Founder of ROAR Fitness and 3-time Olympian, Sarah Lindsay, joins Tell Me Why podcast host Maria Botros to speak about the importance of weight training and how it's not one-size-fits-all.
The goal is to help people get comfortable with weight training
Everybody should weight train to become stronger
Weight training is suitable for everyone because it just depends on the load selection
If someone is just starting out, they need to look at the quality of their food first
When it comes to food, people should focus on nourishing their bodies
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#UAEnews #podcast #fitness
The goal is to help people get comfortable with weight training
Everybody should weight train to become stronger
Weight training is suitable for everyone because it just depends on the load selection
If someone is just starting out, they need to look at the quality of their food first
When it comes to food, people should focus on nourishing their bodies
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #podcast #fitness
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NewsTranscript
00:00My thing is weight training, right, so I strongly believe that everybody should weight train.
00:04It's beneficial to everybody to be stronger.
00:07And a big part of it was trying to encourage people to train using weights.
00:13Now, it doesn't have to be strength training, you know, maybe you don't have the equipment to do that,
00:16but for a lot of people, the first step is just getting comfortable holding dumbbells in your hands.
00:21It feels so unfamiliar and people are so nervous of this concept.
00:31All right, welcome back to a new episode of Tell Me Why.
00:35Joining me in the studio today is a three-time Olympian and a speed skater, an ex-speed skater,
00:43and a coach, a fitness coach.
00:46Sarah, how are you? Sarah Lindsay.
00:48I'm good, thank you so much for having me.
00:51It's lovely having you, lovely seeing your beautiful smile this early in the morning.
00:55Yeah, it's kind of fixed, it's always there pretty much.
00:59No, but that's fantastic.
01:00So, Sarah, today's topic really hits home.
01:04I feel like it's something that I've struggled with most of my adult years,
01:08and I think a lot of people can relate as well.
01:11Staying fit or getting fit, like it's always that struggle of how do I stay fit?
01:16How do I get fit?
01:17What if I failed so many times and I just give up?
01:21Before we dive into that, I just want to know a bit more about yourself
01:24and like for our listeners who want to get to know you a bit more.
01:28Can you tell us like how did you start your journey?
01:31Tell us about representing Great Britain in the Olympics,
01:35like tell us a bit more about yourself.
01:36Okay, I mean that's a long, it spans over a long period of time, right?
01:41My first Olympics was, I was 21, so that was 2002.
01:45I did 2006 and then 2010, and then after 2010 I retired.
01:50But then obviously before that you're training for years and years and years,
01:53so it was like a 20-year full-time sport career, so that was all I did.
01:58You know, I lived and breathed it every day from 5 a.m. till 10 p.m.
02:03We were accountable, everything we were doing was geared around
02:06our next training session, our next competition, our next performance.
02:09Okay.
02:10And you did maybe 10 competitions a year, so it was full-on.
02:14You know, you had three weeks off a year, that was it.
02:17Okay.
02:18So yeah, I did that for 20 years and then when I retired,
02:20I mean obviously super fast through that period,
02:23and then I retired and I started personal training.
02:27Okay.
02:27I'd actually qualified as a personal trainer in 2000,
02:32so I was still early days of skating.
02:34Wow.
02:35And I just did it because in the time off that we had every year,
02:38like I said, we had three weeks off,
02:40and back then personal training courses were 12 weeks, six days a week.
02:44Right.
02:45So I split it into three years and I did the course during the off-season.
02:50Because you're used to being so consumed with, you know,
02:53performing and your thoughts and everything being around skating,
02:57and then you have three weeks of nothing really to do or think about,
03:00which I found quite difficult.
03:02So yeah, I threw myself into that and I did that for three years in the off-seasons.
03:07And I coached the national figure skating team
03:09for their strength and conditioning program,
03:10so I was putting some of that knowledge into practice.
03:14But personal training, the general public was very different to coaching athletes,
03:20which I learned very quickly when I retired and started personal training full-time.
03:25Okay.
03:25So I spent a couple of years really learning the craft on the gym floor,
03:28as many clients as possible, you know, as diverse as possible.
03:33And then I decided I wanted to set up my own thing.
03:37Okay.
03:38So that's where that journey started, if you like.
03:40Well, that's a beautiful segue.
03:41So your own thing is Roar Fitness,
03:43and that was one of the questions that I had in mind.
03:45Okay.
03:46Let's talk about that then, since we mentioned that.
03:49So when did you, like, how did you come up with the idea?
03:52Like, that must have been a huge step.
