There’s a side of competitive bodybuilding that rarely ever makes it to Instagram. The stage photos, the flawless posing, the hard-earned physiques don’t reveal what happens after the lights go down and the body stops cooperating.
Naturopathic Doctor Sabrina Solt competed in four NPC bikini competitions while in medical school. Like many athletes, she followed the classic prep formula of strict meal plans, hardcore calorie deficits, strength and cardio on repeat.
It all worked—until it didn’t. “It kept me very dialed in while studying,” she remembers. But after her last competition, she says almost immediately, she gained about 40 pounds and her cycles became abnormal. “I was tired all the time,” she recalls her frustration. “I could nap at the drop of a dime. [At that time] I was just in a really rough state and nothing that I was doing was working.”
She got caught in a rebound spiral that might be familiar to industry veterans. She doubled down, cut more calories, pushed harder in the gym, and upped her cardio. But none of it helped.
“It actually made things worse,” she says. “It wasn’t until I started eating more that I started healing. I had to actually ‘undiet’ myself. I was able to re-regulate my cycle, and went on to have three children.”
Yasmine Carmen Photography
How to Avoid The Mistakes Sabrina Solt Made
Her advice to today’s competitors, especially for women, is to stop prepping like it’s still 1990.
“If I was going to do it again, I would focus more on red meat over chicken and fish,” she says. “Four ounces of steak gives you more nutrients than four ounces of tilapia. I was severely undernourished for a significant amount of time. That’s what wrecked me.”
She’s unapologetic about what works for her now, which is a mainly carnivore approach that healed two decades of irritable bowel syndrome, cleared her skin, and balanced her hormones.
“A lot of the plants we eat are loaded with anti-nutrients, like oxalates, lectins, phytic acid, that were destroying me,” she explains. “Once I eliminated them, within six months, all those issues went away.”
Still, she’s not dogmatic. She’ll have fruit. She’ll enjoy a bite of dessert. But everything she eats now is aligned with one question: Will this set me up for a successful day?
Today, Dr. Solt trains three to five days a week, on and off with a trainer, mostly strength training with cardio in the form of interval training. “I work out because it makes me a better mom, a better doctor, a better person,” she says.
She’s also raising three children, while at the same time running a regenerative medicine clinic. Successfully juggling a full schedule requires Solt to actively protect her energy with tools like red light therapy, peptides, and what she calls her ultimate secret weapon: saying no.
“I’m a recovering people pleaser,” she admits. “But I had to get clear on my values and priorities. Otherwise, I’d spread myself too thin.”
Sleep is her non-negotiable. “I make sure I can get at least seven hours a night, no matter what.”
When she needs extra recovery, she reaches for BPC-157, an orally available peptide known for speeding up healing. “A few weeks ago, I tweaked my rotator cuff lifting. I took BPC-157 and it was gone in a couple days,” she says.
That personal transformation is part of why she was featured in the soon-streaming Amazon documentary sHEALed, the follow-up to the five-part Biohack Yourself documentary series.
The film puts women at the center of the biohacking movement and explores the evolving tools in longevity, hormone health, regenerative medicine, and strength-building beyond aesthetics. “I was honored to contribute,” she says. She shared her work on stem cells, hormone therapy, and peptides, but also the bigger picture of helping women understand how to take ownership of their health.
Using Stem Cells for Recovery and Longevity
Dr. Solt now helps athletes and everyday people heal faster and smarter through regenerative medicine at her clinic in Scottsdale, AZ.
She specializes in stem cell treatments, and she’s quick to bust the myth that you need to leave the country to access legitimate therapies.
“You can get stem cells in the United States,” she says, noting that true stem cell treatments use your own cells. She most frequently uses adipose-derived stem cells, where they take the patient’s fat through a minor liposuction.
“The amount of fat that we take is usually equivalent to one or two sticks of butter,” she explains.
She underscores that post-treatment recovery is critical. “The first week after a stem cell procedure, you’re in a purposeful inflammation phase,” she says. “You want to rest and let the body focus on healing.”
Why is that so? She explains that the body always wants to go after the most acute thing because it sees that as a threat. For example, she notes, “if we treated your knees but then you go out and do a really intense back workout, now you’ve caused purposeful trauma in that area and your body’s going to reshuttle resources over there, redirecting those freshly injected stem cells to recover the acute stressor.”
Prep is just as important too. She often stacks protocols with peptides, hormone optimization, and lifestyle recommendations to effectively prepare patients for stem cells and help that maximize recovery.
Dr. Solt also uses stem cells preventatively on herself. She’ll inject them a couple of times a year to stay ahead of old injuries and maintain longevity.
Yasmine Carmen Photography
Redefining Strength: From Stage to Self
For Dr. Solt, strength has meant different things in her life throughout the years.
“I felt strong when I passed my medical boards. I felt strong giving birth to my kids.I felt strong opening my clinic during the start of COVID, and it was successful. And I’ve felt strong navigating my divorce after nine years of marriage,” she shares. “It’s been a complete rebirth.”
When asked what her definition of strength is now, her answer packed a punch. “Strong is showing up as your highest self in whatever the moment calls for.”
Photos: Yasmine Carmen Photography
Shot Location: Bio-Elite Personal Training
