Built with intention: Monique Janse van Vuuren’s pursuit of the Olympia stage

Monique Janse van Vuuren, a personal trainer at Body Action Gym and IFBB Pro Bikini athlete, is preparing to compete in America. Behind her pursuit of the Olympia stage is a story of discipline, doubt and the people who keep her moving forward.

Monique has not eaten pizza or burger in 12 years. Her days at Body Action Gym can stretch up to 15 hours as she coaches clients and fits in her own training.

It is this discipline that helped her place third at the 2025 Portugal Pro, becoming the highest-placing South African professional bikini athlete.

This November, the Body Action Gym personal trainer and IFBB Pro Bikini athlete will compete in America for the first time, entering three professional competitions in three weeks as she pursues her ambition of becoming the first South African IFBB Pro Bikini athlete to qualify for the Olympia.

READ MORE | Top bikini and figure athletes reveal the truth about competing

Doubt, Discipline And The Olympia Dream

Her story goes beyond bodybuilding. It is about sacrifice, self-doubt and the people who keep an elite athlete moving when nobody is watching.

Monique questions herself most days. “Am I doing enough as a professional? Am I going to get where I want to be?”

It is an unexpectedly vulnerable admission from an athlete known for extraordinary discipline. Monique’s strength does not come from never doubting herself. It comes from continuing even when she does.

“I don’t plan to win Olympia,” she says. “I want to be able to say that I was the first South African professional bikini athlete to make it there.”

READ MORE | Carry confidence from the stage into everyday life

A Life In Motion

Movement was part of Monique’s life long before bodybuilding. Her parents took their children horse riding and running. She remembers chopping wood with her father and rarely sitting still.

After completing an honours degree in industrial psychology, she entered the corporate world. But something was missing.

“I felt stuck and motionless,” she says. “Moving into the fitness industry finally made me feel free. I was moving my body the way I did when I was small.”

Competitive bodybuilding was not part of the plan. When a South African coach offered to sponsor her entry into a competition, Monique told him: “I am not a pony on a stage. I will not be judged for what my body looks like.”

He persuaded her to try. She won her first competition and the overall title. She earned her Pro Card in 2021 after only five shows, making her rise to professional status unusually swift.

In 2025, Monique placed third at the Portugal Pro, becoming the highest-placing South African professional bikini athlete.

Of everything she recalls, Portugal is the moment that makes her light up. She smiles, gets goosebumps and almost apologises for allowing herself to sound proud.

“I was putting South Africa on the map,” she says. “These were athletes I admired before I became a professional. I couldn’t believe I was meeting them, never mind standing there with them.”

That placing gave Monique something more than a medal. It gave her the confidence to believe that she belongs among the athletes she once watched from a distance on the international stage, and that the Olympia dream may be within reach.

READ MORE | Are you really ready to hit the stage?

When No One Is Clapping

The polished few minutes on stage reveal little about the life behind them. She spends between 12 and 15 hours at Body Action Gym, fitting her own training between clients and completing a second cardio session at home.

“It is a sacrifice,” she says. “But it would be more of a sacrifice to let it go.” The hardest part is working when the next competition is months away and nobody is there to applaud.

Monique is quick to recognise those who make that work possible. Her husband, Shane de Beer, believes in her when her confidence falters.

“I don’t think you get men like my husband in this world anymore,” she says. “He believes I am going to make it. You have gold when you have that kind of support.”

Her coach, Stephan du Toit, travels with her, prepares her food and has slept on couches and chairs so he can ensure that she peaks at the perfect moment.

As competitions approach, Shane and Stephan become what Monique affectionately calls her management team. They know when she needs encouragement, what she needs to hear and, sometimes, what not to say.

Coaching With Intention

Professional bodybuilding has shaped Monique’s coaching, but she has no interest in turning every client into a bodybuilder.

“I have to see the person in front of me for who they are, where they are starting and what they are working towards,” she explains. “Personal training is not just physical. It is mostly psychological.”

Her role is to listen, create something sustainable and help clients return after setbacks. Several clients who started with her at Body Action Gym five years ago still train with her. They have become family.

Intentionality sits at the centre of her approach. Every movement should have a purpose. Every client should feel understood. Even rest must be chosen deliberately.

“If I gave my clients a bodybuilding meal plan and lifestyle, they would not last a week,” she says. “I chose this for me. You have to give people something they enjoy enough to change their lives for.”

That thinking extends to how she trains them. Monique prioritises strong glutes and hamstrings, not only for appearance but because a strong posterior chain supports posture, movement and longevity.

At Body Action Gym, she can move clients from simple activation and band work to specialised glute equipment, BioStrength machines and free weights as they become stronger.

She pays close attention to range of motion, pace and the mind–muscle connection. Rather than racing through repetitions or chasing soreness, she teaches clients to slow down, control the movement and concentrate on the muscle doing the work.

“It is about being intentional with every movement,” she says. “Usually, it is the basics done properly that work.”

Monique speaks openly about recently reaching emotional exhaustion. Her faith, quiet time and occasionally allowing herself a day without appointments help her recover. “If I am not in a strong place, how can I be there for my clients intentionally?” she asks.

The Woman Behind The Athlete

At home, Monique’s world softens around Shane and their French bulldogs, Harvey and Lily. Lily was born deaf, so Harvey has become her ears.

She watches him, follows his movements and barks a moment after he does. Because of their allergies, they even share something of Monique’s bodybuilding lifestyle, eating steak and butternut.

Quick facts:

• Favourite meal: Eggs and potatoes
• Favourite exercise: A challenging hip thrust
• Least favourite exercise: Bulgarian split squat.

Behind the athlete is someone who becomes tired, has a cry, laughs at herself, loves her dogs and keeps moving towards something that matters deeply to her.

She wants those watching her journey to pursue their own purpose – not to become her, but to become the strongest version of themselves.

When someone refers to her reaching Olympia “one day”, Monique gently corrects them. “Not one day,” she says. “Next year.”

Author: Pedro van Gaalen

When he’s not writing about sport or health and fitness, Pedro is probably out training for his next marathon or ultra-marathon. He’s worked as a fitness professional and as a marketing and comms expert. He now combines his passions in his role as managing editor at Fitness magazine.