03:55It's a massive platform.
03:56Tell us about the classes.
03:58Tell us about the type of classes and how many classes you offer.
04:01So, I mean, Roar Fitness is known for being a private personal training studio.
04:06Right.
04:06So we have three in London now.
04:08We have two in the city and one in High Street, Kensington.
04:11Okay.
04:11And then we moved to Dubai to do Roar 4, so our first international, if you like.
04:17Nice.
04:18Yeah, so we're known for the before and after results,
04:21you know, the results that the clients achieve.
04:24It was what we're kind of famous for.
04:27And then it was just, it was a couple of years ago,
04:29actually more during the pandemic where I came up with a class concept
04:32that I wanted to launch as well.
04:35I think one of the reasons, I mean, I needed stuff to do, right?
04:38We were closed for a year and I was like, okay, I'm going to go mad.
04:42What am I going to do?
04:43But I think it was, it just made it more accessible for more people
04:46because to do Roar, you have to, you have to have the finances,
04:50you have to live near enough.
04:51Right.
04:51You have to be able to get to us.
04:53Right.
04:54And you have to be able to dedicate, you know, your time and your emotion
04:57into doing, into doing something.
04:59I mean, for some people fairly drastic, you know, a big life change and everything.
05:03So, of course, but lots of people want to be part of Roar,
05:06you know, we've got a strong brand.
05:09So the classes meant that you can come in and do a physical class.
05:13Again, you need to be local enough.
05:14It's only at the site in Kensington.
05:17But we did an online platform as well.
05:19So all the classes were live streamed.
05:22All of those streamed classes were also archived.
05:25So you just have to join the platform with a low cost.
05:30And then you can access any of the classes whenever you want to do them.
05:34That's amazing.
05:35So you've got a library of maybe 500 different workouts.
05:38Amazing.
05:38That you can just jump on and do whenever you feel like it.
05:40And what type of workouts are there?
05:42So like, what are the classes that you offer?
05:44Are they, I mean, I don't know, are they mainly weight training?
05:48Are they cardio?
05:48Like, what is it?
05:49So my thing is weight training.
05:50Right.
05:51So I strongly believe that everybody should weight train.
05:54It's beneficial to everybody to be stronger.
05:56Right.
05:57And a big part of it was trying to encourage people to train using weights.
06:02Now, it doesn't have to be strength training.
06:04You know, maybe you don't have the equipment to do that.
06:06But for a lot of people, the first step is just getting comfortable holding dumbbells in your hands.
06:11And it feels so unfamiliar.
06:12And people are so nervous of this concept.
06:14Yes.
06:14And now everyone wants to weight train.
06:16But, you know, a lot of people don't know how.
06:18Yeah.
06:18So that was the idea behind it, is trying to get people comfortable using weights, giving them an introduction.
06:24And then for people that are a little more advanced or already know how to train or are stronger, then it's just a brutal workout.
06:31You know, the more you lift, the more intensity you can create.
06:34Right.
06:34So you choose.
06:36Yeah.
06:36You know, it's suitable for everybody because it just really depends on the load selection, on the weight that you decide to lift.
06:42Right.
06:42Right.
06:43I think the most important thing that you mentioned is educating the people on weight training.
06:47Because I feel like a lot of people have misconceptions about weight training.
06:51A lot of girls will be like, oh, but I don't want to bulk up.
06:53And it's not necessarily the case.
06:56And I've had a trainer who said, like, you can do this consistently for like a year and you won't bulk up because it's there's so much going on with weight training, like with the muscle, like how your muscle, you know, contracts and retracts and how it like it builds.
07:11So there's a lot.
07:12It doesn't happen by accident.
07:14OK.
07:14Right.
07:14Exactly.
07:15To gain muscle, you've got to fight for that.
07:17You know, you have to have the genetic potential to be able to gain muscle.
07:21A lot of people don't have that.
07:22Oh, well, there you go.
07:23You have to lift heavy.
07:24Yeah, for sure.
07:25There's a genetic factor.
07:25You know, how fast twitch are you?
07:27That will play a big part.
07:29And if you're actually recruiting the muscles, if you're activating the muscles that you're trying to work.
07:36But then after the genetic potential, you have to look at if you're strong enough, you know, you have to lift heavy weight to be able to stimulate the muscle and cause the damage to be able to grow.
07:46So you've got to be strong.
07:47It takes a serious period of time, so it won't happen overnight.
07:50You won't wake up and go, oh, no, look at my biceps.
07:52Yeah, you know, there's a journey to get there.
