My Day on a Plate: Evelyn Stevenson
Foundry Personal Trainer Evelyn Stevenson, the current British powerlifting and English weightlifting champion in her class, reveals her daily diet in The Telegraph:
Personal Training, Health, Fitness, Performance, London
Foundry Personal Trainer Evelyn Stevenson, the current British powerlifting and English weightlifting champion in her class, reveals her daily diet in The Telegraph:
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Christmas is here and I can imagine your thoughts are similar to mine:
The answer is simple – TIMING!
Christmas is a time where shared pleasure and joy are vital for success, any disruption to the ‘joy balance’ can have dramatic consequences. I remember one Christmas my dad came home from walking the dog ten minutes late and therefore, in my mother’s opinion, “ruined” dinner. It’s safe to say that the dog ate better than my Dad on that occasion. Everything is reliant on timing and balance at Christmas; get these right and you’ll be full of joy.
And then there’s all those fun activities involving cards, trivial pursuit and the endless explanation of the rules. Amongst this, I bet it’s pretty tricky fitting in an epic workout in with even more fun activities such as chess with Granddad, helping Mum with cleaning up whilst keeping Grandma at bay by pretending her ‘help’ is really appreciated!
So, how does one manage to do any exercise during this joy-disaster seesaw? (And no, chess does not constitute as exercise unfortunately… Twister might though!) Well, I have a few tips for you and hopefully that seesaw will stay level:
Step 1
Wait until all house guests are all sat down comfortably, beverage in hand, and TV on.
Step 2
Leave the room full of goodies – aka mince pies, sugar mice and cheese balls.
Step 3
Close the door to the sound of Grandma complaining ‘under her breath’ to Granddad that the turkey was too dry for her liking!
Step 4
Turn the stereo from “Do They Know It’s Christmas” to something a little more inspirational.
Step 5
Enjoy the following workout and be at one with yourself again!
I predict we will all struggle to get to a gym/park due to the imminent snow that will undoubtedly destroy everybody’s plans to leave the house, so here is a workout for you to try at home. You’ll notice that there are no fancy pieces of equipment here (except the TRX/suspension trainer if you have one) so everybody should be able to follow this without difficulty.
Seasonal stresses are hard work as it is – so why not use exercise as a cleansing piece of ‘you-time’ to escape the madness. It is a clinical fact that exercise can significantly increase energy levels, mood, and self-esteem; so why should this stop at Christmas? You’ll be amazed at how joyous this will make you feel! – you’ll have Yuletide bells ringing Inside and Out!
So after the workout, get back in that living room and continue with the ‘effortless’ flow of light-hearted banter, hugs and LOLs (Lots of Laughs for those oldies who aren’t up to speed with social media!).
Merry Christmas!
Fee Pocock, Foundry Trainer and England International Rugby Player

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Time is always at a premium for our clients here at The Foundry and it doesn’t get any easier over Xmas with the usual compliment of social engagements, shopping, clearing desks before the break, and navigating the crowds of commuters desperate to get home as the nights draw in.
For most people, spending their time in the gym probably won’t be high on their priority list but the good news is that this can be a time to just maintain progress and fitness with relatively short workouts.
Here is how.
CV Fitness: First to go if you stop training, it is also the easiest to regain and to keep.
2 short sprint workouts a week is more than adequate.
Warm up for 3-5 minutes and then perform sprints of 20-30 seconds with an equal rest period.
Repeat this 6-8 times and hit the showers and you can be in and out in the gym in no time. Time taken 20 minutes per week.
Strength and Muscle: To use the most muscle you need the biggest exercises so Curls and abs can take a back seat.
Two workouts with three exercises per workout is adequate.
Perform each exercise for 6-8 reps and do as many circuits as possible in 15 minutes. On the second day you can do the other circuit.
Time taken 30 minutes per week.
Circuit 1.
Back Squat
Seated Row
Push Press
Circuit 2.
Deadlift
Dips or DB Bench Press
Pull Ups Or Pulldowns if not able to do pull ups.
Lastly, but by no means least, mobility. The most underrated of fitness qualities. Simply worked on by 6 minutes of mobility work a day.
Do a little circuit of 5 static stretches for the key muscles. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds and repeat the circuit twice. 6 minutes and you are sorted. For maximum effect do it at night after a hot shower or bath. It will help you relax and unwind.
Stretches:
Standing Hamstring
Standing Calf Stretch
Standing Lat Stretch
Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch 30 sec each side.
Laying Hip Rotator stretch 30 sec each side.
So there you have it, only 50 minutes a week of actual exercise and just 6 minutes mobility work a day for 6 days a week. All in all only 86 minutes of activity, leaving you a spare 9,994 minutes for work, shopping, and all that wot not!
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We all know that stretching after exercise is good for us, but we rarely take the time to do it. When we exercise our muscles can become overdeveloped which can mean less mobility, reduced speed, and greater risk of injury. Post workout stretching can help to restore your central nervous system and shorten your recovery time. If you are pushed for time then Downward Facing Dog stretches out your whole body in one go. It also helps to clear your head after a night on the booze!


