What are you supposed to feel when your joints are catching up to your muscles?
Title, and I guess also during body recomposition.
I've been consistently going to the gym for almost five months now. My weight has remained the same (floating between 223-118), but I've definitely lost fat. My clothes fit better and my body feels lighter.
I have also been able to lift heavier as well. For example, the first time I went to the gym, my PR for bench press was 135. Recently I was able to hit 185.
But for the past week, I haven't been able to lift as comfortably as I could with my usual weights because my shoulders and elbows have been feeling... sore? Tender? A little creaky? I think that's the best way to describe the sensation. My hips and knees have felt that way too.
Is this also a part of body recomposition or are my joints catching up to my muscles or do I need to lay off the heavy stuff for a while because I damaged something? The only pain I've felt was after doing squats (5 sets of 20 reps) and I felt a very small amount of pain for a few seconds in my right knee.
Side question:
I always have this phase every month where after gaining more strength and muscle, my body feels stiffer. Two weeks ago, I was able to stretch and touch my toes, but starting from last week, my body just felt really stiff and tight and it took me a week of stretching to be able to loosen them up again. Is this a normal phase to go through while strength training?