NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Workout Pain Is Good: Train to tolerate pain and you’ll become a better athlete.

That’s true, and for people who haven’t worked out, learning to distinguish between “good” pain and pain that indicates something actually wrong is important. If you’ve been sedentary for a long time, the sensations that even moderate exercise produces are likely to be interpreted as feeling “bad” and you’ll want to stop. But they’re actually signs of progress. On the other hand, “no pain, no gain” can be taken too far: You don’t want to ignore signs of RSI, or incipient joint or tendon problems.