I was a single mum battling with post-natal depression when I started working out – now I'm England's strongest woman | The Sun

May 17, 2023

A MUM who lived in a council house when she started working out has become England's strongest woman.

Seven years ago, Rosie Abercrombie was a single mum living with her newborn daughter and suffering from post-natal depression.

But having spent most of her life overweight, Rosie joined the gym in a bid to get herself out of the house.

Now, Rosie, who grew up just two streets away from iconic strongman Eddie Hall, has become England's Strongest Woman, smashing the competition in the under 73 KG category.

Rosie, 27, from Knutton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, is a coach and trainer at Old School Gym in Chesterton, where she also pumps iron four times a week.

The determined mum said: "I have been doing the strongman training for 12 months.

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"I wasn't expecting to win. I'm chuffed.

"I never exercised at all through my life. I was quite overweight. I had my little girl when I was 20. I was a single mum from the off.

"I knew a lot of girls in the same position. They never worked again and continued to have more children. It made me more determined to do something and prove people wrong.

"For a person who's not academically gifted, I just wanted to do something. I started going to the gym to get myself out and do something for myself.

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"It just went from there. I got addicted to getting stronger and the freedom lifting weights gave me."

People began encouraging Rosie to train others as a job, leading to her job at Old School Gym.

And she revealed just exactly how her newfound career rescued her from a "dark place".

Rosie said: "They have a full floor dedicated to strongman. It's just something I really enjoy and it got me out of a dark place. This is my thing. This is what I'm supposed to be.

"It filled a void. I want my daughter to know her mum is doing something with her life. I want to make a name for myself and get out of social housing.

"A massive part of it is inspiring the people I work with. I run training camps and boot camps. I also do online coaching and nutrition."

Rosie came second in the Midlands qualifier for strongwoman.

She revealed that on a typical day she eats a lot of protein and carbs but also allows herself treats.

She said: "I dipped my toe into bodybuilding but when the focus is so much on your diet it takes the enjoyment out of it. I fuel my body properly.

"I am fortunate to get as far as I have but I am not in any rush."

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Rosie will now compete in Britain's Strongest Woman in August.

Depending on her position, she could then qualify for European competition.

Amazing tips personal trainers DON’T want you to know

FOR WEIGHT LOSS

1. Ben Gregory, former international athlete and coach, and PT at Manor London: “Drink more water and get your steps in.

"General activity levels will help you lean down and feeling full with plenty of water not only makes your skin glow, it give you loads of energy but also keeps you feeling more satiated – you won’t be wanting to reach for those naughty snacks!”

2. Samuel Aremu, Level 3 PT and body transformation coach: “Set alarms on your phone for getting up and away from your desk to take a 10 to 20 min walk a few times a day.”

3. Lewis Bloor, online fitness coach: “Focus on the times you eat. Instead of going from junk food to rabbit food straight away, focus first on eating all your food within an eight hour window.

"Gain this control, then move on to fine tuning the diet. This is called Intermittent Fasting.”

4. Lucy Gornall, personal trainer at Digme: “Females, work with your body! Appreciate that at certain times of the month, you'll have an increased appetite and a lower desire to exercise.

"During these times, aim to maintain, then get back on the weight loss wagon after.”

5. Samuel: “Use an online calorie calculator to work out what your personal calorie requirements are.

"Start by consistently consuming your daily maintenance calories; once you can do this consistently for two weeks, and if your weight has dropped, calculate your calories again and do the same for two weeks.

"If your weight hasn’t dropped, then slightly decrease your calories by 200 to 300 calories less per day as this will kick start the weight loss process.”

FOR A FLAT TUMMY

6. Baz Gouldsbury, PT and gym owner: “Abs are made in the kitchen; having reduced-sugar meals will definitely assist in achieving a flatter tummy.”

7. Lucy: “Your posture could have a role to play in the flatness of your tummy – try tilting your pelvis forwards when you’re upright, which can often stop the lower belly protruding out.”

8. Samuel: “Aim for a minimum of two litres of clean fluid, daily – our body retains water and it's usually stored around our waistline.

"Drinking water regularly allows your body to get rid of the excess, especially around the love handles.”

9. Alex Crockford, PT and creator of fitness app, #CrockFit: “Something a little different is the ‘vacuum’ and it’s something you can do as part of your daily routine.