07:54It's like, where did that come from?
07:56If you don't like it, you can change it.
07:57Right.
07:57Yeah.
07:59So, yeah, it's like I said, it's not something that happens every time.
08:01And the other thing is you have to eat.
08:03You have to eat deliberately for that purpose.
08:05Right.
08:06So it's hard.
08:06You know, you have bodybuilders who are working for years and years and years, taking pharmaceuticals and doing everything in their power to be able to gain small amounts of muscle.
08:17So for for a woman who's starting out, who isn't strong, it's never it's never going to happen by mistake.
08:24Like I said, so that's not a worry.
08:25I don't think I think actually people have moved on quite a lot from that idea.
08:29I found anyway, I think people, you know, maybe, gosh, 10, 15 years ago, people stopped asking me anyway, the clients that come in, come into us, stopped asking to be skinny and started wanting to be strong.
08:41Well, that was a nice switch.
08:43Yeah, it's a shift in mindset, I think.
08:45And I think trends also like tend to affect that.
08:47But I think it's also that shift in mindset, that body image shift that everyone has has gone through.
08:54OK, so you've been dubbed Britain's body transformation queen, and I love that.
09:00I absolutely love that nickname.
09:02Can you tell me some of the success stories?
09:04They don't necessarily have to be famous people, but just some of the success stories that you've witnessed, like some of your clients who you've seen transform over the course.
09:12I mean, we have thousands and thousands of clients that have come through the doors and done amazing things.
09:18And, you know, like I said, we're known for this before and after, you know, these images.
09:22And in each gym, we have a wall of fame.
09:24So we have a wall with, you know, the clients.
09:26Oh, that's motivational.
09:27That's really nice.
09:28Yeah, because everybody looks at, before people start, everybody looks at them.
09:31They look at the before pictures and they say, right, who do I look like?
09:34What am I going to look like after?
09:35They're trying to see themselves in these pictures.
09:37So it's always the more the better.
09:39But to be honest, it's 5% of people that say yes to using those pictures, right?
09:43So it's actually a very small number of people that want those pictures and images out there.
09:48And even when people are super proud of, you know, what they've done and what they look like and everything,
09:53but they'll look back at their before picture and they'll forget.
09:55They'll be like, gosh, I can't, I can't believe I started there.
09:59I don't, you know, recognize that person anymore.
10:01So I completely understand why people wouldn't want to, because a lot of the time it reminds them of a time where they weren't feeling good, you know, which is why they came to us in the first place.
10:12So I completely understand, you know, people not wanting that.
10:15But, you know, I look at these pictures and I never get tired of looking at them, you know, because I know everyone, you know, it's ultimately it's still, you know, it's still a small business.
10:23You know, I know most of the clients that have come through the door.
10:27I know the journey they've been on, why they started in the first place.
10:30They might have cried in their consultation with me.
10:33And you know that they come in feeling bad and they leave feeling amazing.
10:37And it's not just that picture.
10:39It's not just, you know, the physical, what they look like, but the fact that they gained so much confidence with the strength that they gained, the physical capabilities that they gained, which is hugely underestimated.
10:51Yeah, it's not just what you look like.
10:53And people come for that.
10:55But then later or later down the line, they start to care about their performance on the gym floor.
10:59They start to get into weight training and then they become proud of what they can do.
11:03Right. And of course, that translates into everything else in their life.
11:06Yeah. And that high from the achievement is just it's it's it's it's fantastic.
11:12Like, I feel like when someone just loses a kilo or two or like sees a difference in their in their body, it just it it really changes your mood.
11:21It changes everything.
11:22Like it gives you that boost.
11:23Exactly. You feel like a winner.
11:25Exactly. OK, so our show is called Tell Me Why.
11:29Obviously, this is the first thing that you looked at and you loved it.
11:33And I love that you loved it, because I'm always the kind of person that likes to ask, tell me why.
11:38Because tell me why questions, I mean, because I feel like there's always a reason behind things.
11:43So tell me why, in your opinion, as a fitness coach, a coach and a nutritionist now like you, you've done a lot of work with nutrition as well.
11:53Tell me why it's still difficult for people to get up, get fit, eat healthy and stay active.
12:01Why is that still that?
12:03Why is there that constant struggle to stay fit and be healthy and like stay active?
12:08I think the hardest thing for people is is the education behind it.
12:14People don't know what's right.
12:17People don't know what's going to help them.
12:19And everybody knows that, you know, burgers might make you gain weight and salads might, you know, not.
