VALENCIA — Think misery loves company? So do bodybuilders.

Maybe because they usually go at their craft alone.

“It's something you live,” said Saxonburg resident Kyle Walters, a personal trainer at the Lakevue Athletic Club. “You play baseball. You play tennis.

“You don't play bodybuilding. It's in your DNA.”

Walters is currently working with five bodybuilders — Brooke Villone of Cranberry Township, Rachael Moser of Mars, Ryan Magdenic of Mars, Shawn Frankowski of Allison Park and Ryan Frankowski of Gibsonia — in prepping them for Saturday's Presidential Cup competition in Washington D.C.

The Presidential Cup is a national professional qualifying tournament. Winners of each category will receive a pro card.

“That means there will be stiff competition,” Walters said. “Having five bodybuilders training for this competition out of a gym this size is extremely rare.”

And it's something the five are taking advantage of.

They usually work out together late in the afternoon on weekdays. They are pursuing championships in different divisions.

Moser, a physical therapist, will be competing in her fifth show and is entered in the figure division. She has already qualified for nationals in the NPC Women's Figure Division.

Villone, wife of former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Ron Villone, has done modeling in different countries and now wants to be a fitness model. She is competing in the bikini division.

The Frankowski brothers, both Pine-Richland graduates, will compete in the men's physique division while Magdenic will compete in the junior and open divisions.

“We kinda push each other in the gym,” Magdenic said. “Because we're all in different divisions, there's no personal competitions between us.

“We're supporting each other and want each other to do well.”

Magdenic, 20, was a defenseman on Mars hockey's Penguins Cup championship team in 2011. He is now a junior at Grove City College.

“I've always lifted (weights) for sports and I met Kyle my senior year,” Magdenic said. “I went to one of his shows and it looked interesting.

“I just want to do the best I can with this and have fun with it.”

Moser said having others to train with helps pass the time.

“A lot of time is dedicated to this,” she said. “It's nice having people there with you, who understand how you feel and what you're going through because they're doing the same thing.

“From the social and training aspect ... You feel you're not alone.”

Moser began lifting in 2010 after losing 35 pounds.

“I didn't lose it the right way,” she admitted. “I was overworking and under-eating. I felt lethargic. Once I learned fitness management, I really got into it.”

When a previous coach suggested she take steroids to increase her muscle tone, Moser got out of it.

“I wanted no part of it after that,” she said. “That's not my lifestyle. That's not what I believe in. I got out of it for a year and a half.

“Then I went to a gym, saw somebody working out on the floor, doing some lifting — I missed it. I got back in it and I'm doing it the right way.”

Villone is an Ellwood City High graduate who reached the PIAA meet in the high jump as a freshman and set the school's girls basketball record with five 3-pointers in a game.

“I did track, basketball, softball, cheerleader, all of that,” Villone said. “I was a basketball player when a modeling scout saw me and suggested I give it a try.”

Villone wound up fulfilling modeling contracts in different countries. She's been on billboards and magazines — her husband had a magazine photo of her posted in his locker at PNC Park.

“I've always been athletic and I've been into this fitness training for 11 weeks now,” Villone said. “My body is toned up, there's muscles in my arms, I'm into this now.”

Her husband is now a pitching coach for a Class A team in the Chicago Cubs organization. While he's in Illinois and she's in Cranberry, he is doing the same diet and training regimen as his wife.

“He's been my biggest support,” Villone said.

Though Villone has only been in bodybuilding for weeks, Walters said “she has a very real shot at winning this.”

Shawn Frankowski, 19, played defensive tackle for Pine-Richland football and weighed 298 pounds when he began fitness training over a year ago.

He now weighs 210.

“Just a few more to get to 100 pounds lost,” he said. “I want to keep going with this. I saw my brother get into it and it looked pretty cool.”

Ryan Frankowski, 22, ran track and cross country at Pine-Richland. His goal is to win the open class at the Presidential Cup.

“There's no room for error here,” he said. “I don't know how it is to train alone because I haven't had to do it here.

“With this group, everything is so much more fun and manageable. We keep each other entertained and occupied.”