MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Devil Dog Development, the Air Station's competition bodybuilding club, made a trip to Redondo Beach, Calif., Nov. 15 to take part in the Muscle Mania Natural World Championship.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy Goco, Staff Sgt. Stephan Williams and Gunnery Sgt. Philip Ricardo, the three Miramar competitors, spent roughly eight weeks of serious training for one day of glory.

To begin training for the show the trio had to undergo a strict diet and workout schedule to get in top shape for the competition. The competition was a "natural" event, which requires all participants be tested for performance enhancing drugs, such as steroids.

"We would usually start our first workout of the day around 5 a.m.," said Ricardo, who tied for 3rd place in the open category. "We would also practice posing and flexing and do (cardiovascular) work in the afternoon or evening."

Since the Marines worked out nearly every day in the two months prior to the competition, they had to create a diet that would complement their workout schedule.

"Everything was high protein, low carbs and low fat all the time," said Ricardo.

Maintaining this diet turned out to be very rewarding for the bodybuilders, according to Goco, who took 4th place in the novice category. 

"The championship was very competitive, but the biggest competition was with myself," said Goco. "It was a great victory knowing that I didn't cheat on my diet the whole time, and the rest of the team was very helpful with that."

Even though the Marines were on stage individually during the competition, bodybuilding is as much of a team effort as any sport, according to Williams.

"Bodybuilding is hard and requires a lot of discipline, and that is why you have to have your team there to push you on the days when your diet gets tough, or encourage you to do one more repetition," Williams said. "With the competition three of us went and two won trophies, so as a team we won."

Since the team was still in such great shape after training for the Muscle Mania World Championship, they entered the Natural Mr. Universe Bodybuilding Competition in Hollywood, Calif., where Ricardo took first place in the open men's overall category and the professional men's overall category, and Goco took first place in the novice category.

For more information on Devil Dog Development call Gunnery Sgt. Ricardo at (858) 577-9117 or Staff Sgt. Williams at (858) 577-8874.