Recover & Revive

I realised there’s quite a lot about treatments & wellness on this page and I’m slowly trying to show a bit more about the people actually behind R&R…

So hi 👋🏼 I’m Shanai - founder of R&R, sports massage therapist, Chiropractic Master’s student and apparently someone who thought training for a half Ironman alongside running a business, working full-time, and studying was a sensible idea 😂

A few slightly more important facts: I spent 8 years in the Army, I’m obsessed with sharks, Olive is essentially my child, I will get unnecessarily excited about sourdough and sweet treats, and my hatred of tomatoes really is that serious.

I’m also very much the “I’ll figure out how to do it myself” type… which probably explains how R&R happened in the first place.

Now you know way too much about me 😂 tell me one random fact about you! 👇🏻

Part 3 of studies I’ve been reading lately 📚🤓 - and this week we’ve got some VERY recent research, with a few of these papers only published in the last few weeks!

This week we’re looking at magnesium and sleep, fasting + HIIT, protein before bed, swimming for chronic low back pain, NMN, caffeine across the menstrual cycle AND creatine in women.

One of the reasons I love reading research is that the answer is so rarely as simple as “this works” or “this doesn’t.”

A supplement can be incredibly well researched overall, while still having huge gaps in female-specific research. An intervention can produce a statistically significant result without that difference necessarily being clinically meaningful. And something that’s everywhere in the wellness world might actually have surprisingly limited evidence behind it!!

The creatine + endometriosis research was particularly interesting to me. There’s emerging preclinical research raising questions around creatine biology and endometriosis progression - but importantly, this has not been demonstrated in human supplementation trials.

That’s exactly why I want to keep doing these posts: less “wellness says…” and more “what does the research actually say?” 🔬

As always, these are individual studies/reviews, not the final word on any of these topics, and research should be interpreted alongside the wider body of evidence.

Which one surprised you most? And what should I research for Part 4? 👇🏼

***Research shared for education only, not individual medical advice.

A little R&R update 🤍

I’m so excited to officially introduce Michaela, the newest member of the Recover & Revive team.

Michaela is a qualified Sports Massage Therapist with a degree in Sports & Exercise Science, with experience across sports massage, rehabilitation, cupping and athlete support in both clinical and sporting settings.

She also plays hockey herself, so she has a real interest in sport, injury recovery and helping people get back to doing the things they enjoy 🏑

Most importantly, she is absolutely lovely and I’m really excited for you all to meet her!

She’ll now be offering appointments here at Recover & Revive, giving you more availability and another lovely pair of hands in the clinic.

Swipe through to get to know Michaela a little better - including some of the more important questions 😂

Her diary is now open for 60-minute and 30-minute (follow-up) Sports Massage appointments

You can book with Michaela via the link in our bio 🤍

Welcome to R&R, Michaela ✨

From whether evening workouts really affect your sleep, to cycle syncing, cold therapy and breathwork - there’s always more nuance behind the health advice we see online! 📚

I love reading the research behind the things we’re constantly told we should (or shouldn’t!) be doing, so I’m making this a regular R&R series - breaking down recent studies into something a little easier to digest. 🤓

As always, one study rarely gives us the whole answer - but it can definitely make us question what we thought we knew!

Which one surprised you most? 👀

And what should I look into next?
Sleep, supplements, women’s health, recovery, running, hormones… give me a topic ↓

**Research shared for education, not individual medical advice.

The Autumn Reset 🍂🌀

An evening to switch off from everything else and come back to yourself.

The Nostalgic Breathwork Experience combines conscious connected breathing with carefully chosen nostalgic music, listened to through headphones while you’re lying comfortably on a mat.

You’ll be guided through the whole experience, so you don’t need to have done breathwork before or know what to expect.

The music is familiar for a reason. Certain songs can take us straight back to people, places, memories and versions of ourselves we haven’t thought about in years. Combined with the breath, it can create a really immersive space to slow down, feel, release and simply see what comes up.

Some people feel emotional. Some feel peaceful. Some have memories surface. Some just enjoy an hour where their brain finally goes quiet.

There’s no right way to experience it.

Wednesday 30th September
6:30-8:30pm
Recover & Revive
Montpellier, Cheltenham

Includes a fully guided 60-minute breathwork journey, headphones, all mats/bolsters/blankets, time to settle afterwards, herbal tea, refreshments and light snacks.

No experience needed. Limited spaces.

Booking via the link in bio 🤍

Recover & Revive is growing 🤍

I’m really excited to be looking for another therapist to join R&R in Montpellier.

I’m looking for a qualified Sports Massage, Sports Therapist, Soft Tissue or Massage Therapist who genuinely cares about their clients, takes pride in their work and is looking for a part-time opportunity where they can grow and develop.

R&R has become a busy little clinic with an amazing community of clients, and I’d love to find someone who shares my approach to treatment and client care to become part of its next chapter.

Alongside working from a fully equipped treatment space, there’ll be opportunities for ongoing training & development, support in growing your diary, and the chance to develop your role as R&R continues to grow.

This is initially a part-time position with flexible hours, so it could be perfect for someone starting out, looking to add clinic hours alongside their current work or take the next step in their career.

📍 Montpellier, Cheltenham

Interested? Send me a DM with a little bit about yourself, your qualifications, experience and availability and we can arrange a chat.

And if someone immediately came to mind while reading this, please send it their way 🤍

Your body is incredibly good at adapting - WHEN it’s given the chance to.

Running, strength training, rehab and even everyday movement all place load on our tissues. That load isn’t something we need to fear - it’s part of how we build capacity.

Too little load and there may not be enough stimulus for adaptation. Too much, too quickly, and we can exceed what our body is currently prepared for.

The sweet spot? Enough challenge + enough recovery + time.

BUT sometimes there’s a mismatch between what we’re asking our body to do and what it’s currently prepared for.

That might be a sudden increase in running mileage, adding more training days, increasing intensity, returning after time off, or simply not having enough recovery between sessions (less quality sleep, stress, poor fuelling/diet etc.)

And that mismatch can be one of the factors behind those little niggles (& sometimes injuries) appearing.

The answer isn’t necessarily to stop loading the area altogether.

Often it’s about adjusting the load, allowing symptoms to settle where needed, and gradually building capacity back up.

Enough challenge + enough recovery + time.

You don’t need to avoid load. You need to progressively prepare your body for it. 🏃‍♀️

Load → recover → adapt → repeat.

👟 There’s no such thing as the perfect running shoe.

Cushioning, heel to toe drop, comfort and even what you’re used to running in can all influence how load is distributed through the body.

The takeaway? Don’t choose a shoe just because it’s trending or because someone else loves it.

Choose what feels good for you, suits your training, and introduce any big changes gradually. 🏃‍♀️

Your shoes are part of the load-management picture - not a magic fix for injury.