Couples working out together/encouraging females to hit the weights

In all the years I have been working out, I have always had many friends ask me what can they do to improve their physique. Majority of them would be my female friends and before I could say anything they would say they didn't want to lift weights because they don't want to bulky. To this day a lot of women still believe that if they pick up a dumbell they are going to get huge, muscular and end up looking like a man. This is not the case ladies, you would have to be on a shit ton of testosterone in order to get that big and still if that were true there would be a many dudes that would be that big as well. I've been lifting weights for over 4 years now and I am not anywhere near the size of those huge bodybuilders, in fact its been quite the opposite.

This same situation came up with my girlfriend when she asked me to train her. She avoided weights mainly because of intimidation but also since she also believed she was going to get bulky and look like a man. It took me a while to convince her but i managed to teach and show her the best compound exercises to help her lose/burn body fat. Those being the Barbell squat and Barbell deadlift. I trained her using the Starting Strength program which I had a lot of success using as well. She has continued to lift weights to this day and really enjoys it. The point of this post is to say that couples should workout together, encourage each other and help each other reach their goals. By doing that you can help each other stay motivated and women if you don't give weights a chance, you really don't know what you are missing. Especially if your current workout is not getting you to where you want to be. Don't be afraid to put on some muscle.

Frank Medrano and Antoniette Pacheco are prime examples of a couple that workout together and motivate each other to strive to be a better version of themselves and to reach their potential that they know is within them.Watching them workout together motivates me and i hope it does for others as well. I have attached two of their vids to this post as motivation. My point of this post is to encourage women to give weights and other things a chance rather than staying on the treadmill (or just doing cardio) and running no where. (Not to say running/treadmill doesn't help but their are other things that can get you results as well, even faster, you just have to be willing to try them)

 

Update: 4/11/13

Its been a little while since I wrote on here....ok  a looooooooooooong while but  I've been quite busy as of lately and there are lots of things to update about as well as many things i have to write yet haven't made the time to. hmm where to start..

Weeks back I joined the BSN Summer shred on Bodybuilding.com to give me more motivation for my cut. I am 7 weeks out from finishing the challenge. I weighed in at a new low this past Wed @ 170.8lbs. Currently doing a write up about each weeks successes and failures for the contest, which i will post on here when I am done with the challenge. I am striving to win the challenge but won't be disappointed if I don't win, It would be nice to at least place and the fact that I know I have further evolved and in a better place than when i started.

I am still doing a modified Paleo diet with about 1-2 cheat meals a week and cheat items on occasion. A few weeks back I added Intermittent Fasting in conjunction to Paleo. To break this down simply, it means that I fast for 16hrs and then consume all of my calories within an 8 hour period. For example my last meal will be finished by 10pm and the following day I won't consume any calories till 2pm or after. I am currently on my third week of this combination and its working well, my gut is shrinking a lot. I tend to hold a lot of fat in my abdominal region like a lot of people do and there is no way to spot treat fat so I am using Paleo and IF to lower my overall body weight so that my abs will start to show again.

I am no longer blenderless!  I bought a Ninja Blender recently because I missed making shakes and the fact that it was only$98 bucks at costco, hella good deal yo!

I feel great but I have been feeling a little impatient because I have high expectations for myself and I wanted to see much more definition that I currently see.  A good friend of mine told me that it really hasn't been that long since i started my fitness journey again and that I need to be impatient. She told me that I have made some amazing changes already and that soon more will come.

My workouts have been great, Still hitting PR's like crazy!!! currently doing a deload week then its back to the heavy weights. Yoga has been awesome, I actually feel like I am doing a lot better and my instructor told me a lot of my poses are looking better. Fact of the matter is last yoga class, I didn't completely feel like I was dying. My other main focus has been on stretching and mobility, definitely trying to stay injury free and feel better after workouts.

Supplements: I am currently on Protein powder (not every day), Creatine (5g), Xtend (intra workout supp), Fish oil (liquid), multivitamin and ZMA's.