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Elise Crombez


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  • 2 months later...

There was an interview with Elise and her personal trainer in my local paper, I've translated about 2/3 of it, I will try to do the last part later:

Topmodel Elise Crombez has been coaching the contestants for ‘Topmodel’, with the help of her personal trainer Sabine De Leeuw.

“Doing nothing for an entire day? It would drive me up the walls!”

Koksijde – Two years ago, the Koksijdian top model Elise Crombez asked Sabine De Leeuw to become her personal trainer. “I didn’t even know who Elise was, I’m not a true fashionista!”, she said. “But I did find out very soon that I was dealing with quite the lady!” Both ladies have been supplying the top model contestants with a lot of useful tips. Although pizza and fries never seem far away…

“Two years ago I came to ask Sabine if she would consider becoming my personal trainer.”, Elise tells us after her daily training session. “Since then, I’ve been coming here every day when I am in the country. Sabine and I have become close friends. Her guidance has done me a world of good.”

Did you feel the need for some sort of release?

Elise: “I was already doing a lot of sports prior to meeting Sabine, but in a wrong way. Since being under her guidance, I’ve been working towards specific goals. That gives me more satisfaction, but it is also more healthy. I can now more easily focus my efforts. Sabine knows what exercises are best to gain some muscle in specific areas, or avoid gaining muscles in certain areas, or what I should eat to speed up my metabolism, etc..”

“To give an example of when that might come in handy. If you are doing a sexy photoshoot, it’s better if your traits are softer. But if you’re doing a runway show, it’s better if your physique is more defined. Those results are attainable within, say, a week, if your body is trained enough. But there’s no way to know how if you aren’t being guided by a professional. In retrospect, I could have used this kind of training from the beginning of my career. “

Did you experience it as a flaw of your agencies that they didn’t make sure you got this sort of guidance from the get-go?

Elise: “Kind of, yeah. Because most of the time, at the beginning of your career, you’re still a very young girl, and you tend to have unhealthy habits. A lot of girls starve themselves, but a strong, healthy body is a necessity in this business. You’re running around from one place to another, you have to stand around in unnatural poses for hours, you have to have the mental strength to quickly get over disappointments. You just won’t get anywhere on flannel legs.”

“Both Sabine and I are a bit disappointed in the way the producers approached Top model. They have neglected the health aspect, despite asking Sabine and I to give the girls advice about that from day one. But I have yet to see any of that make it into the actual show. I guess it’s not spectacular enough…”

Did you have the feeling those girls were interested in what you had to say?

Sabine: “Certainly. (hesitates) Although, I did get the feeling that some of the girls didn’t fully grasp what kind of lifestyle they were getting into. Some of them seemed to know only one way to lose weight: stop eating.”

Elise: “And at the same time, they’d listen very carefully to what we had to say. But five minutes later, they throw themselves onto pizza or fries. (laughs)”

“Off course, part of it is out of their control and down to genetics. In my line of work, you get an eye for that. I could easily predict which of the girls will keep their girly physique for a little while longer, and which girls will soon develop more womanly forms. Those girls will need the proper discipline and a training regime adapted to their needs to maintain the suitable proportions for modeling. But that doesn’t go without the proper effort on their part.”

Sabine: “I would like to emphasize that it is perfectly possible for a model to conform to the physical demands set by the fashion industry and still be healthy and strong. I’m not speaking of the excesses, but over the norms that are applied by most of the fashion industry, which means that a runway model has to be fairly thin. But if you start from the right basis, that’s just a matter of maintaining the right diet and training regime. “

Sabine, would you consider Elise to be in top condition right now?

Sabine: “Absolutely. To be in perfect physical condition, you have to score high on five different factors: endurance, muscle strength, agility, coordination and speed. On each of those five points, Elise scores very highly. And she needs to in her job.”

Elise, is it possible for a model like yourself to work out in group and not be bother by strangers?

Elise: “But of course. If the people approach me at all, which is a rarity in itself, they are always very friendly and positive. I get a different vibe in New York, for some reason. Despite that city being filled with models and actresses, I get more of a sense of being stared at when I go jogging in the park over there. West-Flemish people are different, they don’t really care if you’re a model or not. “

What does Elise’s training regime look like?

Sabine: “Elise works out every day, except for Sunday. It varies depending on the period, though. Right now, we’re taking it a bit easier. More recuperation training that actually heavy work-outs, specifically because I noticed some fatigue symptoms. You should always listen to your own body. When it demands some rest, you just plan a few lighter training sessions. Yesterday I sent Elise to make a long walk on the beach instead of coming in for an intensive training session.”

Elise: “I also need it to be able to do something different every day. For my job, but also for myself. Sports give me energy, and an outlet to get rid of some stress. “

Stress is something you often mention. Are you such a stress-full person?

Elise: “It has more to do with building some mental toughness. With sports, I set myself specific goals and I want to achieve them. And if I succeed in doing that, it gives me great satisfaction. I learned that attitude through sports. But if you start applying the same principle to other areas of your life, you can take a lot more. “

“I used to think that people who were able to run an full hour were not normal.” (laughs)

“But then you suddenly reach the point where you are able to do it yourself. And you greatly enjoy that accomplishment. Doing nothing for an entire day but being lazy and eating… It would drive me up the walls!”

You seem to accept that working out is a big part of being a model. Did you enjoy sports as much before your modeling career?

Elise: I used to do ballet. And I was a gymnast for a short period as well. But I turned out to be too tall for that. (laughs) I got my life-guard degree as well, which was a great experience.

“I’d like to take on a sport that gives my life some more structure now. Like badminton, or a team sport. But it’s a fairly useless exercise right now, because I still get called for jobs quite frequently. A team could never count on me right now, I’m afraid.”

“I used to box as well. That was back in New York, I used to train together with Helena Christensen. But I had to stop, because it broadened my shoulders too much.”

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