Sophie Guidolin’s Exact Workout Routine for Strength and Definition

Sophie Guidolin, a champion of the IFBB and fitness influencer, regularly shares her intense workout routines on Instagram. In a recent reel, she showcased a powerful lower-body workout that included a variety of exercises such as lunges, Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs), hip thrusts, and resistance band training. Sophie’s dedication to fitness and strength training is evident, as she captioned the video, “This chapter of my life is called now or never.” Her workouts focus on building functional strength, enhancing muscle growth, and boosting overall fitness. Here's a breakdown of the exercises she incorporates and the health benefits that come with them.

1. She Uses Weights

Sophie Guidolin/Instagram

In her Instagram video, Guidolin is seen using weights. ACE Fitness states that weights have a lot of health benefits. “Lifting heavy weights elevates levels of anabolic hormones—specifically testosterone, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)—which are used to repair muscle fibers damaged during exercise. This helps the muscle fibers to become thicker and capable of generating higher levels of force.”

2. She Does Lunges

Getty Images

Guidolin is also seen doing lunges to stay in shape. ACE Fitness reports that these are very effective. “They’re a form of unilateral training, which means you’re working only one limb or side of the body at a time. And unilateral training is a more effective way to build functional strength (than using both legs) because these types of movement mimic other everyday motions, like walking and climbing stairs — and not just to the working leg. Research suggests the strength gains to the nonworking side are about half of the strength gains of the working side.”

3. She Uses A Resistance Band

Shutterstock

In her Instagram video, Guidolin is seen with a resistance band around her waist. Using bands to workout with has a lot of benefits. According to Harvard Health, “They can prepare your muscles for the many types of movements you make throughout the day, such as when you stretch, bend, lift, or simply rise from a chair. In addition, training with bands improves muscle power, which helps you avoid falls and risk of injury.”

4. She Does RDLs

Shutterstock

Guidolin is seen using weights to do RDLs or Romanian Deadlifts in her Instagram video. ACE Fitness states that these exercises are very beneficial. “When done correctly, the RDL is an effective exercise that helps strengthen both the core and the lower body with one move. Unlike the traditional barbell deadlift and other quad-dominant exercises such as leg presses, which place significant loads on the anterior portion of the knees, the RDL focuses most of the physical work on the muscles responsible for extending the hip and the knee from the posterior.”

5. She Does Hip Thrusts

Sophie Guidolin/Instagram

Guidolin is also seen doing hip thrusts in her Instagram video. Gymless states that hip thrusts are extremely effective. “Strong glutes are not only for aesthetic appeal; they serve a key functional purpose in supporting the posterior chain of muscles around the spine. Hip thrusts are also known for their capacity to develop and define glute muscles, contributing to their popularity on social media. After all, who doesn’t appreciate the look of a well-crafted pair of glutes?”

Australian health influencer Sophie Guidolin knows first-hand how hard it is to lose weight, especially after having babies. Guidolin, 34, shared a video of herself working out in a variety of different exercise outfits, reminding her followers how important it is to take time for themselves. ️Imagine how YOU could feel in 30 days?!⁣⁣ You will never regret spending time working on YOU. Turn your time into your transformation 🙏,” she captioned the post. Here’s what Guidolin’s fitness regimen looks like, and her best advice for postpartum moms who want to get back into shape.

1. Fitness Journey

Sophie Guidolin/Instagram

Guidolin overhauled her entire health and fitness regimen after gaining 66 pounds through pregnancy. “I gained almost 30 kgs through inactivity and poor nutritional choices, and also developed gestational diabetes,” she told Kidspot Australia. “I suffered from ‘gymtimidation’ and had absolutely no idea how to train when I started. I grew massive shoulders and carved obliques because they were the only body parts I knew how to train! I burned up hours on the treadmill in a bid to get leaner, and I was under-eating, although I didn’t know that at the time.”

2. 2500 Calories a Day

Sophie Guidolin/Instagram

Guidolin took up weight training, upped her calories from 1200 to 2500 a day, and couldn’t believe the results. “The rush I got from weight training was more than anything I had ever experienced,” she told Kidspot Australia. “I still love that feeling of completing a hard training session, and the body confidence that being strong brings. I also realized I could eat all the foods I loved and still achieve the physique I wanted. It was like a magic trick – all of a sudden, exercise transformed from a drudge to a passion, and I could eat anything I wanted. I now eat chocolate, burgers and ice-cream. I just track it and am aware of what I put into my body.”

3. Tracking Her Macros

Sophie Guidolin/Instagram

Guidolin enjoys a balanced diet and tracks her macros to make sure she’s getting all the nutrients she needs. “By tracking your macros against your nutritional and body compositional goals, you can eat the foods you love and still get the body you want,” she tells Women Fitness. “First you work out your daily caloric intake, based on your body composition and activity level. Then you calculate your goal intake of fats, protein and carbs. Then you track your food (I use MyFitnessPal) to ensure you don’t over- and under-eat a particular macro. It’s a flexible way of mindfully eating, which allows me to eat out with my kids, travel without dietary restriction, and live lean year-round.”

