Meet Sarah Lindsay, newest member of The Foundry team with enough bling to make P. Diddy jealous

August 23, 2011 By

Now it’s not often you come across a three time Olympian, never mind a nine time British Champion. Now one of the leading personal trainers in London, Sarah not only knows her stuff, but she has performed at the highest level of her professional sport for a decade.

strength performance conditioning

With enough bling to make the likes of P. Diddy jealous, Sarah has won medals for speed skating on the World and European stages as well as holding the British record for the 500m sprint for eight years.

Now not every performer can become a successful teacher; however Sarah has shown that she can translate her experiences to train and advise our City clients as well as athletes. Not only did she write and coach the strength and conditioning programme for the Elite Figure Skating team, two of whom competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics, but is known for her no nonsense work outs and tough but effective nutritional advice. Sarah is in such high demand as a trainer that she was fully booked with clients within her first month of working at The Foundry.

Sarah is a PICP Level 1 Strength Coach and BioSignature Modulation practitioner. She is also the most likely member of The Foundry to be found building a fort out of cardboard boxes.

If you would like to find out more about training with Sarah, please contact us at info@foundryfit.com

 

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Body Transformations Week – Day 5

August 5, 2011 By

After a long week of genuine client transformations, Dave Thomas Personal Trainer would like to round off this fantastic week with one of his most inspirational clients, Belen Gallego, in this short but sweet article.

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Today’s transformation is simply one of the best clients I’ve ever had and a true inspiration. Not only did she lose over 20kg over six months and reduced her body fat from 45% to 25%, she has became one of the strongest, fittest clients I’ve had.

I can’t describe how phenomenal Belen’s results have been… the photo says it all really as she jumps into her old trousers.

I thought I’d leave Belen to say a few words directly:


Belen has been away for a little while working in New York but I cannot wait to catch up with her and actually do a workout with her as a buddy rather than a client!

Filed Under: Blog, Testimonials, Transformations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Body Transformation Week – Day 1

August 1, 2011 By

JT (39), Finance

Personal Training Spitalfields

Lost 5 kg in 3 weeks

Date Age Weight Pectoral Suprailiac Umbilical Body Fat Waist
17/1/2011 39 90.3kg 20mm 42mm 34mm 30% - 3 inches
10/2/2011 39 85.2kg 16mm 34mm 26mm 25.6%

Right at the start of the year, JT became a client of Personal Trainer Dave Thomas. With a busy job in finance, a new arrival on the way (now a healthy 6 month old!) and one of the ‘big’ birthdays rapidly approaching he wanted to make some immediate changes to the way he looked and felt but also to find a way to maintain sustainable progress in the future. He is very interested in human psychology and the link between physical and mental health and this clearly helped his commitment to the programme as he easily removed sugar, alcohol and coffee from his diet for the first 3 weeks. It’s also why Dave ‘philosophy degree’ Thomas and JT can be found in-between sets of picking heavy stuff boring those around them with discussions about Jungian Psychology.

The programme itself was a variation of one of Personal Trainer Graeme Marsh’s old school favourites (note we didn’t say old school personal trainer) Vince Gironda’s 8×8 workout.

Vince Gironda was the original Iron guru. By all accounts he was brutally honest and intolerant, grumpy but insightful and in many ways truly revolutionary in his approach to bodybuilding. There is a famous and possibly apocryphal story about Arnold Schwarzenegger arriving in Vince’s Gym in North Hollywood. The story goes that when Arnold walked in he introduced himself to Vince by saying, “I am Arnold Schwarzennegger, Mr. Universe.” Vince promptly replied, “You look like a fat f*** to me.”

Vince’s 8 x 8 System is similar to many other high volume workouts like German Volume Training (10 x 10). You perform 8 sets of 8 reps with minimal rest and it’s used for the whole body. It is not designed for strength development; purely for aesthetic changes. The short rest intervals have a very intense cardiovascular effect, meaning more calories are burned and our endocrine system is primed to fat loss.

High volume workouts aren’t always the best approach for people who aren’t seasoned lifters; most people need to get stronger first, but in our experience the high volume approach, with our own ‘Foundry modifications’ to it, has actually proved a very efficient way to add muscle and lose fat for people who have dabbled in the gym previously by overloading the muscles via cumulative fatigue rather than load. (A real issue if you’re not that strong and recover too quickly)

“I still can’t straighten my arms – should I be concerned”
JT enjoys the benefits of 64 repetitions of rows

JT lost 5kg in 3 weeks by following particular dietary advice trialling the removal of some foods which appeared problematic to him (which is why we’ve highlighted how much the suprailiac and umbilical measurements of his abdomen dropped; backed up by a 3 inch circumference loss around the waist). He has been training now for 6 months and has continued to make excellent progress but his initial 3 week results are what we wanted to highlight today as an example of what can be achieved quickly and painlessly with a few dietary changes and getting a bit more familiar with the weights room.

