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Biohacking, Ozempic and more: Dubai-based transformation specialist discusses fitness trends

Fitness enthusiast Sarah Lindsay shares insights on what it takes to embark on a fitness journey and sustain it amidst a busy lifestyle

Published: Thu 25 Apr 2024, 6:53 PM

Updated: Thu 25 Apr 2024, 7:08 PM

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Sarah Lindsay is not your typical fitness guru.

This transformation specialist, a powerhouse in the world of fitness, boasts an impressive resume as a three-time Olympian, European gold medallist, 2x world silver medallist, and 10x British speed skating champion. Beyond her athletic achievements, Sarah is renowned as the UK's body transformation queen and a highly sought-after celebrity personal trainer in London. Her clientele includes a roster of notable names like Ellie Goulding, Piers Morgan, and Pixie Lott, among others.

As the co-owner of ROAR Fitness for the past eight years alongside her husband Rich, Sarah has established herself as a successful business owner and entrepreneur. With three locations in central London and one in Dubai, ROAR Fitness has defied industry trends and remained a steadfast fixture in the fitness world. Through her training methods and dedication, Sarah empowers her clients to build confidence, strength, and take control of their lives, leaving a lasting impact on all who seek her expertise.

In a recent chat with City Times, she shared her insights on what it takes to embark on a fitness journey and sustain it amidst a busy lifestyle, and certain practices like biohacking (means of optimizing human health and performance) and use of Ozempic (a medication marketed for weight loss) in the contemporary world of fitness.

As a transformation specialist who has helped countless people, including celebrities, what's something you require from your clients?

All I really want to know is what their goals are. It's not for me to decide what somebody else's goal is, for example, you know, I'm known for the results and the transformations, but for me, that's just good personal training. You know, people come because they want to change in some way or another, and the before and after picture is just such a small part of that story, it's just a visual representation, really, but what they get from it is much, much more than that. I think the biggest thing that comes from it is confidence. How something makes you feel, it changes everything; every thought that you have, every action that you take, the way you speak to people, how you dress, how you stand and present yourself, and then how people speak back to you - everything around you changes. So what I need to know when people come to us is what's really gonna motivate you. What do you really want? Tell me the truth. Because sometimes people are scared to set their goals high or scared to tell you what they really want because they think it sounds silly, but it's up to you. You tell me what you want and we'll facilitate whatever that result is, whatever that means to you.

You're an advocate for strength training for all individuals, especially entrepreneurs and CEOs. Why is that?

I think if you're physically more capable and confident, it shows how well you look after yourself. If you want longevity and you want to keep performing on whatever it is in life that you're trying to do, then your health is important. And you need to make sure that you're staying in tip-top condition, if you want to keep looking after everybody else. So it's hard when you're busy, and when, especially people who don't get a fixed salary and that kind of thing, you're always in that hustle, you're always chasing the next thing. And your health, I think your good health is the biggest thing to chase.

So does that only mean that you just go and be active, or also lift weights? Because sometimes lifting weights is another ballgame...

Yeah, well the only way of getting stronger is to progressively overwork the muscle. You have to give weight to the body somehow. So yes, you can start maybe with body weight or be able to create any resistance anyway. So that can be gravity, that can be with bands, very quickly plateaus. And then you need to start adding weight. And that's the only way to get stronger; to keep increasing the amount of weight that you're lifting.

Is that what you advise for both the genders?

Yeah, you should start lifting. You need to learn. Obviously, women can be a little bit put off for lots of different reasons. People don't want to be particularly muscular, people find the gym very intimidating, but I think that goes for anybody, that goes for both genders.

Everyone's talking about biohacking. Is it really an essential for fitness enthusiasts?

Well, really it's about human optimisation. You know, you're trying to find all these sort of little biological wins to optimise your health. And I think, these things become trendy and a stigma gets attached. I think you have to have an open mind, listen to all these ideas. Some of them will be way too far for you and unrealistic and will feel silly or not even relevant. And there'll be other things that actually make sense to you and you think, or even sometimes you just try things and then it makes you feel different or you start to see the benefits. So I think you keep an open mind, you try the things that seem like nice or relevant or might help and enhance your life in any way. I definitely would not call myself a biohacker, but there are things that would come under that category potentially. I ice bath every morning, and it isn't necessarily because of the physiological points that people talk about, but because it makes me feel good. I like to do it, it makes sense to me to make myself feel slightly uncomfortable. It's good to put yourself in positions where you don't feel particularly comfortable.

What are your thoughts on using Ozempic?

I think it's become this this quick fix. It makes people lose weight fast and a lot of time when people get to that point where they're willing to sacrifice elements of their health, they're in this knee-jerk reaction to not feeling good, which I think is a bad time to make a decision around something like this with regards to medication. I understand if somebody is very obese and their doctor thinks it's a good idea and they take a Ozempic to lose that weight to get out of obesity, then that can be a great thing. But when it's abused in the way that it can be, I think that's very negative because I think we're gonna see a very negative kickback. If you're under eating you're going to lose muscle. And obviously I'm a big advocate of gaining muscle and how positive that can be for people.

What steps must a person who is facing burnout in his life take if he wants to make an effort in getting fit?

So this is a really difficult time to start, but also the most critical. You're burnt out because ultimately you're not recovering from whatever you're doing, so that's when you need to prioritise three essential areas: sleep, nutrition, and exercise. You need to think how you are going to improve those three things, and when you're burnt out and you're tired, you don't want to. It's hard to address that because you know that you're in a negative cycle. But sometimes it just takes that moment to really realise when you're feeling too tired to do anything, that's when you really need to look at it. Sleep and nutrition, which obviously includes hydration as well, are the first two areas to look at; how you can up your health so that you have the energy to be able to train.

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