Jo Lawson, Yoga Instructor @ Shoreditch Pilates
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It’s funny isn’t it how one day you realise you are starting to sound more and more like your parents? All of a sudden things just ‘aren’t as good as they used to be’ and ‘I used to go places when they were all just fields’. I’m only 36, yet already I can reflect on the health and fitness industry and see changes that I am not so sure represent the so-called progression and innovation that everyone blathers on about on fitness websites and blogs. Every year we hear about emerging trends or how fitness is ‘evolving’, yet I don’t see this transferring to the average gym user. In fact, I see some stupid shit being done now that years ago didn’t exist and for a good reason.
I grew up in gyms, mostly dirty, messy, weights rooms. One of which was at the back of my dad’s coal yard and the other at Bury St Edmunds sports centre. They were a long way from the plasma screened, functional zoned, cardio packed, health chains that are on every corner basement here in London now. There were no BOSU’s or ViPR’s and terms like ‘core stability’ and ‘functional training’ hadn’t been invented yet. I’d sit and watch my dad lift weights with guys who had mostly all finished a day in a physical job, lifting coal, bricklaying, or digging, and see the camaraderie that ran among them. People would share training routines, spot for each other, encourage and motivate, and take pleasure in seeing others achieve. They would squat, bench, row, and overhead press, typically rotating a few key exercises to build size and strength. Newbies to the gym would be given guidance freely by those who had been lifting longer and were keen to share their knowledge. Sure, it wasn’t always the best advice, after all we all know that being REP’s level 3 makes you competent these days right? Heck, you can have never lifted a weight yourself and still get insured to ‘teach’ others how to do it. Is that what we consider evolution or progression?
Meanwhile, the gym culture of the past five to ten years has moved to iPods and ignorance. Gym banter is practically non-existent. The proliferation of stupid information and advice that is so complex that the general public misinterpret or misapply it to their own detriment has led to many people getting hurt at worst or seeing little or no results at best. Training with barbells and dumbbells in the movements of squatting and pressing has become pejoratively termed as being ‘old-school’, ‘non-functional’, or too ‘sagittal plane dominant’ while advocates of more ‘modern’ training methods, albeit unsubstantiated by evidence or any real anecdote position themselves to look down on those they consider too stupid or ignorant to understand their methods.
It seems a lot of the time now that the acquisition of ‘training knowledge’ is used more often as a tool to mock others than it is to actually help them. I’m not sure this is a positive improvement in gym culture, or whether this trend is being driven by a demand from the consumer or by the marketing of the equipment suppliers and procurers within the health clubs? Either way, I miss the weight room culture of old where it was less about impressing or having a laugh at others expense and more about helping and inspiring others to achieve. Am I looking at it with rose-tinted glasses? Maybe so, but then it’s just my opinion after all.
Today’s blog is from Richard, competitive powerlifter and the latest addition to The Foundry training team. Having competed in his first division-level Powerlifting competition this weekend (videos and photos coming later this week!), Richard has taken his training programme and put together a set of principles which can be applied to any strength and fitness programme.
If you want to learn more about competitive powerlifting, strength conditioning and fitness programmes from Richard, please feel free to contact him at richard@foundryfit.com.
And now, over to the man himself……
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This is an article about how I prepared in the four weeks leading up to my first division-level (Greater London) Powerlifting competition. I’ve been following a (fairly) strict regime to make sure I’m at an optimal weight and as strong as I can be. While you may not be preparing yourself for anything like that, I’ve outlined a set of general principles you can use to achieve your strength and fitness goals.
So, here it is… My one month lead-in to a competitive powerlifting meet!
As always, I start with the end in mind. I want to achieve at least my previous best lifts, and weigh-in to be in the 83kg category as opposed to being slightly over and competing with others who will weigh up to 93kg. That means I need to drop only fat and maintain muscle mass.
That means a squat of 130kg, a bench of 102.5kg and a deadlift of 180kg – all weights I have successfully completed in training. At this point I should be able to lift more than these, but if I achieve all three in the same day in competition, I’ll be happy and I’ll have an official total to build upon for subsequent competitions.
Have a Coach
I believe that to be the best you can be, you need a coach. Thus my coach, Martin, at Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club has set me a 4-week program leading up to the competition. I’ve begun training specifically for powerlifting three times a week, whereas until now I’d been doing 2 powerlifting days, one Olympic weightlifting day and an overall conditioning day.
Train Hard
Each time I go to the gym I train as hard as I can for that day. The other day I struggled to get 3 reps on 90kg on the bench. I was surprised, but I hadn’t slept that well the previous night. So I did a few extra sets of 2 reps at 90kg. That was fine. You win some, you lose some. As long as you show up and work hard, and do that extra set whenever you can, you’ll succeed in the long run.
