Q: I have been training regularly four times a week for the past eight months but when my workouts are over, I feel sore all over. Perhaps it's because I'm lifting too heavy, but I want to get big muscles. What can I do to relieve the muscle pain? - H.K., Jefferson City, MO

A: Congratulations for getting to the gym four times a week. You're bound to achieve your goals with a regimen like that. But since your soreness may come from your demanding workouts, you need to scale back a bit. Taking a little break from your workouts or easing up on their intensity or duration can actually enhance your performance and keep you injury free.

Knowing how to pace yourself with enough down time is the secret to sustained athletic success. Let me give you an example from my personal files: About two weeks ago, bad weather, coupled by a heavy work load, made my friend Pete miss four of his daily half-hour gym workouts. In order to make it up, he decided to work out for one hour a day, for seven straight days. After the first day, he felt great, wide awake, alert, refreshed. By Day 2 his knees were a little sore, and he fell asleep that night before his head hit the pillow. On Day 3, his thighs were sore, and he fell asleep at his computer keyboard that afternoon. On Day 4 he fell asleep in mid-sentence while having a conversation with me. His knees were stiff and achy. By Day 7, he was barely moving in the last 15 minutes of his workout and was thinking how nice it would be to get home and flop in the hammock. What this goes to show is that the human body can't take all of this physical pounding. It needs some time off to recover.

Elite athletes have learned this through trial and error, and it's a wise exercise tip for everyone, no matter what their fitness level. Keep pushing yourself like Pete did, piling more exercise on top of an already fatigued body, and your body will surely start to break down

The antidote to this over-exercise is a four-letter word that many Type A exercisers don't like to hear because it goes against their very compulsive nature. That word is rest. Your body needs rest to repair tissue, to grow and to get stronger. Give it that rest, and the end result is improved athletic performance and a much higher fitness level.

Here's what you can do to get some rest into your workout week. Try scheduling a no-exercise day. Pencil in Thursday, for example. And stick to your no-exercise pledge. Or, do what the top athletes do: Have a demanding workout one day, followed by an easier one the next. This way you are continually exercising, but in a gentler fashion. While the popular athletic slogan "JUST DO IT!" is supposed to rally the millions of couch potatoes out of the house and onto the athletic fields, if you happen to be one of these perpetual exercise-aholics who never let up, forget about "Just Do It." Instead, your new battle cry needs to be: Don't Overdo It. Instead, let your body recover adequately after each exercise session. You'll feel better and your exercise performance will improve as well.

Source: fitlinxx.com