A personal trainer credited with keeping celebrities in shape has revealed why she gets celebs to lift heavy weights when they need quick results, and how it’s the key to a leaner physique.
Sarah Lindsay fans include Strictly Come Dancing pro kathy jonesmodel Amy Jackson, presenters Nick Grimshaw, williams fashion Y Graham Nortonsingers Mel C and Paloma Faith and Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick.
Lindsay, a former British speed skating champion and three-time Olympian, owns gyms in London and Dubai, but you won’t find a treadmill or elliptical in sight.
She explains how heavy weights can be more beneficial than cardio and help anyone achieve their dream body in as little as 12 weeks.
Gossip Girl meets Roar Fitness girl: Actor Ed Westwick recently signed up to work out with Lindsay
British actress and model and former Miss Teen World Amy Jackson with Lindsay
Chat show legend Graham Norton is another A-lister to work with the Olympian
Made in Chelsea stars Sophie Hermann (left) and Hugo Taylor (right) sweat Roar
Sarah and Vogue Williams postpone training at Roar Fitness
Sarah, who specializes in body transformations, said: “Strength training can result in a higher metabolic rate.
“If you manage to gain muscle, even a few pounds, it will increase your metabolism, which will make it easier to gain it and then keep it lean, which is obviously what most people want.
“Strength is easier to maintain than cardio results, so weight training will benefit you in the long run.”
But he told FEMAIL why clients, especially women, often think lifting weights will only make them ‘bigger’.
She added: “Ultimately, adding muscle and therefore getting ‘bigger’ is very difficult – people will spend years trying to build a physique.”
“It’s just not easy, there are certain elements that you need in order to gain muscle.”
‘You need to lift enough weight to challenge and stimulate the muscle enough to grow.
“So you need to eat enough of the right things, at the right times, to help muscle recover and help it grow, so gaining muscle has to be deliberate.
‘You’re not going to do it by accident.
“You have to do very intense training several times a week for weeks, if not months, so it has to be deliberate, it won’t happen by mistake.”
But she says that lifting heavy weights, the right way, can actually make clients slimmer.
Instead of forcing people to do burpees, his PTs focus on form and weightlifting: the heavier, the better.
Carbohydrates and sugar are not prohibited, but clients are encouraged to follow a high-protein diet, with all of their macros taken care of.
Sarah added: ‘Food plays an important role in our contribution to our own health as it is something we have control over.
Exercising or posing? TV presenter and former Radio One star Nick Grimshaw
MiC star Sophie Hermann trains with Sarah
“I try to eat as naturally as possible and prepare my own food, unless I’m eating out, and I encourage celebrities to do the same.
“Customers still enjoy all the good things — pasta, desserts, champagne — but in moderation and portion control.
“When you have a great social life, you can’t always control what you eat, but you can control how much.”
Made in Chelsea star Sophie Hermann told MailOnline: ‘Training with Sarah is like switching from ready-to-wear to haute couture.
‘It’s another level. I have been training for 10 years, PT and classes, but no one comes close to my personal Lara Croft and her precisely crafted sessions.
“I’ve seen results after just a few weeks with it, which motivates me much more than dragging myself to the trainer or classes where I see a hint of in six months.”
Designer Henry Holland worked with Sarah and her team on this transformation, which took 11 weeks.
Graham Norton said he “feels fitter than ever” after following the programme, while Nick Grimshaw said weight training was now “a key part of his life”.
The former Radio One DJ added: “They have made me feel stronger, healthier and more focused than ever before.”
Fashion designer Henry Holland, who completed the Roar program before and after the lockdown, credited the gym with improving his physical and mental health.
Singer Paloma Faith turned to the PT shortly after giving birth last year
Famous Friends: His clientele includes football legend John Terry and Vogue presenter Williams, right.
The Roar gang: Lindsay, center, with her team of trainers at Roar
Sarah was a speed skater who represented Great Britain three times at the Olympics (pictured left, front and right, in Vancouver in 2010)
Lindsay added: “You don’t always have to be motivated and it’s unrealistic to expect that of yourself, but consistency is key, so you have to be disciplined about showing up.”
‘Our health is everything and I am always thinking about longevity. My grandmother was almost 101 years old when she recently died, but she was exercising with me in the garden at 97.
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