First and foremost, it’s important to understand that not all soreness is bad. Think of it as your body letting you know it’s currently going through a repair process—and yes, the end result is bigger, stronger muscles. In order to see change within your muscles, you need to disrupt their structure.
Unfamiliar or high-intensity exercise causes small microscopic tears within the muscle fibers, which creates a stimulus for muscle growth and repair. In other words, it is definitely part of the transformation process. For this reason, many people find DOMS to be gratifying—to a point. For others, it can be enough to keep them out of the gym.