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What to Actually Do When You're Really Sore

Embrace Your Real

Release Date: 04/09/2026

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Embrace Your Real

Hey hey beautiful human! Have you felt it lately? You open your phone, you scroll for a few seconds, and suddenly you are looking at transformation photos, smaller bodies being praised, and a version of “progress” that feels very different from what you have been working toward. And even if a part of you knows better, there is another part that quietly wonders if you are doing something wrong. That feeling is not random. It is what happens when the message is everywhere and it keeps finding you, even when you are not looking for it. In this episode of Embrace Your Real, I’m talking about...

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More Episodes

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…