[Crowbob]

Best thing is too warm-up by taking it very slow at first, rest often and listen to your body. Keeping the after-the-fact inflammation to a minimum helps tremendously. A phrophylactic anti-inflammatory of choice before exertion is a good practice, too.

Nothing worse than two weeks of bilateral epicondylitis (tennis elbows) after an afternoon of too-exuberant leaf-raking, for example.

Stuff takes longer but it also justifies standing in stuporous contemplation every ten minutes or so.