What can I do/take to lessen post-workout soreness?

I was going to say to drink a lot of water and stretch.
Try a warm bath.

Stretch (restorative yoga is GREAT) and epsom salt soaks.

Keep at it. If you go from almost no activity to a lot, your muscles will take a couple days to adjust to the new routine. When I played football in hish school, the first week was rough, then the muscles adjusted and the soreness and fatigue went away.

Some supplements as well as time will chase the sore away.

Some anti-inflammatories work better than others. One of our Fluther MDs here told me Naproxen is the best.

Other than that, I second stretching and hot baths. Massage, if you can get someone to give you one.

And enjoy it. That’s good pain.

Work out more often and stagger the muscle groups on which you work.

Stretch after working out. This is by far the best way to avoid soreness after working out. You can still stretch before, but that does nothing for soreness, stretching after moves the lactic acid out of the muscle that builds up when you tire the muscle. If you are still a little sore you can take a couple ibuprofens to help. As you continue to work out you will also be less likely to be sore.

Ah! I forgot about stretching. What @JLeslie said. Also, if it hits you particularly hard, see if you can wrangle your way into a whirlpool tub! : ))

Just to be clear the stretching has to be done immediately at the end of your workout. You can’t stretch the pain out the next day when you are sore.