So, you overdid it during your last workout, huh? That's okay, a stiff, sore body riddled with innocent post-exercise muscular aches and pains is a badge of honor to be worn proudly.

"The problem is, if you can't get them to feel better by tomorrow, you may not have the inclination to hit the gym for another productive session," says Heather Dillinger, national certification specialist for the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America . That's where an over-the-counter pain reliever can come to the rescue.

But wait! Before you go running for muscular relief, first listen to your body. Normal muscular soreness is your body's way of telling you which areas you've successfully managed to thoroughly exhaust. These tight aches and pains should be used as a way of figuring out just how effective your workout was in hitting the areas you wanted to improve.

Just because you're sore doesn't mean your workout did its job. "If you're feeling aches in areas you weren't trying to exercise, you could be using other muscles to help you cheat to perform certain movements," says Dillinger. Make sure the muscles that hurt are the ones you were exercising in the first place. If they're not, try to figure out how you might have gotten the other muscles involved. For example, if your lower back aches after a chest workout, you might be arching your back excessively and never realize it. Use these aches as clues to improving your form and technique in your exercises, and you'll benefit from it in the long run.

Now that you've learned your body's lesson, it's time to relieve all that soreness so you can go ahead and put your body through it all again tomorrow. One or two tablets of an over-the-counter pain reliever containing ibuprofen (Advil), naproxin sodium (Aleve) or ketoprophin (Orundis) all work equally well at abating the muscle aches and muscular inflammation.

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