12:24For example, there's some obvious ones that people know.
12:26Yeah, of course, but people can eat, you know, can eat really healthy and still not be conducive to fat loss.
12:33For example, they can still be overeating or, you know, eating the wrong foods at the wrong time, which means they don't get the results.
12:39And they feel like they're sacrificing a lot and not getting anywhere.
12:43And that can be frustrating.
12:44And I think, well, why am I doing it then?
12:46And, you know, you try and educate yourself or you try to learn and you read an article, you turn the page and it's the opposite information on the page to the page before.
12:54So what are you supposed to do?
12:56It's really hard.
12:57And the answer to that is that there's no, you know, off the shelf plan that works for anybody.
13:04You know, it's supposed to work for everyone.
13:05It doesn't work for anyone.
13:06It has to be individual.
13:08You know, everybody's I know, you know, it's a bit of a caveat on this stuff when people want the right answer, but you know, the answer for them.
13:15But everybody is different and everybody's journey is different.
13:18So really, the tough thing is, you know, finding where to start the journey.
13:24And once you start, I think, you know, the more you learn and the more you understand about your body, then it's easier.
13:31And as soon as you get a bit of a result, then you're motivated.
13:34But, you know, people want it overnight.
13:36And, you know, some of these things take a bit of time.
13:39Yeah. And that's part of what makes it worth it as well, you know.
13:42But it's, you know, staying just staying consistent, believing in whatever the plan is that you made and keep executing it.
13:49And then, you know, if, for example, you were trying we keep talking about weight, it's not everybody's goal at all.
13:53But if you were trying to lose weight and you do something for three weeks and the weight doesn't shift at all, at least if you've been consistent, you know that you need to move what you've done on.
14:04Don't just change it all or throw it all out the window and try the next thing that you read or you come across.
14:10So I've been doing this.
14:11What do what can I do to move this forward and try the next thing?
14:16So maybe you just need to, I don't know, have your dinner or eat your dinner earlier or go for an extra walk or whatever.
14:22But, you know, but make small changes and try and enjoy the process.
14:27We're talking about it like, you know, like it is sacrifice or like it's really hard or it's, you know, it's tough for people.
14:34But if you see it as, you know, a positive challenge and a positive because if you're changing your nutrition, for example, and you're eating healthier, that's still good for you.
14:42Yeah, that's still good and healthy for your body, which you deserve.
14:45You know, you still deserve to be well and healthy.
14:48Of course.
14:48So I think not just seeing everything as a loss just because you didn't get what you wanted immediately.
14:53Yes, yes.
14:54I think that's key.
14:55It's it's it's frustrating, though.
14:58I have to admit, I have a friend who's had like a bunch of health complications.
15:02And she had to lose the weight just so that her body can sort of like start healing the healing process.
15:10Obviously, she was trying to do it the right way, which is eating healthy, following up with a nutritionist, making sure she's getting in, you know, getting her steps in, doing her workout.
15:20But to be honest, I understood where her frustration was coming from, because she didn't necessarily see the difference in her body.
15:28She didn't feel lighter, but maybe she felt healthier.
15:31And she felt like, OK, I got in the good habits, but where are the results?
15:35And she stayed like that for for quite some time, I think six to eight months.
15:40And she was just she felt like she was still plateauing.
15:44She didn't make the progress she needed.
15:46And I think that's key.
15:47What you said is not to throw it all away, but to make certain changes so that you can see the progress.
15:53But then what would your advice be to to someone that feels frustrated or, you know, feels like giving up?
15:59Well, it's an experiment, right?
16:00So that's just your starting point.
16:02If you decided, right, this is you have to have a plan.
16:05You have to you can't just wing it and just every day try not to eat or like try to eat less.
16:11Yeah, exactly. And that's not that's not the answer.
16:13You have to have a plan, of course, make a plan as you know, the more detail in it, the better, obviously.
16:19And that can seem a bit daunting sometimes.
16:21But now you need to sit down with a pen and paper, make some real notes and decide what you're going to do.
16:26Then you have to just execute it and see what happens.
16:29And like I said, if, you know, the result isn't happening, then you just have to look at what you're doing and make a change and move it and move it forward.
16:35But of course, it's it's frustrating.
16:37But like I said, it does take time.
16:39You have to be you have to be patient to nothing happens overnight, whether you're trying to gain muscle or lose fat or win a medal.
16:47You know, it's of course, it's years and years.
16:49You know, you talk about the Olympics.
16:50It's a four year cycle for each Olympics.
