Originally Posted by Anna Bollick
Women who don't lift don't understand men who do. (Also, women who don't juice don't understand men that do, either.) As other responders have said, some accomodations will have to be made. Since your training is more important to you than to her, I am afraid that most of it will be on your shoulders. You might be able to help her see things a bit closer to your way by showing her your "before" pics, and asking her which "you" she would be most proud to be seen in public with.
Remember, if you have enough focus and the ability to reach high levels of mental intensity while training alone and with minimal equipment, you can carry a gym around in the back of your truck or car. A pair of the big olympic dumbbell handles, that take the regular olympic plates, would work well for you. The handles and maybe 300 lbs of loose plates, and a folding bench, and you are good to go. Get straps if you have a hard time with heavy dumbbell squats or deadlifts or shrugs, etc. Keep the form clean and you won't need as much weight. Make sure you have proper thumbscrew-type collars, though. The spring collars WILL dump iron on your toes sooner or later. Anyway, handles and collars together are about 15 lbs apiece, so sticking a half dozen 25 pound plates on each handle gives you a pair of 165 lb dumbbells... that's 330 pounds, which is enough, given good form, for practically anyone to at least maintain with. Tricks like not coming all the way up out of the hole when squatting, slow negatives, higher reps, stuff like that will ensure that this is enough weight for you for some time to come. Me and my ex took several road trips equipped in this manner. Sometimes we would just stop in a scenic place or at a rest stop and train. (Luckily, we thrive on attention.)
The "take no prisoners" attitude toward training and diet is admirable and will ensure you some tremendous improvement. Unfortunately, it isn't always compatible with a relationship with a non-lifting partner. I hate to say this, but your training, which now has priority in your life, might have to take a back seat to your relationship. You can't give your everything to both things. One or the other generally has to suffer.
Too bad your GF puts in such hours. If she had a bit of spare time, you could try to interest her in lifting. Once a woman gets bitten by the iron bug, they tend to get really wrapped up in it. Try leaving some BB mags laying around, with pics from women's competitions. Lead the horse to water and see if it drinks, you know?
Good luck with this. This is the quandary that all serious lifters face sooner or later... balancing out training with another equally demanding distraction. Everybody has their own way of handling it and prioritizing or optimizing things. Don't be surprised if you both decide that it just isn't working. If you part, part as friends. You never know what might re-develop a few years down the line.
Love
Anna
