It is not hard to fall under the spell of Lindsey LeGrande. Warm and friendly, her zest for health and fitness is instantly contagious. As a Pilates expert, Lindsey gives clients a holistic approach to wellness through her online platform, offering programs on Pilates, nutrition and breath work.
Lindsey was born and raised in the Bay Area with her older sister, Lauren Roxburgh, also a well-known dynamo in the wellness space. A lifelong athlete and strong swimmer, Lindsey delved into water polo at the age of 13 after attending a Stanford water polo camp with her cousins. The coach saw her potential and encouraged her to play in high school.
Lindsey made the junior varsity team as a freshman, and their team became record-scoring leaders in the sport. Although she competed throughout high school in both swimming and water polo, she needed to make a choice for college. “Although I probably would have had a better career at swimming in college, I loved the camaraderie of a team sport,” she shares. “And I think I was burned out from staring at that line in the pool.”
Lindsey set her sights on playing water polo for the University of California, Los Angeles but didn’t get in. When the University of California, Santa Barbara came to Berkeley to play, her father encouraged her to go talk to the water polo coach at the game. Lauren had played for this coach but quit after a year. Lindsey had nothing to lose.
“I went straight up to him and said, ‘Hey, my sister played for you for one year. I’m her little sister Lindsey. I really want to go to UCSB. I’ll give it my all; this is it for me.’” It was short, direct, and it worked! She was in.
Lindsey loved her time at UCSB, where she became friends with a volleyball player from Manhattan Beach. Lauren had moved there after she graduated, and due to the visits with her sister and best friend, Manhattan Beach became Lindsey’s second home during college. Soon she would become a full-time resident too.
While working as a trainer at Equinox, Lauren began to explore Pilates. She asked Lindsey if she could work on her body for her training hours. Lindsey gladly accepted. The experience became a spiritual awakening. After spending most of her youth in a training room bulking up for swimming and water polo and enduring issues with her knees and hamstrings, her body loved the sensation of stretching those muscles.
Through the practice, Lindsey lost 8 pounds of bulk and discovered her natural body as she became leaner. Lauren opened a Pilates studio, and Lindsey started working there as a trainer once she got her certification. Over those five years, she managed to build a strong clientele including some pro athletes like Maria Sharapova and even a few Lakers.
In Manhattan Beach Lindsey found not only her love of Pilates but also the love of her life. She originally met Lee LeGrande, a former pro volleyball player and now a well-known Realtor in the South Bay, when they were set up on a double date when she was still in college. The timing wasn’t right, so they decided to be friends.
Several years later they ran into each other at Boccato’s in Hermosa Beach, and this time their connection was palpable. They spoke for 30 minutes until she had to get back to work. She remembers, “Literally five minutes later, he texted, ‘Will you marry me?’’’ Two years later, they were married.
In 2010, the year they were getting married, Lindsey’s mom became very sick with cancer. Previously, in her early 50s, she had breast cancer. After doing chemo and radiation, she was healthy for 17 years. Her cancer came back when, unbeknownst to her family, she stopped taking her medication for financial reasons. Her mother passed before Lindsey got married.
“Her being sick definitely catapulted me into the healthy lifestyle,” Lindsey shares about the experience, “just being aware of how we can live each day. I strongly believe in preventive medicine.”
She created her own studio above her garage and taught classes alongside a couple other trainers. Having the trainers there offered great support when Lindsey became a mom.
It was around this time that she dove into the nutritional aspect of her wellness journey. She introduced her cleansing program, The Reboot, a metabolism jump start to creating long-lasting healthy eating habits. Lindsey found that her clients were achieving amazing results doing the cleanse along with Pilates. This prompted her to create an online platform, Lindsey’s Loft, offering clients a personalized regime. “The biggest goal for us is to get people to change their perspective about food and exercise and to make it more holistic,” she shares.
Lindsey recently became certified in XPT Performance Breathing, which combines ancient practices with new science to create a unique breathing program that can enhance performance across a wide spectrum of activities. It also helps improve mental clarity and boost metabolism. “My goal is to help each individual gain maximum body control as well as help them become more in touch with the power and purpose of breath, synced up with movement,” she says.
Lindsey’s experience working with many pro athletes has made her increasingly passionate about helping young athletes too. Having been a competitive young athlete herself, she wishes she would have known all she knows now about training and overall wellness. Being a mother of two active young boys really brought this home.
“Few people focus on these young kids. They are plagued with injuries because of playing one intensive sport, usually without cross-training and using other muscles,” she explains. “I believe I can help these young athletes stay strong and healthy so they can enjoy playing their sports for longer and prevent injuries.”
Whether young or seasoned, pro or amateur, many South Bay residents are rethinking their health regime thanks to Lindsey’s layered holistic approach.
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