4. Moms Need Food

Sophie Guidolin/Instagram

Guidolin has sensible advice for women trying to get back into shape after having a baby. “Moms need food!” she tells Women Fitness. “Too often, moms will prioritize making a healthy lunchbox for their kids, pureeing organic vegetables for their babies or cooking a healthy dinner for the whole family… but then subsist during the day on coffee, muffins or the kids’ leftovers. You can’t train without energy, you won’t sleep well on a sugar roller-coaster, and you certainly won’t get the fitness and physique results you want without planning your food. It’s as simple as making yourself a lunchbox when you make the kids’. Or cooking a double batch of dinner, and storing single-serves in the fridge to ensure you’ve got a wholesome meal on hand.”

5. Dreams and Determination

Sophie Guidolin/Instagram

Guidolin credits her parents with giving the confidence to reach her goals and follow her dreams. “They truly believed that [I can do anything] and allowed me to not only believe it but make decisions with that as my entire life philosophy,” she told Kidspot Australia. “It’s why I don’t flinch when the alarm goes off – I have an opportunity to create the life and career I want, so I leap out of bed ready to conquer the day. My body transformation has been years in the making and started not with the goal of winning a trophy but to prove to myself and my kids that you can do anything you set your mind to.”

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.

1. Her Go-To Glute Workout

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

2. Here Is Everything You Need to Know About Her Diet

“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.”

3. Her Go-To Should Workout

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

4. Only One Rest Day Per Week

“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.”

5. Cardio

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.

Pauline Nordin is getting sweaty in her workout clothes. In a new social media post the bodybuilder shows off her incredibly fit figure during an exercise session at the gym. “The lack of heavy looking equipment doesn’t mean the workout feels LIGHT. If it feels TOO LIGHT it does not matter how heavy it is, it’s all relative. But the mind usually stops all development in body, due to fear of reps past 21! The burn starts there, past the “honeymoon” phase of a workout, will you last and keep your passion and love for the game? I will because I keep it INTERESTING and I live to prove myself wrong about myself and to be my BEST PAULINE so I have THE BEST FRIEND IN ME FOR ME in this body life with a 100% guarantee of no fail no flake no let go. That’s the kind of partner I want in my life, someone I know without doubts will BE ALL I NEED AND ALL I WANT. So I’m that! ALL MY LOVE TO YOU ALL! I’ll share the podcast on my story then I will spend my weekend in solitude to meditate and just be happy, but first LEG DAY!!!” she captioned the post. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.

1. How She Discovered Bodybuilding

Pauline discussed her road to bodybuilding to Simply Shredded. She explains that at 17 she was in the “not eating and doing 500 sit-ups a day” routine. “I accidentally bumped into a Muscle & Fitness magazine and saw the fitness model on the cover. I was terrified, she looked CRAZY, but in some way it caught my attention,” she said. “I realized it took dedication, discipline, a lot of exercise and a strict diet. I liked that and felt this was meant for me. I decided to become a pro bodybuilder, went to my first gym and told the trainer I was going to be onstage in 2002 (3 years later) and I needed to get muscular. Said and done, I trained nonstop for 3 years, went on stage and became the ‘Teen National Champ’ three years in a row and runner up in the Senior Division Under 52 kilograms 2 years in a row.”

2. Free Weights

Pauline relies on free weights, “1-8 reps, and old-school compound lifts,” she says. “I don’t have a set routine, but I am always including the compound basic movements like squats, presses, free weight rows, pull-ups. I don’t keep track anymore about sets and reps, I used to do it for a decade and then called it a day. As soon as I write up a routine I get the urge not to follow it so that’s why I improvise and go with what I have mentally prepared for myself the hour before.”

3. Cardio

Shutterstock

Pauline also does cardio. “I also do cardio 6 days a week. I alternate between short intense sessions (20 min) @ 85-90% MHR and slower ones at 70% MHR,” she says.

4. Her 3 Favorite Exercise

Here are Pauline’s 3 favorite exercises:

1. Deadlifts: “Because they shape the whole body,” she says.
2. Shoulder Presses: “Because they give the illusion of broader shoulders and a smaller waist,” she explains.
3. Bent Over Barbell Rows: “The king of upper body muscularity,” she says.

5. Here Is What She Eats in a Day

“I super emphasize on veggies, I don’t eat grains except for wheat bran on ‘plan A’ days which is a ‘Veggie/Protein/EFA’ diet. On plan B days I refeed which means about 100-300% more calories and almost all carbs from oats, rice, pumpkin, jello pudding etc. I use lots of BCAAs and fish oil supplements in my diet as well. I am an AST sports science athlete and use their products and I follow my own diet concept: FIGHTER DIET!” Pauline says.

• "Meal 1: Wheat bran, Whole flax cooked to Porridge, added vanilla Vp2, Cinnamon, Truvia
• Meal 2: Egg whites, CLA & Fish oil
• Meal 3: Egg whites
• Meal 4: Pre workout shake with BCAA’s, Glutamine & Beta-alanine
• Meal 5: Vp2 shake with BCAA’s, Glutamine, NAC
• Meal 6: Veggies, Chicken or Egg whites or Pink salmon, some Shirataki noodles & mustard
• Meal 7: Chocolate protein powder with cocoa powder and coconut shreds plus stevia to sweeten it"