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Our bodies are amazing machines. If we treat them right, they will act accordingly. Healthy nutrition and regular exercise are imperative for maximum performance.

Sometimes we push a bit too hard resulting in exercise-related muscle soreness. We’ve all experienced the aches, pain, and stiffness immediately following an intense workout or new routine. But what if we bump up the program, fully expecting to hurt the next day, and surprisingly, no misery, until 36 hours later! What’s that all about?

In the muscle soreness arena, there are two types of exercise-related pain — immediate and delayed. Immediate appears during or soon after exercise and dissipates quickly. Delayed muscle soreness indicates a natural adaptive process that the body initiates after an energetic workout. It hits you 24 to 48 hours after your ardent session and usually decreases after 72 hours.

Naturally, copious studies have tried to determine the likely cause for this syndrome. It was previously thought that a build up of lactic acid in muscles was the culprit. If the circulatory system can’t remove the lactic acid from the active muscles as quickly as it accumulates, muscular fatigue and pain occur.

However, the present consensus is that microscopic tears in the muscle and surrounding connective tissue following eccentric (muscles lengthen against a resistance) exercise are the reason. A biceps curl is a relevant example. The biceps muscle shortens during the concentric lifting part and lengthens during the eccentric lowering phase. An aerobic counterpart would be running down hill. The quadriceps muscle repeatedly lengthens against gravity to lower the center of mass and help with shock absorption.

Is there one bunch of participants who tend to suffer from delayed muscle soreness more than another? Logically, one would assume beginning exercisers or those who have curtailed their routine for a while would compose the majority of that group. Not necessarily. Conditioned persons who increase the intensity, frequency, and duration of their activity or those who start an unfamiliar sport often experience the uncomfortable postponed agony too.

The conundrum of the most effective approach to alleviate delayed soreness has evoked studies as abundant as those conducted to determine its cause. Although, nothing definitive is heads-above-the rest, ice compresses, massage, stretching, NSAIDs (nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs), and other less conventional methods seem to help if initiated immediately after an intense or new workout.

On the bright side, once someone has endured delayed muscle soreness at specific exercise intensity, it shouldn’t happen again until the intensity level is increased. That is because our muscles adapt to a given exercise intensity level. No pain until we kick it up again. As with most everything, common sense should prevail to avoid hurting in the first place but that doesn’t seem to be our nature. We are an impatient lot who strive for instantaneous results.

The obvious conclusion: Unless you’re a masochist, begin an exercise routine slowly with gradual progression and conservative increases in frequency, intensity, and duration. Whether you are in a group setting or working out on your own, listen to your body and learn to differentiate between pushing “just enough” and “too much.” The latter will plague you with pain either immediately or later and the possibility of a stress fracture or worse. Your body can be your best friend depending on how you treat it.

Kay Sager is a certified fitness and aquatic specialist living at Port of the Islands. She is a personal trainer using land and water fitness and teaches swimming. She also has written articles for Physician and Sports Medicine among other publications. Kay can be reached by e-mail: kswimfit@aol.com.