What To Actually Do When You're Really Sore

 

Most people treat soreness as proof that a workout worked, the more destroyed you feel the next day the better the session must have been. But soreness is not a measure of effort or progress, and training through it the wrong way is one of the most common reasons people plateau, get injured, and end up taking more rest than they ever intended to.

In this episode of Embrace Your Real, I break down the science of what is actually happening in your body when soreness hits and why the conventional wisdom of either pushing through it or resting completely is getting it wrong. I also get into why active recovery beats both of those options in most cases, what protein, carbohydrates, hydration, and sleep are each doing for your recovery at a cellular level, and how smart programming eliminates the guesswork entirely so your body is always training hard and recovering smarter.

What's Discussed:

  • Why soreness is not proof your workout worked and what it actually means

  • What DOMS is, why it happens, and when it peaks

  • The difference between normal soreness and pain that is a genuine warning sign

  • Should you train through soreness and the honest answer

  • What active recovery actually is and why it beats complete rest

  • How to program around soreness so you never hit the same muscle group twice

  • Why protein is the most important recovery tool you have

  • Why carbohydrates matter more than most people realize after a hard session

  • How dehydration is quietly making your soreness worse than it needs to be

  • Why sleep is where most of your muscle repair actually happens

  • How to know when soreness is information and when it is a warning

If you want a workout program that already has recovery built into the structure so you are never guessing which muscles to train or when to pull back, head to movementwithjulie.com to get started inside the Movement With Julie app.

If you loved this episode, you'll also love: Episode 413: The Importance of a Rest Day.It will help you take everything you learned here and apply it in a way that actually protects your progress instead of quietly undermining it.

If you want more from me, be sure to check out… 

Transcript

(0:00) Hey, hey beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, (0:06) but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Reel with me, Julie Ledbetter.

(0:13) I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. (0:19) Stay tuned if you're ready to Embrace Your Reel. Let's get it, let's go! (0:32) Hello, hello, and welcome back to another bonus episode on the Embrace Your Podcast.

(0:38) Today's episode is really quick, but it's going to be really practical because if you've ever woken up the morning after light day, (0:44) and you genuinely question whether it'd be able to walk down the stairs, this one is for you. (0:49) Sorness is one of those things that confuses people a lot. Like, should you just push through it? (0:53) Should you rest completely? Is this a sign that your workout worked, or is this a sign that something went wrong? (0:57) And so in today's episode, we're going to be clearing all of that up for you.

(1:01) Here's what you're going to be walking away with today. You're going to know the difference between normal soreness and pain that is actually a warning sign. (1:07) What to do, what not to do, and when you're really sore, how to use your nutrition, your hydration, and smart programming to recover faster and feel better sooner.

(1:18) Before you dive in, I want to share this review though. She gave a five-star review and said, (1:22) wow, exactly what I needed to hear. I've been struggling with feeling confident and just feeling (1:26) very defeated the last few weeks, and today's episode really helped me in so many ways.

(1:31) As I listened, I kept pressing each additional link about confidence and not caring about what others think. (1:37) Thank you, Julie, for all the tools and the friend talk that I needed. (1:41) I love the simplicity of just recognizing the negative mindset and saying, (1:45) that's not relevant.

Keep being amazing you, or keep being amazingly you. (1:50) Thank you so much. I'm so grateful for you.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day. (1:54) I'm grateful that these podcasts are helping you. That is exactly what my hope and prayer for, (1:58) for every single episode is, is that you walk away feeling empowered, educated, (2:02) just encouraged in some way, shape, or form.

Thank you in advance, (2:06) you guys, for tuning into the podcast, and also be sure to follow the show on whatever platform (2:12) you are listening on. If you could scooch over and leave a rating interview on Apple Podcast, (2:17) that would mean the absolute world to me and our team. (2:19) All right, let's just get right into it.

First things first, the soreness that you are feeling (2:22) 24 to 48 hours after a tough workout, that actually has a name. It's called DOMS, D-O-M-S, (2:28) which stands for delayed onset muscle soreness. And that's completely normal.

