In the world of bodybuilding and physique sports, winning one Olympia championship puts you in rarified air. Winning multiple titles makes you a legend. You may need a different adjective to describe athletes who have won seven world titles, but whatever that word is, it must be associated with Ms. Figure Olympia Cydney Gillon.
Gillon is the gold standard of the Figure Division, and she’s one of the most successful athletes in women’s bodybuilding and physique sports today. She hasn’t just won her Olympia titles, either. She has dominated the competition, developing a loyal fanbase along the way. Even beyond her onstage success, she’s trying to embody the best in bodybuilding and fitness.
[Read More: 10 Best Bodybuilding Supplements of 2024 for Muscle Growth]
If you’ve been previously unaware of this seven-time world champion, get to know her now and pay attention to the moves she makes going forward — because she doesn’t intend to go anywhere anytime soon.
Early Life
Gillon was born on Sept. 14, 1992, in Douglasville, GA. She grew up in Georgia and was active in sports as a kid. She went to college at the University of Pennsylvania, where she got her degree in psychology and competed in track and field.
Even though she was already a pro in the Figure division by 2013, her first brush with fame was actually not on a bodybuilding stage at all — instead, it came from the hit TV series Survivor. Gillon competed in the 32nd season, Survivor: Kaôh Rōng — Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, which aired in 2016.
Gillon made it to the 12th vote before being eliminated, resulting in a fourth-place overall finish. Michele Fitzgerald was the winner that season.
[Read More: Cydney Gillon’s 10 Tips for Competing In Your First Bodybuilding Show]
Cydney Gillon Contest History
While Gillon was in college, she started focusing on competing in bodybuilding shows. She turned professional at the 2012 NPC National Championships, where she won her category in the Figure division.
Less than one year later, she made her IFBB Pro League debut at the 2013 Toronto Pro. According to NPC News Online, she has competed in 28 pro shows, and she has 15 wins to her credit, including those seven Figure Olympia titles.
As of January 2024, she’s expected to make her next onstage appearance at the 2024 Olympia Weekend in Las Vegas, NV, from Oct. 10-14. The following list includes the major contests in her decade-plus career.
2013
- Toronto Pro — 6th
- Tampa Pro — 10th
2014
- Toronto Pro — 4th
- Figure Olympia — 9th
2015
- Figure International — 9th
- Chicago Pro — 1st
- Atlantic City Pro — 6th
- Figure Olympia — 8th
2016
- Figure International — 5th
- Arnold Classic Australia — 3rd
- Pittsburgh Pro — 1st
- New York Pro — 3rd
- Figure Olympia — 3rd
2017
- Figure International — 2nd
- Arizona Pro — 1st
- Figure Olympia — 1st
2018
- Figure International —2nd
- Arnold Classic Australia — 2nd
- Arizona Pro — 1st
- Figure Olympia — 1st
2019
- Fitness International — 1st
- Arizona Pro — 1st
- Figure Olympia — 1st
2020
- Figure Olympia — 1st
2021
- Figure Olympia — 1st
2022
- Figure International — 1st
- Figure Olympia — 1st
2023
- Figure Olympia — 1st
Cydney Gillon’s Leg Workout
Gillon has garnered such immense success because of the work she puts in at the gym, even as the competition is looming. She was spotted doing cardio on the day of the 2023 Olympia in Orlando, FL because she wanted to leave no stone unturned in her title defense.
She attacks her workouts in the offseason with just as much intensity, using a variety of different movements and exercises so she can train her muscles with as much variety as possible. She’s also open about sharing her workouts with her followers, as she did with one leg session that she posted on her Instagram page in early January 2024.
[Read More: The 20 Best Leg Exercises for Muscle and Strength]
In this workout, she performed all of her reps slowly to extend the time under tension, and none of the videos show her performing less than 12 reps. She went as high as 25 on the final exercise.
If you want to try a sample leg workout for yourself, you can follow the guide below.
- Cable Stiff-Leg Deadlift: 3 x 12-15
- Leg Press: 3 x 12-15
- Single Lying Leg Curl: 3 x 15
- Single Seated Leg Curl: 3 x 15
- Machine Squat: 3 x 12-15
- Leg Extension: 3 x 25
Business Ventures
Gillon is active in the business of bodybuilding and is an entrepreneur away from the competition stage as well. Her supplement sponsor is Evogen, but she has other business ventures outside of that.
According to her bio on Instagram, she’s the CEO of Official Cake Factory Fitness and Cyclone Clothing. She also was a co-creator of the Cydney Gillon Flawless Retreat.
Gillon also works as a coach for lifestyle clients as well as a posing coach for other champions in her sport, including four-time Ms. Olympia Andrea Shaw.
Social Media
Throughout her rise to prominence, Gillon has been growing her social media following at a steady rate. As of January 2024, she has over 154,000 followers on Instagram and over 9,000 on TikTok.
She also has 3,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, where she posts training videos, Q&A’s, and “Day in the Life” videos.
Future
Gillon has expressed that she doesn’t plan on hanging up her heels and trunks anytime soon. She already has the most Olympia wins in the Figure category, and she’s aiming to win her eighth consecutive title in 2024.
With seven wins as of 2023, only Iris Kyle (10) and Lenda Murray (eight) have more Olympia titles than her on the women’s side of the stage, and they are both Women’s Bodybuilding champions. Gillon is still in her early 30s and has plenty of time not only to break their record but also possibly make her own unreachable.
Time will only tell how much longer she will compete and win. For now, she should be considered the favorite to win any contest she enters.
Featured Image Courtesy of @vytamin_c / Instagram
The post Cydney Gillon — Early Life, Career, Training, and More appeared first on BarBend.