Nicole HollarIntegrative Life Coach | Behavior Change Expert | Author | Speaker - Helping high-functioning people and organizations uncover blind spots so they can get out of their own way.

The Process of Building Muscle

11 Jan 2026 · 1 min

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0:30

In this segment, the presenter explains that delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is primarily linked to the eccentric (lengthening) phase of resistance training. During eccentric movements—when a weight is lowered and the muscle elongates—tiny micro‑tears form in the muscle fibers. These micro‑tears are the trigger for the body’s repair process, leading to the rebuilding and strengthening of the muscle tissue, which is the fundamental mechanism of muscle hypertrophy. The speaker emphasizes that this tear‑and‑repair cycle is the core reason muscles grow, a fact many beginners may not realize.

So DOMS is most associated with that elongation or the eccentric part of the exercise. And the reason is that it creates micro tears in the muscle as you're lowering the weight, as you're returning and elongating the muscle, whatever that muscle group may be, depending on the muscle group, of course, that you're working. Those are how we grow. We tear the muscle and then we rebuild it. And that's essentially muscle growth for everybody who never really realized that.