The Future of Fitness is Female – and Ainsley Rodriguez is Leading the Way

For as long as I can remember, the fitness industry has been predominantly geared toward men. Magazine covers featured greased-up guys with bulging biceps; supplements and protein powders were formulated to help boost testosterone and get jacked; and a woman in the weight room at your local gym was a rare sight. 

But today, things are looking a little different.

The weight room is filled with just as many women as men; supplement aisles feature far more options than just one sad tub of pink whey; and there’s no shortage of positive female role models teaching, sharing, and coaching other women on how to get into fitness – one of those positive forces being Ainsley Rodriguez. 

With over 2.2 million followers, Ainsley has amassed quite a following by sharing her nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle advice on social media. She’s also used her platform to help launch 321Glo, a line of collagen-infused protein snacks designed specifically for women. But her journey to becoming a business owner and trusted trainer didn’t always come easily. 

We caught up with the social media personality to talk about fitness, mental health, and her growing business. Keep reading to hear what she had to say.

The Pressure to Be Thin 

Though the fitness industry is rapidly changing, there’s still a dark side that pressures women to be thin, and not even Ainsley was immune to this. 

“I was a girl who, like many, was so focused on just being the thinnest version of myself,” Ainsley said when we spoke in March. “I created really unhealthy eating habits from bulimia to anorexia, and I got down to 99 pounds. It wasn’t until that point where I was like ‘Okay, something’s wrong here,’” she said, recalling how her fitness journey began. 

“I would say that my fitness journey has definitely been a lot of ups and downs, and it wasn’t until I started focusing on being healthy – over the scale and the numbers and the measurements – that I truly started to see a change. That was one of the reasons I created 321Glo, as well. I have a huge sweet tooth, and I remember being on my fitness journey when I was sick and restricting foods. I would end up binging on like, anything sweet. I couldn’t have just one slice of cake. I had to go overboard to the point where sometimes I would go through whole cakes, which is crazy. So my goal was to create helpful snacks that obviously have great ingredients and great macros, but that also taste great – like a little slice of having something that people can enjoy and still reach their goals. I wanted to give them the taste and obviously the quality of ingredients, as well,” said the snack bar founder on where her brand got its start. 

Look around and it’s easy to see there’s been an uptick in products formulated for women over the past few years. However, many of these bars, powders, and mixes still focus on “burning fat” and “slimming down,” which means they’re filled with less-than-great ingredients – some of which are even potentially dangerous. 

That’s where women like Ainsley – who have experienced real fitness challenges – are coming in to turn the industry on its head. “One of the biggest things that I personally look at when I go grocery shopping isn’t even the macro count or the calories, but the ingredients,” Ainsley said. 

“It was very important for me and something I preach, so that was very intentional,” she said, stressing the importance of formulating 321Glo’s products with clean, body-supporting ingredients over those that supposedly promote weight loss. 

Energy is Everything 

While there’s no denying that what we put into our bodies makes a big difference, Ainsley also believes that our body’s energy plays a big role in how it feels and performs.

“I’m really big on energy, and some people might call it hocus pocus, but I do believe that if you’re stressed out about what you’re eating, whether it’s a piece of broccoli or chocolate cake, I think that resonates with what you’re putting into your body. I would say that if you’re in that fearful mindset of calorie restriction, and ‘can’t eat this, can’t eat that,’ it’s never going to work – and obviously, that’s not sustainable. You’ll go through your binging episodes, and I was there so I know firsthand,” she said. 

“But this doesn’t happen overnight. As I said, my journey was up and down. It’s not like from one day to the next, I was like, ‘great, I’m back into it and I’m healthy now,’ but I will say that if you’re able to shift that mindset, you will see those outside results, but you’ll also just start feeling better. And when you do, give yourself permission to eat and to get food in a different way, rather than just a calorie count,” said Ainsley, highlighting how important it is to use fitness to work on fostering a positive mind-body connection, not just to lose weight. 

“Just take it one day at a time, but do your best to just focus on wholesome ingredients and the things that are good for you versus calorie counting,” the 321Glo founder said, tying her positive mindset back to her belief that wholesome ingredients are where a healthy lifestyle begins. 

Ainsley again emphasized the importance of health starting from the inside, saying “the calorie count doesn’t always tell the whole story. You know, as I said, it all starts from the inside and that was also part of the reason for the company name – you want to glow from the inside out and the relationship with food actually starts with the relationship with yourself.” 

Juggling It All 

We’ve already established that Ainsley likes to practice what she preaches, but how does she possibly manage to stay physically fit while running a growing business, creating content, taking care of her mental health – and planning a wedding on top of it all? 

“I’ve definitely shortened my workouts,” she said, describing how her fitness routine has evolved as she’s grown her business and following. “I feel like before I started working for myself, I would have the luxury of going to the gym for an hour. Now I’ve gone from someone who used to work out probably five to seven times a week to someone who probably works out more like four.” 

When asked how she makes the most of her shortened time in the gym, Ainsley said, “I’ve just made them more efficient. I’ll usually have a lot more full-body days, and then I’ll do days where I focus on one single body part just for time’s sake. I will say that shortening and intensifying my workouts has helped me maintain, and I’m lucky because that’s such a big piece of my business - they kind of go hand in hand.” 

While it’s easy to assume you need to spend hours in the gym, Ainsley said cutting down on her time spent in the gym has actually improved both her body and other areas of her life for the better. 

“It’s definitely shifted and changed, but I feel like in a better way,” she said of her new routine. “As I’ve grown my business, my personal life has also shifted. I’m getting married, so carving out time for personal time as well as my relationships and family have been really big. I think it’s really helped to not necessarily need to feel forced to work out – it’s a mindset shift.” 

She also explained that her workouts have become more enjoyable without the pressure of always needing to be in the gym, and have also helped her build her physique. “The results honestly are probably even better because I’m taking more rest time, and your body needs to recover. It does give you that ‘looking forward to it’ type of feeling versus feeling like you need to do it 100%.” 

Being a woman in fitness can be daunting. We're constantly bombarded with perfect bodies, the pressure to look a certain way, and products filled with toxic ingredients designed to get us those "desirable" physiques – but a new wave is coming, and women like Ainsley Rodriquez are leading the way. 

The future of fitness is filled with women who believe in health over a number on the scale. It's filled with women who have experienced real struggles with body image and mental health, and come out on the other side stronger and ready to share their knowledge. It’s filled with women like Ainsley who are here to shake things up and pave the way for future generations of women and girls to get in the gym, have the proper resources, support each other, and of course, crush it. 

For more from Ainsley, make sure to follow her @ainsley, and shop 321Glo here.