Understand that strength training, an anaerobic activity, requires short bursts of energy. You won’t be able to keep working at high intensity levels for very long – your body just can’t handle the demand.

You won’t get muscle soreness from a step class. Maybe you’re new to the workout scene or you decided to hire yourself a personal trainer. Whatever the case, muscle soreness that takes place during the activity or waits a few days after your workout to appear can make you rethink your next workout session.

Just know what to expect when you train hard. You can do aerobic work (or sustained activities such as running, cycling or stepping) for longer periods of time, because the work is less intense. Wiih aerobic work, you won’t get this can’t-get-out-of-bed-this-morning feeling. We’re talking two different activities and intensities.

Because anaerobic work or strength training, produces nasty byproducts, like lactic acid, expect soreness during the activity. When lactic acid reaches high levels, it can leak out of muscle cells and stimulate nearby nerve endings causing muscle soreness.

According to research, the muscle soreness that results a day or two after your workout seems to be caused by tiny tears in the muscle. Given at least 48 hours of rest between workouts, the muscle will synthesize and repair proteins, and grow stronger. If you experience pain that doesn’t go away within a few days, after your workout, it could be a sign of injury to the muscle. In this case, stop exercising and consult your doctor.

In the meantime, if you’re just getting used to intense training and soreness, don’t baby your body. Your arms won’t fall off if you drive to work. If the muscle soreness really bothers you take a warm bath to soothe aching muscles. After that, have a good night’s rest and you’ll be ready for your next workout.

Now that you know what causes muscle soreness and how to get rid of it, you will know what to expect the next time you exercise after a lengthy break.

Here’s how to avoid workout injuries:

We can’t say it too many ties in too many ways: Always warm up before exercising and cool down after! Warm up exercises are designed to elevate your muscle temperature slightly and prepare your body for the workout. Muscles are like furnaces. They produce heat and this makes them more pliable, like putty, and in that state your body is adequately prepared for exercising. Afterwords, cooldown exercises focus on stretching for flexibility, joint health and muscle protection.

Never jerk or pull a weight abruptly as this can lead to torn ligaments and joint trauma.

Don’t be overenthusiastic and lift weights that are clearly too heavy for you.

Listen to your body signals that you may be doing too much or exercising incorrectly. If something doesn’t feel right, stop immediately. Signs that you are overtaxing your body include muscle and joint pain, swelling and fatigue. Additionally, women may even stop menstruating.

Warm up thoroughly before workout. This will increase your body temperature and make your body more resistant to muscle soreness.

Always perform cooldown stretches following your workout. They increase blood flow to and from the exercised muscles ensuring better delivery of nutrients and hormones for recovery and repair as well as flush out chemical waste products that lead to soreness.

Enjoy a nice hot bath after your workout. It’s all the better if you can apply water-jet massage from a Jacuzzi tub. Researches indicate that water-jet massage increases the release of proteins from muscle tissue into the blood and helps reduce muscle soreness after a taxing workout.

Also, don’t let muscle soreness sideline you and stick to you workout schedule. If you stop working out, you will only get sore again the next time you exercise. As long as you properly warm up, any sore body parts will be massaged by the repetitions of the exercising stimulating blood flow through the sore muscles for a healing effect