Three-time Olympic champion Sarah Lindsey was at the top of her game when she competed for the UK national short track skating team.
But more than a decade later, the 42-year-old manages to maintain a lithe figure while enjoying cheese, chocolate and wine.
Sarah, who was the BBC’s pundit for the Beijing 2022 Olympics, is now helping celebrities including Made in Chelsea’s Sophie Hermann, Strictly pro’s Kate Jones and Spice Girl’s Mel C stay fit and healthy.
Sarah, who runs Roar Fitness gyms across London, says the most common misconception she has is that “it should be easy” for her to stay in shape as a former athlete.
Here she discusses how she stays thin while enjoying an active social life and running a business.
Sarah, 42, manages to maintain her slim figure by enjoying cheese, chocolate and wine, and regularly
Sara competes in the women’s 500m short track speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
It also stays supple by stretching every morning, before and after training.
Sarah made her debut for the UK national team in 1996, and since 2000 has been the British Women’s Champion for nine years in a row.
She told MailOnline that her training as a professional athlete was “always based on performance and recovery, sometimes health and never aesthetics.”
Sarah’s Day on a plate
Chicken, rice, eggs and vegetables for lunch
A typical day would now look like this:
Breakfast: eggs or steak with spinach.
Lunch: chicken, potatoes and vegetables
Post-Gym: Post-Workout Smoothie and Fruit
Dinner: sea bass and salad or vegetables.
Snacks: A couple of cups of coffee early in the day and a few dark chocolate bars after dinner.
She said: “We trained 6-8 hours a day, most of the days for 11 months of the year, so I ate constantly. It was a full time job and I was always worried that I would run out of energy and not be able to perform in training or be able to recover for the next class, so I burned about 6,000 calories on training days. and 4000 on weekends.
“Each meal was high in carbs and protein, and the rest of my calories came from fat when I was full. Sounds like a lot of food, but almost half of those calories came from my post-workout shakes and snacks twice a day.”
Sarah and her team competed in six races a day for three days, producing extreme levels of lactic acid, cycling miles, hours in the gym, and “lots of ice laps”.
But despite a very different regimen now, she maintains a high level of physical fitness.
“In real life, this level of preparation is completely unnecessary and not healthy,” she added.
“Now I train in the gym three times a week with different goals, I do 1-2 Roar sessions a week and I make sure I go every day, usually in the morning before work or on my way to work.
“I’m good at nutrition, which I think helps me make good healthy food choices, and I tend to save my treats and alcohol for social gatherings and travel rather than at home.”
“I enjoy a pretty busy social life and I like to enjoy the moment and I want to indulge in new culinary experiences when I am in different countries, so at home I support healthy food.”
While she doesn’t follow any strict diet or exercise rules, she does have a “clear goal for both.”
Sarah added: “Thanks to my training, I now always think about longevity. I want to keep my muscles and strength when I get older.
“That means I need to lift as much weight as possible but avoid injury. I plan my program periodically throughout the year, so sometimes I focus on pre-training, sometimes conditioning, sometimes hypertrophy or strength – but you can’t just keep training the same fitness area all year long and expect further improvement.
“The quality of my food is my top priority when choosing what to eat with the overall goal of optimal health.
“All of my grandparents are over 95 so I need to stay as young as possible for as long as possible so I can enjoy my older years too.”
But she says her body changed dramatically when she got off the track.
Sarah with Sophie Hermann of Made in Chelsea at her gym in Kensington, west London.
Is that enough for Sporty Spice: Sarah and Spice Girl Mel C.
Sarah, who runs Roar Fitness gyms across London, says the most common misconception she gets is that it “should be easy” for her to stay in shape as a former athlete.
Sarah made her debut for the UK national team in 1996, and since 2000 has been the British Women’s Champion for nine years in a row.
Sarah was a BBC pundit for the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
“At first I gained a lot of muscle when I retired,” Sarah said.
“I’ve since opened three of my own gyms, so while I don’t have time to focus on training, I’m a bit spoiled for space and equipment so I have no excuses.
“Recently I launched my concept of a class that can be done in person, at our Kensington Gym or at home, so lately I’ve been using this a lot for cardio/metabolic workouts that actually make cardio really fun.”
While the rest of us may be sitting at desks in offices all day, Sarah assures clients that it’s still possible to get in shape.
“All athletes look different – a marathon runner is very different from a shot putter.
“But usually when people say they want to look more athletic, they mean the visible shape and definition of the muscles.
It’s all about balance: The 42-year-old likes to drink at least once a week.
“When you think about overall proportions, a person who has never exercised and may have overeaten has very little muscle mass or shape in the legs, buttocks, back and arms, and may have more fat in the midsection.
“By comparison, an athlete’s form will be largely determined by their muscles, not body fat.
To sum it up, if you have more muscle and less fat, you will look stronger, fitter, and fitter.
“In order to build muscle, you need to progressively overload your muscles (with weight), and in order to lose body fat, you need to increase the volume and/or intensity of your workouts and structure your nutrition for recovery and fat loss.”
Sarah Lindsey is the owner of Roar Fitness and Roar Classes.
Now Sarah helps celebrities Strictly Pro Katya Jones (far right) stay in shape