: Am I getting sore too late? Typically when I workout I am not sore the next day. I'm sore the day after the next day. My workout buddy is always sore the very next day, and I think he usually recovers faster. I was wondering

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You are experiencing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). The severity of DOMS is determined by the way your lift weights and your nutrition. Experiencing DOMS days after your workout is not bad. It is a sign of muscle growth, although not the only sign.
Workout
There are two parts to a repetition - concentric and eccentric. The concentric portion occurs when you lift against gravity. For example, lifting upwards on a barbell curl is concentric. The eccentric portion occurs when the weight falls in the direction of gravity. For example, letting the barbell fall back towards your thighs. DOMS is increased by lengthening the eccentric contraction. For example, slowly lowering the barbell in a controlled manner.

Muscles undergoing heavy eccentric
loading suffer greater damage when
overloaded (such as during muscle
building or strength training
exercise) as compared to concentric
loading. When eccentric contractions
are used in weight training, they are
normally called negatives. During a
concentric contraction, muscle fibers
slide across each other, pulling the
Z-lines together. During an eccentric
contraction, the filaments slide past
each other the opposite way, though
the actual movement of the myosin
heads during an eccentric contraction
is not known. Exercise featuring a
heavy eccentric load can actually
support a greater weight (muscles are
approximately 10% stronger during
eccentric contractions than during
concentric contractions) and also
results in greater muscular damage and
delayed onset muscle soreness one to
two days after training. Exercise that
incorporates both eccentric and
concentric muscular contractions (i.e.
involving a strong contraction and a
controlled lowering of the weight) can
produce greater gains in strength than
concentric contractions alone.
While unaccustomed heavy eccentric
contractions can easily lead to
overtraining, moderate training may
confer protection against injury.

Why does the eccentric contraction increase DOMS, but not the concentric contraction? From the Wikipedia article, it appears that the eccentric contraction uses a very different mechanical process and is fueled by different nutrients. I recall watching a video on Intructional Fitness saying that workouts with extremely prolonged eccentric contractions cause DOMS, not the day after the workout, but actually two days after the workout.
Nutrition
I'm not an expert on how nutrition affects DOMS, but I've read in numerous places that eating branch chain amino acids reduces DOMS by repairing muscle faster. BCAAs are found in most high end protein powders.