Have a Structure
Overall my training structure is: Monday, max squat / deadlift. Thursday, dynamic full body. Saturday, max bench. I start with one or two heavy exercises. Let’s say either 5 sets of 3 @ 80% of my max, or 3 sets of 3 @ 90% of my max. At this point it will always be a complete lift – a squat, deadlift or bench rather than something like a box squat, a rack pull or a board press. Then I follow with assistance work, higher reps for the supporting muscle groups – triceps, delts, back, hams, glutes and abs.
Stretch to Maintain Muscular Balance
I need to make sure I stretch anything which tightens up, or have it massaged. At this point I can’t afford to have tight muscles causing pain in a knee, a hip, the back, a shoulder, etc. So I force myself to stretch every muscle I’ve used after every workout. I also use the foam roller on days off on anything that feels like it needs it. I also have a weekly sports massage to maintain muscle quality and iron out any latent issues.
Eat enough protein. I ensure that every day I eat at least 180 grams of protein. That’s 2 x kg bodyweight in grams plus a little extra to make sure. If I can, I eat more.
Carb cycling. I start four weeks out weighing in at 87kg. I need to drop 4 kg. So I use a very effective fat-loss technique which also allows you to maintain and even keep building muscle while dropping fat. I start cycling my carbs.
Essentially, I eat carbs on the three days I work out, and drop them to different degrees on other days. 3 days a week I eat no carbs, and increase my fat and protein intake slightly to account for this.
NB: I dropped the 4 kg in 2 weeks eating this way and keeping a healthy lifestyle. So for the last 2 weeks all I need to do is maintain my weight.
Use Creatine. I use creatine pre- and post-workout. This helps increase maximal strength. The first type of energy muscles expend is “creatine phosphate.” So supplementing with this ensures I train more intensely and heavier.
Use Coffee only as a Pre-Workout Supplement. I cut coffee except pre-workout. This prevents excess cortisol production (a stress hormone stimulated by caffeine) outside of training sessions, and helps ramp up the quality of training.
Keep Healthy
Loads of greens. 3-4 litres of water per day. Good lean protein. A multivitamin every day. Fish oils.
Create and Use a High Performance State
As I haven’t competed before, I don’t know what to expect from the environment or from spectators, judges and other competitors. What I do know is that there will be squatting, benching and deadlifting involved. So I build a high performance state around these three activities, to ensure that I am focused, driven and psyched up when I need to be.
I use a psychological technique known as the ‘circle of excellence,’ a tool taken from neuro-linguistic programming. It helps you to design what we call a high performance state so that mentally and physically you are 100% prepared for what you’re about to do. High performers enter a state like this automatically, but there are ways of refining and enhancing this basic state which otherwise would take years of high quality performance to achieve.
I create a state of mind which associates me to memories of previous successes, a state of white-hot focus and concentration, and I put just a touch of rage in there too. If you want to succeed, you need to direct your ‘negative’ energies into ‘positive’ activities. Rage helps lifting heavy weights. It gets the adrenaline and the blood pumping.
Change Bad Habits and Maintain Discipline
I need to maintain the lifestyle parameters I have set for this period. For this I use a set of visualization tools to determine what behaviours are acceptable and which ones aren’t leading up to the competition. For example, I need to stick to my nutritional guidelines, get at least 8 hours sleep every night, attend every training session, etc. I also negotiate with myself if I need to change anything. E.g. If I can only sleep 7.5 hours tonight, I have a half-hour nap some time tomorrow.
Sleep 8 Hours a Night
Does what it says on the tin. Rest = recovery.
Give Yourself a Break
One day week I let myself do what I want. I can eat or drink whatever I choose (within reason!) and I don’t stick to any set plan. I do this on a Sunday. I can chill and mentally prepare for the coming week by not worrying about following any rules.
Chill Out
I try my best to remain stress free. I use any of my collection of psychological tools to change my state when necessary so I am as relaxed as possible as consistently as possible.
I hope this explanation of my 4 week prep period is useful, and whether you’re preparing for a competition yourself, wanting to step up your game, or simply wanting to maintain and increase your physical and mental wellbeing, I hope you’ll apply some of these methods and get fantastic results from them.
Look after the basics and the basics will look after you.
Til’ next time, your friend and trainer,
Richard
You may have spotted in yesterday’s Guardian an article featuring The Foundry’s Evelyn Stevenson advocating strength training for women to the masses.
This article has already attracted much comment and, as per usual, primarily from those who haven’t understood the crux of the piece.
This article is reachingo out to those who spend hours in the gym, on the cross trainer/bike/step up machine/treadmill/(insert other cardio machine here) and don’t feel any different; to those who are jaded with the whole idea of doing a workout because the gains don’t equal the effort; to those who are terrified of bulking up if they go anywhere near a barbell.
To all you ladies, this weekend, take a chance, try some strength training and find out how amazing YOU can really be.
To find out more about training at The Foundry, our products and services, call Helen on 020 3417 0469 or email helen@foundryfit.com
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