Chad and Lana Armstrong

They may be opposites in some ways, but they agree on living a healthful lifestyle, as I found out when I spent time with Chad and Lana Armstrong. Lana is often in the top profiles on the immensely popular BodySpace at Bodybuidling.com. (BodySpace is a vast community of like-minded people learning and sharing their health and fitness goals, workout plans, nutrition tips, photos and more by creating their own BodySpace profiles and visiting with each other online. A lot of people check in to see what their friends are doing, get advice from gym-goers like themselves and blog their adventures and results. Lana was very popular and seemed to be having fun. And then I saw that she was only half the story; her husband Chad also had a BodySpace profile.

Married for two years, Chad and Lana seem the ideal couple. He’s 33 and a regional director for a software company; she’s 26 and a fun-loving hair stylist with a big smile. They met seven years ago; five years ago they started dating and working out together, but each had a different reason for working out. Lana had danced when she was younger. When she stopped, she needed something to burn extra calories, as she has a thyroid problem. Chad, on the other hand, wasn’t able to keep his weight up, no matter how much he ate.

As they progressed in the gym, they spent time learning. Lana read everything she could find about diet, nutrition and exercise. And they put what they learned to work. Chad discovered that although he was eating a lot of food, it was the wrong food. He needed to supplement with protein powder, an additional 100 to 150 grams of protein a day, which has enabled him finally to put on some muscle and bring his weight up to 175 pounds on his 5’10” frame.

Chad and Lana work out together as much as possible, but their schedules don’t always allow that. For Lana the gym is a daily thing, and even if she could cut back a day or two, she enjoys it too much. Cardio is a big part of her workout. Changing up what she does keeps it interesting for her. She uses supplements designed to give her an extra boost and improve her endurance, so the cardio will really count for weight control.

Chad stays away from cardio to keep his weight up; he’s found that four workouts a week or even three are just fine for him for weight training. He’s learned that using heavier weights and working in the eight-to-10-rep range is what puts muscle on him. He spends about 75 minutes per workout in the gym.

—Ian L. Sitren

SecondFocus

Editor’s note: For more on BodySpace, you can visit www.Bodybuilding.com. Build your own BodySpace page.