.
“We conclude that muscle damage is not the process that mediates or potentiates resistance training-induced muscle hypertrophy.”
–Damas, F., Libardi, C. A., & Ugrinowitsch, C. (2017). The development of skeletal muscle hypertrophy through resistance training: the role of muscle damage and muscle protein synthesis. European journal of applied physiology, 118(3), 485-500.
Muscle damage and hypertrophy are correlated but do not have a cause-effect relationship.
–Damas, F., Libardi, C. A., Ugrinowitsch, C., Vechin, F. C., Lixandrão, M. E., Snijders, T., ... & Roschel, H. (2018). Early-and later-phases satellite cell responses and myonuclear content with resistance training in young men. PloS one, 13(1), e0191039.
“There is an association between increased skeletal muscle disruptions and acquired training intolerance in endurance athletes.”
–Grobler, L. A., Collins, M., Lambert, M. I., Sinclair-Smith, C., Derman, W., Gibson, A. S. C., & Noakes, T. D. (2004). Skeletal muscle pathology in endurance athletes with acquired training intolerance. British journal of sports medicine, 38(6), 697-703.
“Results indicated that lactic acid is not related to exercise-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness.”
–Schwane, J. A., Watrous, B. G., Johnson, S. R., & Armstrong, R. B. (1983). Is lactic acid related to delayed-onset muscle soreness? The Physician and Sports Medicine, 11(3), 124-131.