16:53And your first Olympics probably isn't the one that you're you're going to win.
16:56So actually, it might be eight or 12 years training for one race.
17:01When you think of it like that, you think, gosh, you know, that's a big commitment, right?
17:05Yeah, that puts it into perspective.
17:06Like you, you see like what what kind of commitment you're making.
17:09Yeah. And I think that's the same with business as well.
17:11People, again, now they want to start a business and it should be successful in a week or in, you know, a year.
17:18I've been doing this for a year, a year.
17:21You know, you talk to you talk to people who are hugely successful and it's like they've been doing this for 40 years.
17:26Yes. To be able to get to where this thing is.
17:29People think these things happen overnight.
17:30But just because you didn't hear about it.
17:32Yeah. And it's like, wow, this thing came out of nowhere.
17:34No, it didn't. They were doing it for like 15 years before you heard the name.
17:37Exactly. Yeah. He probably had $20 in his pocket when he first started.
17:40He's failed three times, you know, he's lost his business, started again.
17:44Exactly. Precisely.
17:46OK, so you mentioned something that I absolutely love because I feel like we're all overwhelmed.
17:53We're all bombarded with this information that sort of contradicts the the the the information that you've been fed all these years.
18:01So you always look at these articles that are like, oh, yeah, low carb diets.
18:06And then another one that says, no, no, no, it's a balance of all.
18:09And no, you need sugar.
18:11But no, you don't need sugar.
18:12And it's just I feel like people are overwhelmed with the information that they're being, you know, they're being fed or like the information that they're reading on a day to day basis.
18:20And obviously, social media is is I want to say helping and not helping in this, you know, in this respect, because I feel like we're misled most of the time.
18:31What is your perfect combination?
18:33Like, what do you think is like the good like good advice for someone who just wants to start off somewhere?
18:38Well, this is actually I mean, you talk about social media, but this is why one of the reasons I don't put specifics on my social media.
18:45I know I very rarely talk about food because people always say, what do you eat?
18:49They always ask me, what do you eat and what do you lift?
18:52What weight are you using for that?
18:53That, you know, the the exercise demos that I was doing and say it's irrelevant.
18:57Don't worry about me.
18:58These are your guidelines.
18:59So with regards to the amount of weight to lift, for example, it should be it should be decided by the rep range.
19:06So if you're doing, I don't know, say 10 to 15 reps you're going to do, then the weight should be should be as much as you can lift for those given reps.
19:17So if you can't get to 10 reps, you only get to six.
19:19It's too heavy. If you get to 15, you think I could do 30 reps.
19:23It's too light. Right.
19:24So you have to find that for yourself.
19:25Don't worry about what I'm lifting.
19:27Yeah. Don't worry about what I'm eating because I'm not on the same journey as you.
19:30I've not got the same body as you.
19:32Our metabolisms may be different.
19:34I might use, you know, different energy in different ways and everything.
19:38So, again, it's so hard.
19:39People want the answer, right?
19:41They just want to say what it is.
19:43But I think you have to think about as far as food goes, for example, you should think about nourishing your body.
19:49I think that's very important.
19:50So whatever the nutrition plan is, whatever your goals are underlying, it should be optimal health.
19:55Right. So which people don't care about.
19:57If they're desperate for a result, then they don't necessarily care about it.
20:00You know, they'll eat, you know, whatever crappy protein bar or whatever shakes they're going to drink to, you know, to cut calories or whatever.
20:06Right. But if your body, you'll rebound from that.
20:09Yeah. So if your body is not healthy, if the tissue that your body is made up from is made up from junk food, then all the cell processes won't happen as efficiently.
20:19So whether that's gaining muscle, losing fat, but your but also your your organ tissue is eventually made up from your food, you know, kind of indirectly.
20:28But it still is.
20:28It's the nutrients you absorb from the food that decide how healthy all your functions are.
20:33Of course. So if those things don't work well, if you're, you know, your digestion isn't on point, for example, and you're not absorbing your nutrients from your food, then where are you going to get your energy from?
20:45How are you going to recover from your training?
20:47How is that, you know, that process of losing fat going to happen if the body doesn't function well?
20:53So the first thing to to do is if you're starting out and you don't know where to look, the first thing to do is look at the quality of your food.
21:00OK, that's for me the most important thing.
21:03Not, you know, how much of this and that and getting down to the numbers, because, you know, you can do it in a million different ways.
21:08Of course, some people can lose fat on a high carb, low fat diet and then other people the exact opposite.
21:14Right. So some people love intermittent fasting.
