Myth: A sign of a good workout is when your whole body hurts afterward.
For muscle hypertrophy to occur, muscles must experience loads that slightly exceed the usual level of adaptation. At the same time, pronounced, prolonged muscle soreness is a sign that the applied load exceeds the functional capacity of the systems supporting muscle activity (clearing post-exercise inflammation, removing muscle metabolic byproducts, etc.).
A proper response reflecting adaptive processes may manifest as a feeling of muscle tone, slight discomfort during full-range movements when muscles are stretched. These sensations should not impair quality of life or performance.
What are the chances of an animal that is limited in movement due to body pain surviving in the wild?