"It involves really pulling in that deep core muscle, which really does tighten up the whole tummy area, irrelevant of fat loss: hold this for 15 seconds and increase this over time.”

10. Samuel: “Avoid inflammation of the gut by cutting out the foods that you know will get you bloated, no matter how nice they may be.”

FOR LEAN LEGS

11. Maurice Ryan, general manager and PT at Fitness First Harringay: “Try weighted walking, lunge forwards and backwards.

"Typically use a barbel on your back and take six to 10 steps forwards depending on the space you have, followed immediately by the same steps backwards.

"Doing it this way gives us the opportunity to make it the total leg burner!”

12. Samuel: “If leaner legs are what you want, high repetitions – around 20 or more – with low-moderate weight is the direction you want to be heading in.

"Avoid heavy lifts and instead go for a weight around 30-60% of your heaviest.”

13. Lewis: “Running, sprinting, jumping and kickboxing are all great ways to strengthen and tone the legs.

"Make sure you train legs three times a week and get your rest in too!”

14. Lucy: “Walk everywhere. Honestly, walking is such an underrated form of movement and means your lower body is consistently working, helping to shed fat.”

15. Jayne Lo, Elite Trainer, Third Space: “A split squat builds muscle and strength by working each leg individually.

"Stand tall, then take your right leg back, as if you were about to do a lunge, keeping the right heel off the ground.

"Engage your core, and bend both knees, dropping down until the right knee is just above the ground, then push back up to standing.

"Avoid the front knee coming past the front toes and aim for eight to 10 reps on each leg.”

FOR A BROAD CHEST

16. Will Duru, sport scientist and PT at Willpower Fitness said: “I would recommend press ups as the best exercise to grow your chest, with my second favourite being a dumbbell chest press.

"For this, lie back on a bench, feet flat on the ground, hold a dumbbell in each hand, and then extend your arms up, so the dumbbells are over your chest.

"Then, move the dumbbells back down towards your chest slowly; pause, then press up again – try four sets of 12 reps, with a 45 second rest between each set.”

17. Ben: “Go heavy on any bench exercise and focus on that time under tension by going slowly and pausing at the top of the move.

"Superset (as in, go straight into another exercise with no rest) with resistance band exercises to get that real full pump after each set.”

18. Baz: “A lot of people stick to the same routine, week in week out, so take yourself out of that same old routine and mix it up, as shocking the body is the way to achieve the best results.

"If you’ve always done the same program of weights, then change the moves and change the number of repetitions.”

19. Samuel: “There are three things our chest loves; volume, variety, and big weights, son each chest day aim to do a total of no fewer than 100 reps.

"In fact, aim towards 200 to 300. Split these repetitions between a variety of four to six different exercises then, aim to increase the weight you use for each exercise on a weekly basis and aim to do this in increments of 2.5 – 5kg.”

20. Alex: “Instead of doing a chest day every week, try doing push ups as a part of your daily routine.

"Do a little push up session to failure (until you can do no more reps) every day and this will help you grow your chest much better than one workout per week.”

TO BE A FASTER RUNNER

21. Ben: “Go for shorter and faster paced sessions with good recovery between reps, so you can keep giving that high intensity effort.

"Don’t be afraid of long recovery sessions that span more than five to six minutes’.”

22. Jay Revan, boxing and conditioning coach at My Manor London: “Introducing explosive plyometric movements like jump squats, jump lunges or box jumps into your strength training programme can improve your running speed.

"These movements will teach your muscles to contract at a faster and more efficient rate.”

23. Ryan Lucas-Lowther, Crossfit coach at Fortitude Fitness London: “It sounds simple, but move your arms faster, and it seems to work!”

24. Lewis: “Instead of running for hours every day, split your training between endurance and explosiveness.

"Go for two long, slow runs and two hard and fast sprint sessions a week; this will get you to level up in a matter of weeks.”

25. Jay: “Interval training is a great way to improve running speed.

"Switching between short intense bursts of running and timed recovery periods not only helps build muscle but will improve your overall speed and aerobic endurance.”

26. Samuel: “Mix up a normal jogging pace with sprints.

"Try one minute of jogging followed by 20 seconds of sprints, done eight times, back to back.”