21:16Some people, you know. So I think, like I said, there's a million different ways of getting the same results.
21:23But the first thing is, are you looking after yourself?
21:26You know, nourish the body, look after your body, do it because you love yourself, not because you're trying to punish it for not being what you want.
21:32Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree.
21:34I agree with that. OK, so I just wanted to talk about training celebrities.
21:40This is something that I saw in your profile and I thought that would be an interesting point to talk about.
21:44Like, maybe just talk about like some of the challenges you may have faced with training celebrities and like what are the perks of it maybe?
21:52And some of the celebrities you've trained, maybe name a few, if you can.
21:56So challenges, I think so.
21:59We are really lucky with Raw One.
22:01It was a super speakeasy kind of set up, right?
22:04We had no advertising.
22:06There was no shop front.
22:07It was we were in a basement in an office block.
22:10OK, so and I never advertised, so I never told anybody, you know, just it was all word of mouth.
22:16And we were lucky enough just to have a few a few people that I knew and people that were familiar faces in London who came in and then obviously posted about it and made me start Instagram because I didn't do any social media back then.
22:30And that kind of got the word out.
22:32And I think when when they see it's safe, but when it's safe for one person to come in or one person with profile to come in and train and not get bothered, there's no paps.
22:41You know, they can't see you or there's there'd be no point in me phoning paps, for example, because there's no sign outside.
22:47So you can just take a picture of somebody walking down the street, but it doesn't come back to me at all.
22:50So yeah, so people, you know, without knowing me automatically felt safe that this was a this was a good place to be.
22:57And there's no phones on the gym floor.
22:58You know, we have to obviously we have to get permission for that kind of thing.
23:01So nobody and everybody's training with a trainer.
23:03So nobody's walking around approaching anybody.
23:06Right. Everybody is just with their trainer who has control of their client.
23:10So, yeah, I always think it felt super safe.
23:13And then when, you know, people just spread the word, everybody brings somebody.
23:18Right. So which is why, you know, for for the first four, six, six years, we didn't pay for PR and marketing.
23:24Oh, word of mouth, all word of mouth, all word of mouth and social media and people just, you know, happy to do it.
23:31I didn't gift anybody anything.
23:33Everybody just came in trained because they wanted to sign up.
23:35They wanted to be part of it.
23:36They wanted to get the job done.
23:38And then I think if you do a good job in-house, then people talk about it.
23:42They walk around looking and feeling amazing and telling everybody.
23:44Right. So then we we kind of got this rep for being the place where celebrities go and actually puts a lot of people off.
23:52So I say that's one of the biggest challenges.
23:53People really just for, you know, celebs and the body beautifuls and athletes.
24:00And it's like, no, 95 percent of our clients are, you know, regular people working nearby and living
24:08nearby. So I think that was the the only real downside with with that is that people thought it wasn't for them because it was, you know, designed for other people.
24:19OK. And were they committed?
24:20Like, did you find that celebrities were actually committed to their fitness journey?
24:24Like, did you feel like it was part of their day to day routine?
24:28Yeah. So everybody has different goals, like I say.
24:30So not everybody comes for this transformation.
24:33Right. So not everybody wants to do a before and after.
24:36And they might be very slim and in shape already, which, you know, a majority of celebrities are.
24:41Yeah. OK. Exactly.
24:42Yeah. Because they're in the public eye.
24:43They're thinking about it all the time.
24:45They're on telly. And sometimes that's part of the reason because they look good.
24:48Exactly. So they might not have this thing to do, but they understand that they want to be healthy and they want to feel strong and they want to sleep better and perform better and be alert and, you know, for cognitive function to improve.
25:01And all those things that come with exercise and, you know, for mental health benefits and anxiety and everything, there's nothing there's nothing better you can do for yourself than work out.
25:10Right. So I think, you know, like I said, everybody's journey is different.
25:14And what they want from it is different.
25:15And it's not for me to tell people what they should or shouldn't want.
25:18They tell me what their goals are and we facilitate.
25:21So with regards to commitment, yeah, you know, if people are coming in and they're turning up and they're, you know, they're working hard.
25:27So, you know, whether they stick to a nutrition plan or not or what the nutrition plans goals are, it could just be to to support what they have to do all day or, you know, to make them feel better.
25:39And like I said, to help recovery or to improve their sleep.
25:42And so, yeah, I think if you turn up to ROAR, if you're willing to come in and put in the hard work, then 100 percent you've you've committed seriously.
25:52And it's three times a week is a big chunk of people's lives.
