Kimberly MortonFitness modeling is one of the fastest-growing industries. At the same time, it is a highly competitive industry. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, you could get away with a few exercise videos and working out in front of your TV. Nowadays, female fitness models are much more than workout trainers. They are influential individuals, raising awareness about diet, exercise, and lifestyle.
Female fitness modeling is a new category of modeling. But these girls are just as in demand as fashion models. With a plethora of successful models, we take a look at top Instagram fitness models. These women managed to turn their passion for exercise into a lucrative career.
The Power of Social Media
Today, female fitness trainers have to be on Instagram. The social media platform is the go-to place for looking for inspiration, workout videos, and diet plans.
Instagram gives fitness models an easy and quick way to reach out to their followers. They can engage in discussions and talks with their followers.
Sometimes, this is as simple as sharing an image of a healthy breakfast. Nowadays, female fitness models link their breakfast to recipes. They can put a link to a video tutorial on how to perform a particular exercise. Or they can show before and after images, which are some of the most popular and powerful images.
As we go down the list of top female fitness models you will notice two things. Some of them are more into the fitness aspect. And others are more into the modeling aspect of the job. But all are popular. Fitness models managed to turn their passion into a lucrative career. Some of them earn thousands of dollars per sponsored post.
Let’s go.
Top Female Fitness Models
Paige Hathaway
Hathaway is one of the first Instagram fitness models. She endorsed brands like Shredz and has more than four million followers. Paige is a social media veteran. She started by competing and showing on fitness magazines since 2012. Her Instagram career started back then as well.
Hathaway offers transformation programs, booty building, and everything in between. And she works with both men and women.
Laura Henshaw
Laura has an insane work ethic. She is one of the top 10 female fitness models of 2019. Born in Australia, Laura has a couple of books about working out. For example, she wrote A Girls Guide to Kicking Goals, a book about body-confidence.
She paired with Steph Claire Smith on the workout and clean-eating app Keep it Cleaner. The app debuted as number one on the health and fitness app store.
Megan Roup
She founded the fan-favorite cardio class The Sculpt Society. Her cardio combines fun dance moves with high-rep toning exercises. You get in shape in a fun way. The best part about her app is you can use it anywhere.
You do not have to go to a fancy gym to get in the action.
Sommer Ray
Sommer is relatively new to fitness modeling. But she rose from newbie to an Instagram superstar in a few years. Ray comes from a fit family. Both her parents were competitive bodybuilders.
She entered the world of bodybuilding at the age of 15. After one year she entered the regional bikini athlete championship. Sommer won a couple of championships in 2015.
In 2016, she started documenting her fitness journey on Instagram. She regularly posts pictures and videos of her workouts. She also has a YouTube channel. Also, check out Sommer Ray’s net worth.
Stephanie Sanzo
If you are more into power lifting and weights, this is the girl to follow. She is more into bodybuilding. She does bench presses, deadlifts, and squats with hundreds of pounds. Stephanie shares her lifting tips to her million followers. And you have to see it to believe it.
Michelle Lewin
This is one of the most famous names in the fitness industry. She began her career at a young age in Venezuela, her home country. There, she worked as a model. She had to be skinny fit. But after fitness magazines started putting her on the covers, she became a fan-favorite.
Now, she is one of the most influential people in the fitness industry according to Forbes. Lewin has her line of fitness supplements and home-workout equipment.
Sophie Guidolin
Guidolin is one of those feel-good stories you just have to meet and read about. She lost 30 pounds after gestational diabetes diagnosis during her pregnancy. She has eight e-books on health and nutrition. Sophie is also the co-creator of the popular 12-week fitness program The Bod.
Shona Vertue
If you are looking for celebrity female fitness models, Shona is the one. She worked with David Beckham and the cast of Wonder Woman. She combines yoga, cardio, and strength training in her workout philosophy.
The result is a routine focused on overall mobility and health.
Jen Selter
Born in Long Island, New York, Jen always knew the importance of an active lifestyle. She began working out at the age of 15. Within a few years, she had a toned body with abs and glutes. During her school days, she worked at two part-time jobs.
Her story began anonymously. She posted a picture of herself wearing a bikini. That photo from a fitness gym went viral. The rest is history.
Jen appeared on television shows as a fitness trainer. She also works with companies like New Balance, Nike, and Circus Fitness.
Ana Cheri
Ana Cheri is a fun story in the fitness world. She began as a model for Playboy. After a couple of photos for the adult magazine, she modeled for several products. Now, she does fitness plans and sells bikini.
Jessamyn Stanley
Jessamyn is not your average female fitness models Instagram girl. She is not skinny. In fact, you can say she is overweight. Yet, she does body-positive yoga. New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, all feature her in their magazines.
Forbes credits her for starting the Insta Yogi-movement. She is a great example that fitness modeling is not a one-size-fits-all.
Jen Esquer
Jen is another fitness model that is all about mobility and flexibility. Follow her posts to start moving and feeling better. She doesn’t do lifting weights or running. Jen focuses on flexibility and mobility.
Anllela Sagra
This Colombian fitness model began working in fashion design and modeling. In the beginning, she preferred a skinny body image, not a muscular build. But one day, she met a personal trainer that changed her outlook on fitness and life.
Sagra showed interest in fitness and adopted new training styles. If you enjoy weight-training, she is your girl. Anllela is one of the girls that changed the perception and the world of fitness modeling.
Katya Elise Henry
Fans love her big and glorious butt. She has great genetics as a child of fitness addicts. But she also works her butt off. She started working when she was 18 years old. Katya sells bikinis and workout programs. Her signature workout program is “Workouts by Katya”.
Kayla Itsines
Kayla is the creator of fitness ebooks and a meal-planning and workout app, Sweat with Kayla. Her app generated more revenue than any other fitness application in 2016. The same year, Time called her one of the 30 most influential people on the internet.
Emily Skye
This girl developed her online presence some 8 years ago. She started posting fitness and workout tips on her BlogSpot account. Yes, she was an online influencer before Instagram took off. Nowadays, Emily is one of the most recognizable fitness models.
Khloe Kardashian signed her as a Good American Denim Model.
Tammy Hembrow
Tammy is still in her 20s and already has a massive fitness empire. She is the creator of the active-wear line Saski Collection. She also has her fitness workout application. Cosmopolitan featured her a couple of times. And her career is only going up from here.
Julia Gilas
Julia moved from Ukraine to the USA in 2009 at the age of 24. She wanted to pursue her dream of a career in modeling. She started as a traditional model. But the extensive travel was too much.
So, she made a change. Instead of living as a skinny model, she made an effort to live a healthy lifestyle as a fitness model.
Izabel Goulart
Let’s finish our list of female fitness models with Victoria’s Secret model. She walked for the lingerie company from 2005 through 2016. This Brazilian model emphasizes fitness to keep her body in shape. She appeared in the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Izabel combines boxing and Pilates for an intense workout. And of course, she shares it on her Instagram body. If you want to keep up with her fitness routine, look for the #BodybyIza hashtag.