It's not dangerous. (2:33) It's actually a sign that your muscles were challenged. And now in the process of repairing (2:38) and getting stronger, it tends to peak around the 48 hour mark and then gradually eases off.

(2:43) So DOMS feels like a deep muscular ache. It tends to be tender to the touch. It gets worse (2:50) when you move the muscle and better once you warm up.

And that's totally normal. That's your (2:55) body doing exactly what it's supposed to do. What is not normal is really sharp pain (2:59) or joint pain or pain on one side that you don't feel on the other side or pain that just gets (3:06) worse instead of better as the days go on.

That's your body's way of sending a different kind of (3:11) signal. One that's saying like, okay, something might actually be wrong here. And if that's what (3:16) you're experiencing, please do not push through at rest if it doesn't improve.

And if it doesn't (3:21) improve over a week's time or two weeks time, I want you to see someone. There's no workout (3:27) worth injury that sidelines you for weeks, which brings us to the question that we get all the time (3:32) and that is, should you work out through soreness? And the honest answer is, it really depends on (3:38) how sore you are and what kind of workout you're planning. So if you're mildly sore, (3:42) moving your body is actually one of the best things that you can do.

Light movement is (3:46) going to increase that blood flow to the muscle, which is going to help clear out the (3:49) byproducts that cause that achy feeling and really does help to speed up recovery. (3:53) You don't need to take a full rest day every time you feel a little bit sore. If you're (3:57) really sore though, the kind where sitting down requires a moment of mental preparation, (4:04) that's your cue to either rest or choose active recovery instead of pushing through a hard session (4:09) or you can do an entirely different and you should be doing an entirely different muscle group.

(4:14) So let's say you are like, oh man, my glutes are so sore and I can sit, but they're freaking sore. (4:21) All right. That's, can maybe a sign that you're okay to do your upper body.

If you have no (4:25) soreness in your upper body, you can do your upper body and that's going to be great, right? (4:29) But whatever you do, don't train the same muscle group that's already screaming at you. (4:33) That's how you go from like normal soreness to potentially an actual injury. (4:37) So let's kind of dive into active recovery because that is something that gets talked (4:42) a lot about and that's what I just said, whether it's, you know, when you're really sore, (4:46) let's say in your glutes, you could do upper body or you can do an active recovery.

(4:50) So I want to kind of break it down simply. So active recovery just means moving your (4:53) body in a low intensity way that promotes blood flow without adding more stress to (4:57) arty fatigue muscles. This could be a 20, 30 minute walk.

This could be some gentle (5:02) Pilates, stressing, stretching session, foam rolling, swimming, a light bike ride. (5:07) The goal is to just get the blood moving without asking your muscles to do (5:10) a lot of real work. I want you to think about helping your body flush the soreness rather (5:16) than adding to it.

And this is a great time to really focus on the muscles that you're not (5:20) sore in, right? So again, if your legs are destroyed from yesterday, today is a perfect (5:24) day for upper body. As long as you feel good in those areas, smart programming means that (5:28) you're never hitting the same muscle group two days in a row, which is one of the (5:32) main reasons why following a structured workout program does make such a big difference. (5:36) You're not guessing which body parts to train.

The plan already accounts for recovery. (5:41) And so if you want a program that actually does that thinking for you, that's exactly (5:45) what my Moo and Julie Dumbo workouts do. The workouts really rotate muscle groups (5:49) internally.

So you're always training hard, but you're recovering smart. (5:53) The link is in the show notes the first month as a brand new subscriber is 50% off, (5:56) or you could just go to sale, S-A-L-E dot Moo and Julie dot com. (6:00) But we've talked about movement and recovery, but I want to make sure that we cover this (6:03) piece too, because what you eat and drink after a tough workout does play a huge (6:08) role in how sore you feel and how fast you bounce back.

(6:12) Protein is the most important piece. Your muscles are literally repairing (6:15) themselves after a hard session and they need those amino acids from protein (6:19) to do that effectively. So I want you to aim to get a solid (6:22) protein source in within one to two hours of your workout, whether that's a (6:26) meal, a protein shake, a protein bar.

