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Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East may not be flipping and twirling on the balance beam for all the world to see anymore, but the 34-year-old still catches air on the regular thanks to her weekly workout routine.
“A move that I do in the gym that makes me feel super-powerful is probably box jumps,” Shawn tells Women’s Health in the latest episode of the video series Strong Like. “Being able to box jump 40-some inches makes me feel really strong.”
While the mom of two and co-author (with husband Andrew East) of the upcoming book The Courage to Commit has a rock-solid exercise regimen now, finding her way at the gym after retiring from gymnastics—and no longer having a coach by her side 24/7—was a journey.
“I was obsessed with working out after the Olympics,” she recalls. “I was trying to find a balance. I didn’t know how to be a normal workout person, and so I would work out way too much.”
After a period during which she was routinely taking 4 to 5 workout classes a day, Shawn found herself burnt out and quit exercising all together. When she eventually returned to the gym, she had to rebuild her routine “from the ground up.” Now she strength trains three to five times a week and loves it. Curious how the 4’11” dynamo stays strong and chasing after her three kids? Check out a sample of her favorite full-body workout!
One of Shawn’s go-to circuits (you can use it to either start or finish your workout) is a dumbbell flow that incorporates the following moves into a continuous sequence:
Shawn recommends doing anywhere from 4 to 10 reps of each (though she says 10 would be “extreme”) for 2-3 sets.
Next, she’ll do handstands—a move she recognizes may not be for everyone.
“I love gymnastics,” she says. “It is a huge part of me still, and it makes me feel strong. I remember there being a time where I wasn’t able to do it—with pregnancy and postpartum and just feeling weak—so it truly is a very empowering thing for me.”
Those impressive box jumps come next, which she’ll usually super-set with squats. And, to finish, are chin-ups, with which Shawn says she has a “love-hate relationship.”
“I always struggled with pull-ups, so it’s been my mission to get better at them,” she says. “I don’t think you can cheat them, so the only way to get better is by doing them.”
To hear the rest of Shawn’s fitness goals, watch the latest episode of Strong Like above!
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