“Having trained with other people before I can honestly say you’ve been worth every penny Dave. Your genuine enthusiasm and interest in my success is very motivational and whilst I dread the weekly ass kicking I always leave feeling like a new man. It’s been a fantastic experience. Many thanks”

JT – quite literally 94.5% the man he used to be

Tune in again tomorrow for another exciting client transformation story

Filed Under: Blog, Fitness, Testimonials, Transformations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Unique New Bootcamp Concept Puts The Public Alongside The Professionals

June 7, 2011 By

The Foundry, one of the leading personal training, sports conditioning and rehabilitation facilities in London is launching a brand new fitness experience enabling everyday people to train alongside professional athletes and top industry experts, including international rugby and football players, weightlifters, powerlifters and track and field stars.

Our first Heavy Weekend fitness bootcamp will take place in a secret Oxfordshire location on Saturday 13th – Sunday 14th August 2011.

Strongman Bootcamp

Stronger, Leaner, Faster

Attendees will be trained and treated as professional athletes for the weekend at a secret location in Oxfordshire under the watchful eyes of our conditioning experts, who have performed at the highest level of their respective fields:

  • Former British and Irish Lions and England rugby player Andy Titterrell for Strength and Sports Conditioning

Andy Titterrell Strength Training

 

 

 

 

 

  • UK Power lifting and England Weightlifting Champion Evelyn Stevenson for Olympic and Weightlifting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Miss Fitness England Sian Toal for Fitness and Body Composition

Sian Toal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a move away from military style bootcamps and by filtering down the latest training concepts from professional conditioning, attendees will be introduced to:

  • Technical Olympic lifting and Power lifting sessions
  • Strength conditioning exercises including sled dragging, tyre flipping and farmers walks
  • Nutritional advice for performance and body conditioning

Event sponsors to be announced shortly.

Dave Thomas, Personal Trainer and Director of Performance at The Foundry says:

“We are incredibly excited to be hosting such a high performance weekend at an outstanding facility. This is no ordinary bootcamp. This is the first two day strength and conditioning course for the general population that focuses on treating participants as athletes, providing them with expert tuition from the professionals at the top of their respective fields, and pushing their capabilities and boundaries. Whether you want to be stronger, faster, leaner, fitter or quicker, we can inspire this within you.”

Cost for the weekends as follows:

  • £167 excluding B&B accommodation
  • £197 including shared B&B accommodation
  • £239 including individual B&B accommodation
A non refundable £50.00 deposit is required to secure your spot, with the balance to be paid 4 weeks before the event.
For more information about The Foundry’s Heavy Weekend on 13 and 14 August 2011 or to book one of the limited places, please contact Dave Thomas at dave@foundryfit.com or go to http//foundryheavyweekend.eventbrite.com.
 

a brand new fitness experience enabling everyday people to train alongside professional athletes and top industry experts
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Sian Toal – Foundry Trainer and Sponsored Athlete

June 3, 2011 By

It was only a few months ago that Sian Toal first wandered into The Foundry. We sliverpool street personal training londonaw some something special in Sian as a personal trainer and as an individual and, having now joined our team, we know we’ve back a winner!

Since joining The Foundry, Sian has already had some great achievements personally and professionally, including her recent crowning as Miss Fitness England (winning her first fitness modelling competition!). As one of our sponsored athletes, Sian can regularly be seen sporting her new Vibram Five Finger Komodo Sports from The Foundry’s Training Shop, as well as being pinched and prodded by our Performance Director and BioSignature Modulation expert Dave Thomas.

This August, The Foundry will be hosting its first Heavy Weekend in a secret location in Oxfordshire. Along with other special guests, Sian Toal will be one of our awesome “mentors” putting us through our paces. To find out more please go to The Foundry’s Heavy Weekend or email info@foundryfit.com.

This weekend is a big one for Sian as she’ll be participating in the fitness modelling competition FAME. Good luck from everyone at The Foundry – we know you’ll do us proud!!

On getting ready for FAME, Sian says….