But carbohydrates also matter more than (6:31) people realize. Carbs replenish the glycogen in your (6:34) muscles used during the workout, which is going to help you to reduce that heavy (6:37) depleted feeling afterward. And this is not the time to go low, super (6:41) low carb, right? Your muscles need that fuel to recover.

(6:44) And hydration, please do not underestimate this one, because muscle (6:47) tissue is largely largely made up of water, and even mild (6:51) dehydration can make soreness feel significantly worse. So I want you to (6:55) drink water consistently throughout the day, (6:57) not just during your workout. If you're really sore, (7:00) try adding some electrolytes, they can help.

And finally, (7:03) sleep. I know this one might feel obvious, but genuinely (7:06) where most of your muscle repair happens, your body releases growth (7:11) hormones during sleep, which is when the actual rebuilding (7:14) process takes place. So if you're cutting your sleep short (7:16) and wondering why you're always sore and sluggish, that (7:20) could be a big part to the answer.

Okay, let's quickly do a recap before (7:24) we wrap up. So normal soreness, DOMS, D-O-M-S. If you ever see that in (7:29) capitals D-O-M-S, that is delayed onset muscle soreness, (7:33) and that is your body's way of adapting and getting stronger.

But (7:36) sharp or joint pain, that could be a warning sign that (7:40) deserves a little bit more attention. Mild soreness is fine to train (7:44) through with different muscle groups or lighter effort. Severe soreness, (7:47) though, that calls for rest or active recovery.

(7:50) Protein, carbs, hydration, sleep, those are going to be your best (7:53) recovery tools. And programming your workouts so that (7:56) you're not hitting the same muscle group back to back (7:58) makes a massive difference in how your body feels week to week. (8:02) Remember that soreness is not a badge of honor.

It's not something to be afraid of (8:06) either, though. It's just information. And now you know what to do with it.

So if (8:09) you're looking again for a workout program that already has (8:12) recovery built into the structure, so you're never guessing which (8:15) muscles to train, when to pull back, when to go, (8:18) check out my move with Julie demo workouts. The link in the show notes (8:22) will take you to sale, S-A-L-E dot move with Julie dot com. (8:25) If you are a brand new subscriber, you get 50 percent off your first month.

(8:28) Five brand new workouts every single week. We have lower body, upper body, (8:32) cardio and core, shoulders and glutes, full body. (8:34) Literally, you guys, all you need is a few pair of demos in a small space.

I (8:37) say if you have a light pair, it'd be five, eight, ten pounds, and a medium to (8:41) heavy pair that could be 12, 15, 20 pounds. That's genuinely all you (8:46) need. If you have a bench, amazing.

I always give no bench alternates. I (8:51) always give bodyweight alternates. So you are covered there depending on (8:56) your expertise or just your overall strength levels.

(9:00) This program is going to be for you. If you love this episode, (9:04) I think you will also love episode 541. What Swornis really says about your (9:08) workouts, I will go ahead and link that in the show notes below so that you can (9:11) easily go check that out.

I believe that it pairs perfectly (9:13) with everything that we talked about in today's episode. (9:16) And again, if this episode was helpful for you, the best thing that you can do (9:19) is leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Make sure that you're following the show (9:22) on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so that you never miss an episode.

(9:25) It genuinely helps more women find this content and it means more (9:28) to me than you know. That is all that I have for today's bonus episode. Just (9:33) remember that your body works incredibly hard for you.

(9:36) Make sure you're giving it what it needs to recover. Take care of yourself. (9:39) Listen to your body.

I love you so dang much. I mean it and I'll talk to you in the next one. (9:53) All right, sister.

That's all I got for you today. (9:56) But I have two things that I need you to do. (10:00) First thing, if you are not already following me on the Gram, be sure to do so.

(10:04) Julie A. Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle. (10:06) For that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, (10:11) and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check.

(10:14) The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. (10:20) Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world.

(10:24) And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. (10:26) The most beautiful women that I have met in my life (10:29) are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. (10:36) Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface.

(10:39) So go out there and embrace a real. Because you're worth it.

 
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