Originally Posted by Plankton

Drinking lots of water will help alleviate the soreness. Also, giving your body time to recover is just as important as the workouts. When you exert your muscles enough to be sore, whats happening is that you're ripping the tendons in your muscles apart. When they have enough time to heal, more tissue/protein gets filled into the rips of the muscle and that builds bulk and strength. Thats kinda my amateur understanding of it anyway.

I'm still on my five-day routine of light weights and calisthenics after starting about 16 months or so ago. It's as much a part of my day as anything else, and I don't even want to think about where I'd be if I hadn't pushed myself to keep it going. I sit at a desk for at least 8 hours a day and most times more than that because of my projects, so having something to counter that keeps me moving.

It also gives me that healthy, youthful glow.