Yeah that's what confused me too. Not to worry, everyone's free to have their own conflicting beliefs! I think Ero has a really good point about DOMS (or really strong DOMS) preventing you from getting in as much weekly volume as you otherwise could have.
The OP post kinda' struck me immediately due to where I'm at in my own fitness right now getting back into things. I'm in the process of dropping a lot of weight I gained due to my injury, and I'm doing it through significantly increasing my physical activity during the day (going out of my way at work in construction to have to move around a lot laboring, and walking). Because of this I know that a weight training routine that builds muscle isn't going to be a realistic training goal. However, making strength gains is. I was a little shaky on how to go about it and got some help from a member on MAP about it, but strength (GAINSSSSSS) is a lot more about the neuro-muscular connection, not the muscle size and it's growth. Essentially you're training your nervous system and how hard it signals your muscles to contract when you're getting stronger. So how do you do this while focusing on dropping weight at a significant pace? Well, you keep lifts in the 1-3 rep range, and you go nowhere near fatigue. Sets are also pretty minimal, like . . . . . there's not even any muscle pump during this type of working out. This is NOT a routine that's gonna' give you those good ol' DOMs. To give you an example of what's happened for me over the last couple weeks that I've been implementing this, my bench went from around 155 lbs for reps where that felt heavy, to now being able to rep around 225 lbs for sets of three without worry. Granted I have a weight lifting past and my body tends to adapt to a certain point very quickly, I did this in two weeks. It has been by far the most effective way I've trained to get my strength back. I also did this type of training unknowingly in my past with deadlifts, which was in the 600lb range. No DOMs. I would say these are all pretty significant gains too . . . . . without DOMs. And I can do the same lifts 4-5 times a week, which is a pretty high level of frequency. I get more sore walking 10-15 miles a day than I do from my weight training currently : P. This whole "you need the DOMs to know you're getting stronger and making significant, quick gains" just doesn't register with me at all. Maybe making mental toughness gains, but not actual physical gains in ability.
I kind of like DOMS when I get back to training after a period off. It lets me know I'm back on track. However, I very rarely get it during regular training. I only tend to get it after a period off from training or when I add a new exercise to my programme. I would hate to get it after every session, I would probably stop training if that happened - it is not a fun thing to have regularly!
The reason why I got DOMS is because I incorporated two new "workouts" to my routine. T25 pre breakfast and after coffee, I find it way too light, I would usually do calisthenics, burpees when I wake I switched it with T25. I've also incorporated a bod-weight progression programme, with a weighted vest. It was the hanging leg raises that gave me the DOMS. Not bad, just a dull ache, I was able to have a good sparring/bagwork session the next day with no issues. I'm taking a month off weight training to focus on some other things, I do this change things up every 2-3 months. Every time I try something new, I get DOMS. Never are they crippling, but a good indicator of areas I haven't used before.
It's a psychological thing? I was doing hanging leg raises, which seemed easy enough at the time no issues. But I got the DOMS the next day. I felt during the time the leg raises were doing nothing for me, the next day the dull ache in regions which I didn't realise I was taxing was a good psychological boost. I said they make me feel I've had a good session. I was saying you can get DOMS from hardly anything as a counter to "too much too soon". That's simply not always the case. I could take a month of strength training and easily go back to a 160kg squat, but a 60-80kg warmup session would most likely give me DOMS after getting back into it.
I enjoy it too, as long as it's a result of a new training regimen/pattern/exercise I'm doing. I know it's not particularly a good sign, but it is a nice little ego boost. That said if I get DOMS doing the same thing I've been doing for a few months...I've probably messed up.
I love DOMS,I get a day where I'm too weak to train effectively AND it feels almost as good as being woken up by night cramps in your hamstrings.
I dislike DOMS because it keeps me from training. But I only get them if I either haven't stretched adequately after training (which is a mistake that I never make any more, no siree) or else I have done an event and managed to royally screw it up (such as doing the first couple of miles of a half marathon ridiculously fast and then regretting it for the next eleven miles) or else I have done something which has really pushed the boundaries for me, such as running my first marathon. (Have I mentioned before that I ran my first marathon? ) To get DOMS from normal routine training would be a bit daft, because it would be totally counter-productive.
To be honest I quite enjoy DOMS, too, as long as it's not too severe - like preventing me from walking etc. because of the sharp pain. I don't do any specific strength programme, just a traditional MA. Why it's true I'm more likely to have DOMS after a new or unusual technique, it's not just then. When the training is a bit tougher, even exercises that aren't new to me give me DOMS. Those aren't severe, but there are weeks where I'm sore perhaps after each training - a different place each day, even. But the mild pain does give me a good feeling And it certainly doesn't prevent me from training the next day, so I don't really mind or pay any special attention to it...