At this stage, final week before showtime, it’s always a mix of emotions getting ready for competition. Good and bad! There’s the excitement coupled with nervousness, looking lean but feeling drained, wanting your shining moment on stage but also looking to when it’s over. The preparation teaches you a lot about yourself. How you plan, prepare, handle days when you don’t want to train and dealing with confidence. I’m lucky to have a supportive home life and circle of friends, plus a network of trainers to advise, support and help by sponsoring me!
The amount of drive something like this can give you is amazing. I feel focused, even now for the next one in September, looking forward to getting on to my new three month training plan! I’ve really started to find out what works for me and there’s still so much more to learn! Those people out there who might not want to run races or climb mountains or even get on stage (mind you I still do all of those!) getting a fitness model body and living the lifestyle is still an amazing goal to aim for.

To learn more about Sian Toal, The Foundry’s fitness and body composition expert, fitness modelling, personal training, consultations and nutrition, please contact info@foundryfit.com.

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Tyrone London Auditions for Mr March

March 1, 2011 By

Foundry Personal TrainingFor a 1st of March treat we thought we’d give you a brief snapshot into the training regime and 2011 transformation of one of our excellent personal trainers, Tyrone London.

Standing over 6 foot, weighing nearly 100kg at 8% body fat, Tyone is well known in The City of London as a top notch personal trainer who not only gets great results with his clients but walks the walk when it comes to his own training and diet.

These photos from a recent fitness photoshoot by the photographer Phil Young demonstrate what great shape he’s in; so Ty wanted to share some inside knowledge into what works for him and some of his clients.

Personal Training LondonTyrone spent the last part of 2010 reducing his body fat so that this year he could focus on adding lean mass and getting even stronger.

In January he was 92kg and we’ve just weighed him at 99.4kg. 7.5kg in 2 months – not too shabby!

So, for those wondering what it takes to get strong and lean, firstly make sure the words determination and committment are in your vocabulary:

Tyrone’s Split routine:

5 day German Volume Training cycles split into chest/back, arms/shoulders, quads and hamstrings with additional calves exercises twice a week.

For the uninitiated, beginner GVT cycles involve a huge amount of volume (10 sets of 10 reps), slow tempo and only one main exercise per bodypart. Hard work yes, but a very effective way to add mass quickly due to the extraordinary stress on the targetted muscle fibres.

Tyrone’s nutritional tips for adding lean mass includes:

Lean cuts of Turkey, Chicken and 8 Eggs for breakfast.

Good carbs post workout (for those who can handle them) in the shape of  brown rice

Add forest sized amounts of greens with every meal.

He supplements with Pro Greens, Whey Better and Omega First from our own range here at The Training Shop, the City of London’s first and only specialist health and fitness shop.

If you want to ask Tyrone a question about your own training  or are interested in personal training with an excellent conditioner who will never give you a programme he hasn’t done himself you can email him at tyrone@foundryfit.com

Filed Under: Blog, Fitness, Nutrition, Performance, Strength training, Transformations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why exercise won’t make you fat and more nonsense du jour…

February 17, 2011 By
Corporate Health & Fitness Talk London

One of many Corporate Health Talks in London

One of the things which keeps me busy and I enjoy a lot is giving talks to corporate groups here in the city in London. My recent audiences include executives from major banks like UBS and RBS, law firms such as WGM, and companies such as Innocent drinks, Whistles, and several more.

A common theme at all these talks is bewilderment. The public at large are being bombarded with ever increasing volumes of nutrition and fitness dogma, often from those who lack the understanding (or what Ben Goldacre would call ‘intellectual horsepower’) to interpret evidence correctly. Even more worrying are those who knowingly ignore, twist, cherry pick, or simply falsify ‘evidence’ in an attempt to sell a catchy concept, product, course, or pill to the end user (be warned, this can happen on all sides from both those who carry out, read, and print the studies through to those who interpret their results). Questions I get range from the sublime to the ridiculous but all highlight a state of confusion that leaves the consumer more vulnerable to the next fad diet/product/treatment/potion etc.

The latest crazes in our industry include pseudo therapies, ‘alkalising’ diets or water filters, miracle fat removal creams, and possibly the worst offender – the notion that exercise might just be making you fat (which is of course complete and utter rubbish). I wish I had the time to go into serious depth on these issues but for today I am going to focus on the latter one, which gained recent coverage in this column from the Guardian. http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/05/gym-genius-con-exercise-hungry?cat=commentisfree&type=article

[Read more...]

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