IFBB Champ Elisa Pecini in Two-Piece Workout Gear Shares "Intense Routine"

Elisa Pecini is pontificating about the importance of nutrition in her workout gear. In a new social media post the IFBB champ exercises and discusses why it's crucial to fuel your body with healthy food. "In the intense routine of workouts, cardio, work, keeping up with nutrition is essential. Having healthy, practical options makes it a lot easier to focus on what really matters. This is why having ready, balanced meals always on hand makes all the difference to my performance," she writes in the Instagram video. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits. 

Pecini shared her favorite glute workout with Muscle & Fitness:

• Machine Hip Abduction: 5 x 15 — Pecini adds a loop band just above her knees.
• Smith Machine Reverse Lunge: 3 x 15 — Pecini performs these with her front foot elevated.
• Landmine Sumo Deadlift: 4 x 12
• Machine Weighted Glute Bridge: 4 x 12
• Straight-leg Cable Glute Kickback: 4 x 12

"My diet changes several times during preparation but these are minor adjustments. It is composed of carbohydrates: rice, oats. Proteins: chicken, fish, egg white, whey protein and sometimes red meat. And lipids like avocado, nuts, peanut butter, olive oil," Elisa told Mo Marketplace, "What changes in my off-season and pre-contest diet are the quantities as the foods are basically the same. In the off-season, I have 1 free meal a week, and most of the time it's a hamburger, but my favorite dish is to go to a good restaurant and eat grilled salmon with black rice and vegetables without having to weigh the food. I use supplements in my diets like whey protein, bcaa, glutamine, l carnitine, caffeine, pre-workout and all I use are from NewMillen because it's the brand I know and trust, I don't like to risk what I don't know. In pre-contest 1200 to 1500 and off-season 2300kcal per day."

Here is Elisa's go-to shoulder workout, she revealed to Muscle & Fitness. 

• Standing Shoulder Abduction: Sets: 7, Reps: 12
• Seated Unilateral Shoulder Abduction: Sets: 3, Reps: 12
• Arnold Press: Sets: 3, Reps: 12
• Dumbbell Front Raise: Sets: 3, Reps: 12
• Upright Row: Sets: 3, Reps: 12
• Dumbbell Crucifix Hold: Sets: 3, Reps: To failure 

"I train 6 days a week. My rest day is on the seventh day which is usually on Sundays. My training routine for the week varies a lot according to the competition phase, at the moment it looks like this: shoulder, buttocks, back, shoulder, buttock, and chest," she told Mo Marketplace. "I always vary my workouts and never repeat the same workout, I always like the various stimuli, do slow, focused exercises, sometimes use a drop set, sometimes use more load but always maintaining the quality of movement and amplitude, for me variations in a workout are very important."

Elisa finishes off her workout by walking. "My cardio is always after the 30-minute workout I like to do with the treadmill at a moderate speed(a brisk walk)," she said. Going for a daily walk can be a game changer in terms of exercise, especially at a brisk speed. One study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that walking at a brisk pace for about 30 minutes a day led to a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia and death, compared with walking a similar number of steps but at a slower pace.