Jessica Biel has a trick for fighting off sore muscles—but you’re not going to like it

There’s nothing like waking up the day following a hard workout. After taking a couple deep breaths, you get up and waddle around your apartment with a mega sore body, trying to go about your morning routine and wishing there was a solution to make all that pain and tightness go away. Well, good news: Jessica Biel has a method she swears by. Unfortunately, you’re not going to like it one bit.

When you’re dealing with a sore body, the last thing you want to do is move your it any more than you have to. Heck, even sitting down on the toilet is work. But when Biel is trying to deal, her fool-proof method always comes through: She throws on a piece from her capsule collection with Gaiam and goes back for seconds, no matter how bad it hurts. “Work out again. Get right back in it,” she tells Well+Good. “If you’re sore, work out your hips or your butt or whatever it is.”

“Work out again. Get right back in it. If you’re sore, work out your hips or your butt or whatever it is.” —Jessica Biel

Sure, it doesn’t sound like the most pleasurable way to fight off sore muscles by any means, but according to trainer Michael Ryan, CSCS, the Tier X Manager at Equinox, it works. Don’t worry, though: You don’t have to go all out again—you just have to do something. “While it’s recommended to allow the affected muscles time to recover, inactivity isn’t necessarily the remedy,” he says. “Dynamic flexibility, body work, yoga, aqua therapy, and walking your dog are all movement-based recommendations to aid muscle soreness recovery.”

Aside from adding some movement into your day, Ryan says eating a balanced diet and getting at least seven hours of sleep also helps you deal with a sore body. You can also add in other super-star recovery methods like taking an Epsom salt bath or hit up another of Biel’s fave cool spots cryotherapy. So take it from this all-star actress and get your fitness on…and then maybe treat yourself to some self-care afterward. Otherwise it might be a couple days until you can sit without grimacing, and nobody wants that.

Jessica Biel shares how 20 minutes of daily yoga helps her manage stress. Or, find out her trick to perfectly packing a suitcase so you can get more outfits from fewer clothes.