{"id":193437,"date":"2015-03-09T04:00:59","date_gmt":"2015-03-08T18:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=193437"},"modified":"2015-03-09T04:00:59","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T18:00:59","slug":"newbies-stun-favorites-bodybuilding-tilt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/newbies-stun-favorites-bodybuilding-tilt\/","title":{"rendered":"Newbies stun favorites in bodybuilding tilt"},"content":{"rendered":"

First-time competitors Alvin Rebong and Augustine Diaz bested the favorites for a 1-2 finish in the inaugural Marianas Muscle Bodybuilding Competition last Saturday at the Pedro P Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.<\/p>\n

\"Alvin<\/a>
Alvin Rebong, right, and Augustine Diaz show off their winning poses in last Saturday\u2019s inaugural Marianas Muscle Bodybuilding Competition at the Pedro P Tenorio Multi-purpose Center in Susupe. (Jon Perez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rebong ruled the men\u2019s bodybuilding event while Diaz finished second. They both defeated a field that included veterans Donivan Mendiola, Jun Riodique, and crowd favorite Aaron Tomokane.<\/p>\n

Both Rebong and Diaz said they only had a few weeks to prepare for the event, and decided at the last minute to join the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m preparing for the September event but I was invited to join a few days ago. I wasn\u2019t expecting to win,\u201d said the 44-year-old Rebong, who is a gym instructor at Saipan World Resort.<\/p>\n

He added that he followed a strict diet and cardio just to trim down from 184 lbs for his competition weight of 150 lbs in one month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was after the symmetry and definition of my body. I was aiming for 3-5 percent body fat,\u201d said Rebong, who became serious in weight training way back in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

Diaz, meanwhile, had a home gym where he trains and uses calisthenics and break dancing for cross training.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first time to join. I said I just want to try competing. I\u2019m happy with the result and at the same time surprised,\u201d said the 29-year-old break dancing instructor, who teaches classes at Marianas High School and at the Minatchom Atdao pavilion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI built my own gym at home. I had some more equipment coming in and I also use my own body weight for training,\u201d added Diaz, who only had four weeks of preparation.<\/p>\n

Regino Celis topped the junior bodybuilding event, while George Pangelinan finished second. Dicky Feria was the other competitor.<\/p>\n

Celis, who won the junior physique category in last year\u2019s Dee Clayton Classic, said he trained hard and went on a strict diet for three months just to prepare for the competition.<\/p>\n

The Saipan Southern High School junior said that he would encourage other youth to try bodybuilding as a sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a good sport and not everyone can do it. You need to exert a lot of effort and hard work but the results are rewarding and you can make a difference,\u201d said Celis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First-time competitors Alvin Rebong and Augustine Diaz bested the favorites for a 1-2 finish in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":193438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2724,2725,2726,199],"class_list":["post-193437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-alvin-rebong","tag-augustine-diaz","tag-donivan-mendiola","tag-sport-2-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}