Here’s a List
- 1. Sommer Ray – @sommerray
- 2. Michelle Lewin – @michelle_lewin
- 3. Jen Selter – @jenselter
- 4. Ana Cheri – @anacheri
- 5. Anllela Sagra – @anllela_sagra
1. Sommer Ray – @sommerray
Followers: 17.5 million
21-year-old Sommer Ray hails from Colorado in the US. She is relatively new to fitness modeling, having begun posting her pictures and videos in September 2016. She has become an Instagram superstar in a short time.
She comes from a fit family – both her parents were competitive bodybuilders. This meant that the family regularly traveled to compete in fitness shows.
Eventually, the family settled in Lone Tree, Colorado. In 2012, at age 15, Sommer decided to follow the family tradition and began lifting weights. Within a year, her body showed the benefits of her regular workouts. She started to compete in regional bikini athlete championships.
She began to enjoy success in 2015. In that year, Sommer won the Bikini Teen and Bikini Class D titles at the NPC Colorado State Championships. She also reached 16th place in the 2015 NPC USA Championships.
Sommer began documenting her fitness journey on Instagram in 2016, posting pictures and videos of her lifestyle and workouts. The bodybuilding community responded to her postings, by following her in large numbers.
She continued this into 2017, with her numbers pushing her to become the most popular fitness model on Instagram.
She also operates a YouTube channel where she shares a vlog of her fitness routines.
2. Michelle Lewin – @michelle_lewin
Followers: 12.8 million
Michelle Lewin is one of the better-known Instagram fitness models on this list. Michelle was born in 1986 in Maracay, Venezuela. She has been a Playboy cover model.
She started her modeling career on the catwalk but decided to move into bikini modeling at a friend’s suggestion.
She loved the fitness side of bikini modeling so opted to spend time working out in the gym, sculpting her body. She boosted her weight from 95 lb to 120 lb of lean muscle.
At this point, she found modeling requests started to flood in from fitness magazines and supplement companies.
She entered a variety of IFBB and NPC competitions over 2013 and 2014, winning the NPC Fort Lauderdale Cup in 2013, and coming second in the 2013 NPC Southern States competition.
Her workouts are crucial to her, as is a healthy diet. She considers the most important exercises to be sprints, lunges, and side lateral raises. She believes in high-intensity training which causes you to sweat a lot.
She shares images of her workouts on Instagram, hoping to motivate other women to lose weight and improve their fitness levels. She also shares videos of her exercises on her YouTube channel.
3. Jen Selter – @jenselter
Followers: 11.7 million
Jen Selter is a 24-year-old American, best known for her fitness modeling and overall social media presence.
She was born on Long Island, New York in 1993. She grew up believing in the importance of an active lifestyle. She began working out at age 15, and within a few years she had a well-sculpted body, with toned abs and glutes.
Jen worked at two part-time jobs while at school. She took time out one day from working in a fitness gym to post an online picture of herself wearing a bikini. The photo went viral, and Jen gained fame overnight.
Since then she has continued to work out and has built up a strong social media following, sharing images and videos of her fitness lifestyle.
She has appeared in television shows as a fitness trainer, giving lessons to the viewers.
As a result of her success, she has made numerous deals to make endorsements and perform public appearances. She has released books and fitness videos. Some of the companies she has worked with include Circus Fitness, Nike, Lululemon, and New Balance. She has signed with The Legacy Agency.
4. Ana Cheri – @anacheri
Followers: 10.9 million
31-year-old Ana Cheri is a Southern Californian. She has Native American, Latina, and Caucasian heritage.
In some ways, her career is the opposite of the majority of people on this list. While most gained fitness fame and then chose to share their journey on Instagram, Ana began as an unknown girl posting images and fitness tips.
Her posts were popular, and her support base snowballed.
As a result of her Instagram success, local California brands began to offer her modeling offers. She also gained the opportunity to endorse national brands. She appeared in posters and brochures for companies like Punch Magazine and Toyo Tires, as well as promotional ads for FOX Racing and Long Beach Grand Prix D1.
She was selected to be Playboy’s Playmate of October 2015 – one of the last fully nude Playmates.
Soon afterward, Chive named her the “New Queen of Instagram.”
However, health and fitness are just as important to Ana as modeling is. She was the Brand Ambassador and Motivational Speaker for Shredz Supplements. She featured in several fitness magazines, such as Muscle and Fitness Magazine.
More recently, Ana has started a new gym in Santa Ana, called “Be More Athletics.”
5. Anllela Sagra – @anllela_sagra
Followers: 9.6 million
Anllela Sagra is a 24-year-old Colombian fitness model and bodybuilder.
She began her working life in fashion design and modeling. She deliberately kept herself skinny at this at the time, as that was the preferred body image for models, rather than a muscular build.
One day she met a personal trainer at the gym who changed her outlook on life. She gained an interest in fitness, learned about the human body, and adopted new training styles. She particularly enjoyed weight-training.
Her change in interests (and the muscle she had built as a result) moved her away from traditional modeling. She entered a bikini competition, gaining third place.
As a result, she made a conscious career change into the world of fitness modeling.
She has built up a massive army of followers on Instagram, sharing her fitness progress with them, and giving them workouts to try themselves.
It is estimated that Anllela has earned $800,000 income in 2017 from fitness modeling, training, and her sponsored Instagram posts.
Reblogged this on Health & Wellness in 2021 and commented:
Anllela Sagra is a 24-year-old Colombian fitness model and bodybuilder.
She began her working life in fashion design and modeling. She deliberately kept herself skinny at this at the time, as that was the preferred body image for models, rather than a muscular build.