The reason why we love to weight train is because we love the blood pump in the muscle and the endorphin rush we get from it. However, Once the pump goes down some folks are left with soft muscles. The key to a proper weight training and nutrition program is to maintain protein stability within the muscle. I call this protein suspension. The more protein that is built up the harder the muscle will stay and the greater the pump during the workout. In order to keep protein suspended it is vital to keep a high level of amino acids in the blood system to feed the cells. When there is not enough external protein coming into the system the protein is then depleted from the muscle tissue to feed other systems of the body that require it. This is why the muscles tend to go soft after a great workout. But if you keep up the protein intake the hardness will remain for hours and even days later. The key is keeping protein suspended.
Daryl Conant, M.Ed