25:54You know, I don't see my friends three times a week and you see your clients more than you, you know, more than you see your own friends and family.
26:02True, true. And is that why you started it?
26:04Because you wanted to help people like that?
26:07Oh, without a doubt.
26:08Without a doubt. It's a funny shift because as an athlete, you're super selfish and you have to be.
26:14So the most important thing is your next performance, your next training session.
26:18I wouldn't do anything that didn't benefit my skating.
26:22OK, my next training session is in two hours.
26:25If someone said, oh, do you want to go for coffee?
26:27I say, no, no, I'm busy.
26:28I'm not. I'm lying on the floor with my feet in the air, icing my back or, you know, eating my food or doing video analysis or whatever it was.
26:36You know, I wouldn't do anything that didn't complement what I was doing.
26:40So you have to be super, super selfish.
26:42And then when I started personal training, there was it took a little bit of time because at first I thought I want to win an Olympic medal.
26:49I don't care if this guy loses a stone or not.
26:52He doesn't even really want to, you know, until until you see how much it changes people and what it does for people.
27:00You know, when you give somebody confidence, it changes every thought, everything they say, everything they think is different.
27:09The first thing they think in the morning is more positive.
27:11So the person they speak to next in a more positive way, they have a different response from that person.
27:15And then all of a sudden, everything in their life is changing.
27:18And it was just because, you know, they started this journey and they started feeling good about themselves and they're finally doing something for them and looking after themselves and all the benefits that come with that.
27:30So that's the most rewarding thing, for sure.
27:32So when I said, you know, you have people come in, they cry in their consultation, they feel terrible.
27:37Twelve weeks later, they're wearing little hot pants and feeling amazing and, you know, making decisions in their life that they wouldn't have made before.
27:45Yeah, that's amazing.
27:46If you don't get job satisfaction from that, there's something wrong with you.
27:49It's like therapy.
27:51Like you're you're actually healing people.
27:53So like it's that must be super rewarding for you and for the trainers.
27:58So then it became more about other people and how rewarding that is rather than, you know, just winning something for yourself.
28:04Exactly.
28:05OK, so we're almost out of time and I don't want to keep you because you have such a busy schedule.
28:09And I know that, but I want to keep you for as long as I can.
28:12Tell us about your work here in Dubai.
28:14What are you doing here in Dubai and what are you launching?
28:16You spoke about Roar 4, I think, during the conversation.
28:19So the fourth site we came here to open.
28:22So we're on the boulevard.
28:24It's a super nice spot.
28:26Right. And we have floor to ceiling windows.
28:28And I think the novelty of doing squats next to palm trees, you don't get that in London, right?
28:32No, you wouldn't.
28:34So, yeah, we moved over here to do that.
28:36We always wanted to go international.
28:38We didn't quite know where.
28:39And then actually, I said the only good thing that came out of the pandemic was the fact that we spent some extended time here.
28:45OK. Because I just needed to escape in the end.
28:47And it was one of the only places you could go.
28:50Right. So we came and stayed here for a few weeks and we just kind of fell in love with it.
28:54It was something that just, you know, happened during that time.
28:57And I think when you have significant time off, you get creative.
29:00You don't have to deal with your day to day of, you know, fixing whatever things are going wrong or just even just, you know, your daily emails being so much and everything.
29:09Then as soon as you don't have to do those things, then you can start to think outside the box a little bit.
29:14And you start talking and coming up with ideas and being creative.
29:17So, yeah, I think we got really excited about it.
29:21And we're like, right, let's start looking for properties.
29:23And it happened so fast.
29:25We came over. Well, the thing is, my last gym in Kensington took three years.
29:29So it's two years of lease negotiations.
29:32So I was expecting it to be long and slow for this, too.
29:35And we came in, we looked at a few properties and we looked at maybe 15 properties.
29:39And then actually the first one we looked at, we were like, that's the best one.
29:42Should we just try?
29:43Let's just put an offer in and see what happens.
29:45It was accepted.
29:46And then it's like, OK, how do you do a business in Dubai?
29:50Like, we need to move.
29:52We weren't ready. We hadn't thought about it because I thought, you know, it's going to be drawn out.
29:55But it wasn't. Two weeks, signed.
29:57So instead of two years.
29:58Don't you just love when things happen and like just work out?
30:01Yeah, it was supposed to, right?
30:03Yeah.
30:04So, yeah, that was like I said, it was super, super fast.
30:06And we, which I like, I like that pace.
30:08I like being behind.
