Here it is! The Ashley Horner Interview!

Ashley Horner is a force to be reckoned with in the fitness industry. Recently signed as a bodybuilding.com team member, Ashley is a fierce athlete, life coach, personal trainer, wife and mom.  Ashley is highly involved with military spouses whose partners have been deployed and encourages healthy lifestyles and family values.   I admire Ashley not only for obvious reasons such as physique, personality and integrity, but I highly respect the fact that she and her husband train together and set the example for couples everywhere.  I ask Ashley some questions in this interview that I hope couples everywhere can draw inspiration and motivation from to improve their relationship through fitness, diet and healthy lifestyle choices.  Ashley, thanks for taking time out of your hectic schedule to answer some questions from little ‘ol me. I could just ask you the no brainer monotonous questions like, “How did you get started”, or “what is a typical workout routine”, but im not. There are soooo many couples out there that want to get fit but maybe have some hurdles to overcome such as intimidation, lack of knowledge, insecurities or maybe even jelousy. My intention with this interview is to gain some insight from you and your experiences working out with your husband that maybe people can identify   with.                                                                  *When you and Blaine met, were you both into fitness or was it influenced by one of you?        I actually broke my number one rule with relationships and that was to never date            anyone that I would meet in the gym. When I saw Blaine I was in the middle of training a client and literally my mouth hit the floor.  My client at the time even said to me, “Ashley, you can close your mouth now.”  I would look for him to come into the gym every day and I would just stare at him working out. We spent a lot of the getting to know you stages, working out together or on long runs. Its was great, we both shared the same passion for fitness and the healthy lifestyle.                                     *How would you encourage a client of yours to help their significant other make a lifestyle change that is stubborn towards the idea of a cleaner diet or working out?            Have them get in the kitchen with you and make it fun, Start with small changes and maybe compromise by agreeing to him/her trying your healthier meals for one week and I’ll try something out that you like, whatever your significant other likes to do with his/her free time. No one ever just wakes up one day and love broccoli and chicken breast, you love it because of the way it makes you feel and the way your body runs on good clean meals.  Its more about being positive about all the changes your making.                                     *When you are training with your husband at the gym, is there ever any feelings of competitiveness or unnecessary pressure? If so, how do you diffuse it?              Only when we are Cross fitting together, he will yell at me to go harder, its always good pressure. When we are in the gym lifting together we are just workout partners, we are always focused on each other, spotting each other & making sure each of us is putting out our maximum effort.                                     *For a new couple making the commitment together to make a healthier lifestyle change, (diet, fitness) what is your best advice to helping them keep each other accountable?                        Blaine and I cook our meals together for the day/week, we know each other should be eating clean all week long and we look forward to our one cheat meal together as well.  The best advice I can give a new couple is to do things together, you have to remember that you guys are a team. Always stay positive. I know a lot of couples that are not able to workout together because they feel like the other one is too bossy or not on their ‘level’ your job as a couple is to help each other, don’t get your feelings hurt, Blaine and I will take turns leading each workout so the other knows whos leading, same thing in the kitchen and cooking meals, there are days that Blaine likes to be in control of all the meals for the day and I let him. Each individual as to feel like they are able to give to some part of the workout or diet so they stay involved.                                     *During competition mode, it’s very common to have mood swings, stress and exhaustion . How would you say you and your hubby balance this and keep the home peaceful?            Yes it can be very stressful, if im in competition mode and he is not, I make it a point to not let things stress me out, he knows that he cant eat certain things in front of me (like peanut butter) or I freak out.  You just have to know boundaries. He’s really good about calming me by ‘making fun’ or making ‘light’ of the situation when I start to freak out or get attitude.  Then it just makes me laugh when I realize how ridiculous Im acting.                                     *Do you enjoy cooking together or are you more of the food pioneer? What is your suggestion to keep food prep fun together?            We do like cooking together, however, Im usually the one that’s cooking up most of our food. Blaine is usually cleaning up after me because Im a huge mess.  He does a lot of the grilling outside, or he’ll find a recipe that he wants to make for me and he’ll cook it up in the kitchen.                                     *How do you recommend one deals with a spouse or partner having jealousy issues in the fitness industry?              This is a hard one. I think this is a big issue in the industry. Honestly for our personal relationship Blaine is amazing as far as not being jealous. Im sure with some guys he’d like to pound their face in from some of the comments he reads in the media, I make sure its known to everyone how much I love Blaine. Everyone seems to respect our relationship. I start my day with Blaine and I end my day with Blaine. That’s all that matters. He always supports me in everything I go after.                                           *I think working out together is a bonding experience. Does your heart still flutter when you see your honey in “beast mode” working out? If so, explain that feeling.             Oh does it ever, I see him in beast mode and I get so turned on, on days that we are not working out together but we are in the gym together I will just stop and stare at him and wonder how I got so lucky!                                      *I think your involvement with the partners of the deployed is so positive! Do you have a success story you can share about an inspiring client you won’t forget?           Well thank you, I can relate to them, I understand the loneliness they go through and I know emotionally how strong they must be. I will always remember one particular client when I called her for the very first time, she answered the phone in tears. I asked her is she was okay and she told me the news that her husband got extended on deployment for several more months anticipated,  I was fortunate enough to work with her and train with her about 2-3 times a week. There were times that she would get upset or disappointed, just like all of us who are left at home while our loved ones leave,  but she stayed strong and Her husband had no idea she was training.  He was so surprised and shocked the day he came home. I was so proud of her.       Thanks again Ashley. Keep on being awesome and inspiring. You ARE being the change in this world that we need. Inspiring family values, positive life choices and remaining a true ambassador to the sport! http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fitness-360-ashley-horner-fitness-forward.html https://www.facebook.com/ashleyhorneronline