VALENCIA— Amy Eddinger and Tammy Ambrose come from different worlds.

Eddinger, 36, of Sarver is a respiratory therapist, married, with two children and has been into weight training for a number of years.

Ambrose, 33, of Cabot, has worked in the Butler County probation officer for 13 years, is single and has been into weight training for the past year.

Their worlds have come together through Saxonburg resident Kyle Walters, a nutritionist and trainer at the Lakevue Racquet Club, and both will compete in their first bodybuilding show May 17 at the Iron City Classic in Washington, Pa.

Walters is also competing in the show, which crowns the "Natural" (drug-free)Mr. and Mrs. Pittsburgh.

Walters won the Natural Mr. Pittsburgh competition in 2002 and 2006. He has trained other individuals who have won Figure and men's championships before as well.

"Usually, a person's first show is on a smaller scale than Mr. and Mrs. Pittsburgh,"Walters said. "But with the training, discipline and time these two ladies have put in, putting them in a smaller show would be selling them out.

"This is going to challenge them. They will look like they belong there and they could win."

Eddinger will be competing in bodybuilding, which is based on muscularity and symetry. Ambrose will compete in Figure, which is based on aesthetically feminine physique. Both will compete in the novice and open divisions.

Walters estimates up to 80 competitors will be participating in the event.

"They'll all be competing for second place,"Walters said, smiling. "Confidence is the utmost in this sport. If you walk on stage thinking you're going to finish somewhere other than first, you will."

Eddinger has been in the gym for years. She met her hisband, George, there, in fact, and they became training partners.

Training to compete in a small bodybuilding show in Murrysville in 1997, Eddinger's plans were derailed when she became pregnant with the couple's first child.

"Working fulltime and being a mom, I got away from my training for a few years,"Eddinger said. "As my kids got a little older, I got back into it.

"This (bodybuilding) has become a hobby for me. It keeps me fit, it keeps me healthy. I'm nervous about doing my first show ... finally, after all these years."

Eddinger has two sons:Mason, 10, and Brady, 8.

"My youngest is really into this,"she said, laughing. "He's always saying, 'Mom, flex your muscles.' He asked if he could rub the oil on me before the show, but the rules prevent that.

"For a while, you feel like you're somebody's mom, somebody's husband and that's all great, but now I've taken my body, it's getting attention ... I'm starting to get my own identity back."

While Eddinger couldn't wait to do a show, Ambrose never really wanted to do one.

"Most people want to do the show and not all the training that goes into it,"Walters said. "Tammy's the opposite."

But after being in the gym four to six days a week, two hours a day, Ambrose was convinced to compete.

"Competing in a show was never something I had my eye on,"Ambrose said. "But Kyle's been training me and I've come this far, I might as well follow through and do it.

"Will I do another one? I'll tell you after I go through the experience of doing this one."

Ambrose enjoys the workouts and said she doesn't need the shows along with them.

"It's fun. I love the atmosphere of being in the gym," she said. "I work from 8:30 to 4:30, then come here. It's something I've dedicated myself to do."

Ambrose does equestrian horse riding in her spare time as well.

"Both of these women lead full, balanced lives,"Walters said. "Yet I've never had two competitors entering their first show look any better or train any better.

"The bodybuilding lifestyle is rigorous. It involves weighing your food, timing your meals, getting in the gym every day. These women do this while balancing family issues and a fulltime work schedule.

"They both love it and they're both super-fit. They show what true discipline can do," he added.