30:10I like being under pressure.
30:11I like having to deliver because then you don't have time to think and question it and, you know, change your mind and stuff.
30:17It's like, let's just go with it.
30:19Just run and and just, you know, just keep picking up after yourself because you have no option other than to deliver.
30:26So, yeah, it's like I said, it's the kind of pace that I like when these things just fall in your lap or fall into place.
30:32It's like, right now you've got to go.
30:34Whatever you're doing, stop, run.
30:36Yeah. And yeah, and that's and that's what happens.
30:38We opened in Jan and we didn't know anybody here again.
30:43No, you know, no marketing or anything.
30:45And it's like, OK, we need to we need to find our feet.
30:47We need to spread the word. Who do I know?
30:48And it turns out actually half of London is in Dubai half the time.
30:51Yes. So true.
30:52You know, far more people than you thought you would.
30:56Yes. And everybody's linked.
30:57So it's kind of a small place.
31:00So and it's a stopover for a lot of people, like a lot of people stop over here, move here eventually, that kind of thing.
31:07So, yeah. So you actually moved here.
31:09Yeah. You're now based here.
31:10We moved here, relocated.
31:12I go back to London regularly to check in on the gyms, see the staff, see the clients.
31:17Yes. See my family, obviously.
31:19Yeah. And catch up with everybody and everything.
31:22So we go back here every few weeks.
31:23We go back. So I'm going back in a couple of days.
31:25I was just going to say, how do you find that balance between, you know, owning this business and work and your personal life?
31:31Like, how do you how do you manage?
31:33I think I'm lucky.
31:36So I do. I miss my family a lot.
31:37I speak to them every day.
31:39I'm really close with with my family and my siblings.
31:43My brother actually works for me.
31:44He's he heads up nutrition in London.
31:46OK, that's great.
31:47Yeah, it's great.
31:50And so that bit I find difficult.
31:52But other than that, I think I don't I don't really need anyone.
31:55I'm one of these people that I think I'm pretty self-sufficient.
31:58So I don't rely on anybody to download on every day or anything like that.
32:02So I think I'm kind of tough in that respect.
32:06You know, it's me and my husband and we support each other, back each other 100 percent.
32:10And we're in this together.
32:11So I think when you're when you have a real ally, when you've got somebody with the same vision, same focus, I think that makes it much, much easier.
32:20Of course, of course.
32:21You know, the balance is is up to you.
32:23You know, I do have balance.
32:25My mornings are my own.
32:26I've got, you know, two hours in the morning where I don't look at my phone.
32:30I don't deal with anything else other than myself.
32:32So I have my my routine, which for me, I know people bang on about their morning routines.
32:36It's a bit dull now, but but it's super important to my life because I know that the next thing that I have to deal with, I'm going to be much nicer for whoever it is I'm talking to.
32:45I'm much more equipped to handle whatever, you know, stresses might come my way or.
32:51So, yeah, that for me is really important.
32:53And I sort of worked towards that and that helps keep me, I think, in a really good place.
32:58And then you can deal with whatever happens in the day.
33:00Nothing's going to be harder than getting in a freezing cold ice bath.
33:05Yeah, nothing's harder than that.
33:07So it's good to have the right support system, obviously.
33:09Yeah, I think that's really, really important to have to have some support and have people that you can speak to if you need to.
33:17So, yeah, like I said, I don't rely on on my friends or anything for that.
33:21They're there if I need them for sure.
33:22And I've got my, you know, my core friends.
33:24But I think just knowing that you have them is enough.
33:27Yeah. Just knowing if I ever needed people, they'd be there for me.
33:30And my family, again, like I said, we're super close.
33:32Yeah. If I needed them, they'd be there, which I think means you don't.
33:35Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's super sweet.
33:38Sarah, it was lovely.
33:40Thank you so much for coming down.
33:42And thank you for forgiving us from your time.
33:44I know you have such a busy schedule.
33:46Guys, if you want to check out Roar, it's in the boulevard, you were saying, downtown.
33:50And it's R-O-A-R.
33:51Some people get confused with that because they think Roar is in raw food, but it's Roar like a lion.
33:56Roar like a lion.
33:57Cool. Got it. Yeah.
34:00Thank you guys for listening.
34:01And thank you, Sarah, for joining us.
34:03Please check her out. If you have any questions, you can email us on podcast at gulfnews.com.
34:09We can actually we'll try to forward the questions to Sarah, see if she can answer them.
34:13And we'll try to bring her back for sure.
34:16We'll catch you guys next time.