Managing Sore Muscles and Aches and Pains.

Live fit and SORE right? But how do you manage being sore — even though it’s a good sore…

You work hard all week, so when the weekend finally rolls around you want to play just as hard. There’s nothing like a few rounds of golf, a hike in the mountains, or an intense workout at the gym to reinvigorate you.

Weekend warriors be warned, though — Saturday and Sunday activities can lead to Monday soreness.

What’s Causing My Sore Muscles?

It’s normal to have sore muscles after you work out, play sports, or even do housework, especially if:

* You did an activity you’re not used to (like running a marathon when you normally jog just a few miles).

* You suddenly kicked up your exercise intensity level or increased the length of your workout.

* You did eccentric exercises, in which you lengthened instead of shortened your muscle (like walking downhill or extending your arm during a bicep curl).

These changes to your exercise routine can lead to tiny injuries called microdamage in the muscle fibers and connective tissue. About a day later, you’ll start to feel sore.

“We call that delayed onset muscle soreness,” says Ethel Frese, PT, DPT, CCS, associate professor of Physical Therapy at St. Louis University. “It peaks within about 48 hours and then it will gradually get better.”

The good news is that when you do the same activity again, your muscles will start to get used to it. “You will actually have no soreness or less soreness, because now you’ve strengthened the muscle or connective tissue,” says Allan H. Goldfarb, PhD, FACSM, professor and exercise physiologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.