LYNDORA — Lifting weights and staying in shape weren't enough for Zach Straynick and Jason Kerchersky.

They needed some competition to go with it.

Best friends since seventh grade, the two Butler residents are headed to Washington D.C. this weekend to compete in the Organization of Competitive Bodybuilders (OCB) Presidential Cup.

The national event will be Kerchersky's first competition and Straynick's second.

"I took third in the Natural Steel City in Pittsburgh last September," Straynick, 22, said. "That was before I had any idea what I was doing concerning nutrition.

"You can't just prepare for this sport. You have to live it. It's a lifestyle. We've always trained. But I never knew what bodybuilding was like.

"I saw some (bodybuilders in) magazines and liked the look. I wanted that look for myself," Straynick added.

Straynick will be competing in the middleweight division (over 180 pounds) at the Presidential Cup. Kerchersky will be in the debut class at around 170 pounds.

"I watched Zach in the Pittsburgh meet and got hooked," Kerchersky, 24, said. "Just seeing him on stage ... I wanted to achieve that, too."

The two train together five days a week for up to 90 minutes each. They follow the same diet as well.

Straynick refers to the diet as "monotony." It consists of four chicken breasts, two cans of tuna, 20 egg whites, spinach, broccoli, oatmeal and yams.

"I did a lot of rearch, talked to plenty of people and came up with a diet that works for me," Straynick said. "How a person's body responds to certain type of food is different, but Jason and I are fine with this.

"For 12 weeks, that's what we eat every day."

"The lifestyle is 24-7," Kerchersky said. "I also do an hour of cardio at 6:15 every morning."

Kerchersky expressed confidence depite this being his first competition.

"I'm very confident, actually," he said. "I've sacrificed a lot for this. I have to compete against the best to see where I stand in this sport. And Zach's been great in preparing me for what to expect as we've gone along."

For Straynick, bodybuilding is all about the three S's: Size, symmetry and shreddedness.

"The latter is how lean you look," he said. "It's a big part of the judging."

Straynick also emphasized the natural aspect of this division of bodybuilding.

"No drugs can be involved, no performance-enhancers, nothing like that," he said. "Each competitor has to take a polygraph and a urine test prior to the event.

"This is all based on natural, physical development, nothing more."

Straynick is a senior majoring in exercise science and plans to achieve a master's in physical therapy.

"It's much easier to train for bodybuilding while I'm in school," he said of taking summer classes. "I'm not aeround people who are eating a hamburger, pizza or whatever. When I'm not around it, I don't want it."