Strength and beauty can go hand in hand when it comes to Craig’s Dana Armstrong.

Armstrong recently competed in the MaxMuscle Mile High Showdown June 3 in Denver as overseen by amateur bodybuilding organization National Physique Committee.

After serious preparation starting at the beginning of the year, Armstrong won a trio of second-place honors in the event, including the Masters, Novice and Open divisions, the rankings for which could send her to a national event in Florida in November 2018.

The Craig Daily Press spoke with her about the experience and preparation involved.

How did you first get involved in the sport of bodybuilding?

“I didn’t think I’d ever want to do something like that or be onstage. I just wanted to transform my body, be more fit, go to the gym more, and someone had suggested to me, ‘you should do a competition, it’ll keep you accountable if you have a bigger goal.’ I decided to go forward with it and met with a coach in Grand Junction, and I’m part of a team of about 45 other athletes. I would go down about once a month and practice the posing, do the workouts, follow a meal plan. It involved eating six times a day, a lot of protein. I wasn’t thinking about competing, but when it to be time, I thought I might as well go start to finish with the whole deal.”

What was different from what you first expected with the work involved?

“I had to be so dedicated, so disciplined. If I’d just said, ‘I want to get in shape,” I would have still had a little bit of ice cream or skipped the gym, but I never skipped. I was at the gym two hours a day, five to six days a week for six months. I’ve never seen workouts like what my coach put me through. I truly felt like an elite athlete. Any weightlifting classes I’ve done or sports I’ve done, it’s always been three sets of 12 reps. My coach did quadruple sets, we’d lift heavy, lift light, a lot of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) cardio workouts, just a lot more intense.”

How has this new pursuit changed your life?

“It’s a lot more mental than it is physical — I had to exercise my willpower, and that’s a muscle, too. It was a big mental accolade for me because I accomplished something that took a lot of hard work. It’s true that anything worth having doesn’t come easy. I’ve always said to people, ‘you’re capable of more than you give yourself credit for,’ so I’m really practicing what I preach.”

Do you feel more confident physically and otherwise?

“I feel like the same me inside, and I’m not a big flaunty person, so I never thought I’d be onstage wearing a bikini-style suit, but that’s all part of it. Watching the other divisions in the show, I realized it is an art. The whole process to get there is a science, but it’s an art with these bodies knowing they’ve put in this incredible amount of effort and time and hard work, and it is nice to admire what someone’s physique can look like. Ashleigh Seely with Trapper Fitness was there supporting me the whole way, and my husband and my kids were there for me.”

Is it difficult balancing family life with the gym?

“My husband does shift work, and my kids are in every sport offered, dance, soccer, basketball, everything. I didn’t have a routine, I would just go when I could go, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes evening, but the key is just showing up. No matter what time it was, I made it work. I’d encourage anyone, whether it’s bodybuilding or whatever, what they want for themselves they can, you just have to put your mind to it.”