Who is Ashley?

I'm Ashley, a full-time gymnastics coach, single mother, fitness lover & skincare consultant.

What made you want to start your fitness journey?

I was tired of being miserable in my own skin. Being an athlete my entire life, I knew how it felt to "feel good" and wanted to feel that way constantly. I was tired all the time & with working with athletes, I needed to be present and also felt like I should look the part and set a good example of what a healthy lifestyle looked like. I wanted my daughter to see what health looked like as well and lead a good example for her.

What inspires you most?

Growth inspires me. To see where I have come from in the past 5 years is incredible and gives me motivation. Growth and Change have been something that has been uncomfortable for me in the past. I never would have thought I would have made it this far in my fitness journey and I know it has only made me a better, happier person. I'm excited to see what growth happens in...

Building muscle is a slow process, relatively speaking, and with proper nutrition and smart training a natural athlete could put on between 4-6 pounds of muscle within 1 year. That is a pretty realistic goal. Since muscle growth will rarely exceed even 1/3 of a pound in one day and there are only 800 calories in 1 pound of muscle, then why would anyone need to take in several thousand calories per day above their maintenance level on a daily basis gain muscle? The body will simply use what it needs for growth and maintenance purposes and then store the rest as fat.

The process of building muscle definitely takes patience and trusting the process. I know I’ve talked about this 100 times before but sometimes it’s a good reminder to put things into perspective of how long it actually takes to build muscle. Most people failed to realize that the female body can only put on .25 - .50 Pounds of muscle per month… So if we were to do the math if we did everything...