Shannon Flanagan is a certified personal trainer. Follow her on Instagram (@shanagan9) for a sneak peek at her workouts and inspirational quotes. Ahead, she shares her workout recovery regimen.
I love working out. I have been an athlete all my life, so it’s easy for me to want to push my body passed its limits. If I am being completely honest I feel like we all are a little like that. We live in a world of “all in” or “all out” mentalities. The thought is, if you want to get fitter, leaner and stronger, you need to work 10x harder than you already are. Well, that is not the case.
I had this mentality for a long time. I thought I needed to work out twice a day to be able to get the results I wanted. It worked for a short time, but I found myself constantly tired, feeling sore and I would not want to do anything for the rest of the day. Sometimes if you go all in and provide no time for workout recovery, there will be a point where you run out of gas. Your performance is going to suffer, and you are setting yourself up for a potential injury.
Proper hydration is also extremely important for recovery after workouts. Drinking plain water can get boring. If you have this problem, reach for a tasty collagen drink like Vital Proteins Collagen Water™ for refreshing hydration.
Make Rest A Priority
Write it in your fitness program. I make sure to give myself one full rest day and one or two lighter movement days. I found that this works for my body at its current state. Over the years, I have found that it is easier for me to listen to my body’s signs of when I am overdoing it and when I need to slow down. If you have a hard time listening to your body, I suggest monitoring your sleep and heart rate. I use a product called the Oura ring. It tracks your sleep, heart rate variability, temperature and physical activity. Based on all that data, it gives you a “readiness” score and it tells you that you are either 1.) Ready to conquer the day and physical activity or 2.) Need to slow it down and make sure you give yourself rest.
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Working out is great on the body, but it is not good to go hard every time you step foot in the gym. Working out is stress on the body, and although it is “good stress,” our adrenal glands do not know the difference. If you lead a stressful life at home and at work, throwing an intense CrossFit in the mix probably won’t give you the results you are looking for. Stress can be beneficial when channeled correctly, but prolonged stress can lead to a number of mental and physical conditions.