Meet Louise

We couldn’t be more excited to introduce you to one of our newest Promix Athletes whose résumé is so extensive, it’s an athletic endeavor just to read the entire thing. Louise Hazel is a Los Angeles-based British Olympic Heptathlete and Gold Medallist. As one of the most sought-after trainers on the west coast, her mission is to encourage women to stop exercising and start training. Her gym and line of exclusive mobile training programs, SLAY, aims to help athletes do just that, committing to purposeful wellbeing for the long term.

​We caught up with Louise for a quick chat to hear her tell her story, walk us through her experiences, and inspire our athletes with her performance-proven tips and tricks.

Tell us about your athletic background. What did you do growing up, and when did you know you were going to be able to make a career out of competing and training?

LH: I was 10 years old when I started track and field. Originally, I trained with the middle distance group, as did most of the newbies.

The problem was…

I was FAST!

I noticed there was a sprint group and very quickly transitioned over to join them as I knew that’s where my strengths were. I was a natural power athlete. I had my sights set on the Olympic Games from very early on – maybe age 12 – because I knew deep in my soul that I was a sportswoman.

And whilst my talent as an athlete was encouraged at school, it was never promoted as a viable career option, so I had to learn how to turn it into one.  

You have so many accolades and accomplishments. How does it feel to compete on the world’s biggest stage? 

LH:There is nothing more fulfilling than competing in front of a crowd of 80,000 people at the Olympic Games. I was fortunate enough to compete at home in London in 2012. A home Olympic Games will never happen again in my lifetime. I was the very first British athlete to appear in the stadium for track and field and the crowd went nuts when they saw my Great Britain vest – it was like being Beyonce at Coachella!

Are gold medals heavy? 

LH: Yes, the are full of sacrifice, tears, blood, sweat, joy, personal bests and, of course, protein powder!

?

(How much protein do YOU need for YOUR goals? Let’s calculate it.)

Take us through a “day in the life” while you were at the peak of your training.

LH:A normal day would look something like this:

8:00am | Wake up, have breakfast. (The impression that every athlete is up at 5:00am is just not true, especially when you have 7 events to train for.)

10:00am | My first training session would start. Mornings were spent doing technical events because you should be at your freshest for these. So events like hurdling, long jump, and high jump followed by a throwing event – either shot putt or javelin – were considered technical sessions.

Evening training | These sessions were saved for conditioning, so this would either be running (pure speed, speed endurance, or endurance depending on the training phase) or weight training, where I would be in the gym for strength and conditioning. Strength sessions would consist of olympic lifts such as squats, deadlifts, hang snatches, power cleans, and various explosive power exercises.

(New to training? Check out some of our helpful workout strategies and routines.)

(Are your meals and snacks supporting your training? Find out how other top athletes ensure they are properly fed for performance.)

How does your day to day differ now that you are not focused on competing?

LH:As a gym owner, I’m awake a 5:00am and my first client arrives at 6:00am. My diary is open for 6 hours until noon and is often fully booked via my SLAY app.

Often I’ll train 6-8 clients back to back, so there is very little down time. I fuel with protein shakes and snacks during sessions to try and maintain stable blood sugar levels.

If I have a gap in my schedule, I’ll take that time to get a workout in. I still train as I did when I was competing, so I’m in the gym 2-3 times per week lifting and conditioning. My go-to session is a heavy 5×5: I’ll do squats, bench press, and split squats along with some abdominal work.

Side note: I don’t like training in the afternoon now. I’m much more of a morning person. My afternoons are usually taken up with meetings with my agent for TV projects, producers, content creation, podcasts and various other tasks.

(Do you crash after lunch? Beat the 3:00pm slump with this special trick.)

What are some of your favorite recipes and Promix products? Why do you love them?

LH: A friend introduced me to Promix over a year ago, and I immediately fell in love with the plant-based vegan proteins. He would mix half a banana with 4 strawberries, 2 scoops of Raw Chocolate Vegan Powder, 1 scoop of greens and some almond milk. It was fire! It’s our favorite shake down at SLAY. I also now always add collagen peptides for an additional boost of protein for my hair, skin, and nails.

(Want to learn how to create your own nutritionally balanced smoothie? We’ve got you.)

(Learn about the benefits of collagen peptides.)

(Discover more energizing, delicious recipes from Promix.)

Any Promix products you share with your clients specifically?

LH: My clients LOVE the Coconut MCT Oil. It is especially good for my clients who have early morning workouts and are on a high protein/high fat/low carbohydrate nutritional plan.

What organizations do you support and advocate for? How can we learn more about them and get involved?

LH: I have been donating to The Baltimore Leadership School for Girls for the past 2 years and raised over $30,000 for their program.

This year, I am looking for a program to support in the Los Angeles are that empowers young women and assists them with education and wellness. I have yet to find my cause, so I’m looking forward to completing that huge goal for myself in 2020.

Participating in MTV’s The Challenge was the game-changer that helped me to do this, so I will be seeking similar projects in the near future.

Want to train with Louise? Check out the SLAY app, and be on the lookout for upcoming collaborations between SLAY and Promix Nutrition! We’ve got big things in the works to help YOU achieve all of your goals for 2020 and beyond.