Men and women compete in feats of strength and endurance at Eastern Idaho’s Strongest competition

POCATELLO — People from five different states joined together on Saturday to put their strength and endurance to the test.

Teton Strength Club, a Pocatello weight lifting gym, held Eastern Idaho’s Strongest at the Bannock County Fairgrounds on March 9. Strong men and women competed throughout the day in lifting weights weighing hundreds of pounds.

Despite this, people of all sizes can be competitive in the different weight categories.

“You don’t have to be a seven-foot giant that we see all the time. I compete at like 165 pounds. You can be whatever size and still compete,” said Stacey Preston, co-owner of Teton Strength Club and state representative for the Strongman Corporation.

This is the fifth year the gym has held the competition. The owners held it in Idaho Falls for a while, then decided to bring it back to Pocatello.

While Preston said that the gym is basically the opposite of Planet Fitness, it’s still an accepting place where beginners can get their start and experts can work to keep improving.

“We have people that are just starting with weights and people that are putting 400 pounds over their head,” Preston said.

One of these competitors was Ryan Jack, 28, who trains at Empire Strength and Fitness in Idaho Falls. He was one of the last competitors standing in barbells.

To get to this point, Jack said that he’s kept a consistent training regimen of strength training five days a week, two to three hours per training session and cardio training three to four times a week.

Jack said that cardio training is a part of every workout, along with his cardio-only sessions.

“You’ll see guys that are big and can move a lot of weight, but you also got to be able to move a lot of weight a lot of times,” Jack said.

CJ Olson, 21, has been strength training ever since she was a freshman in high school. She readily admits that she doesn’t look like a typical Strongman competitor but has found the community to be accepting.

“Strongman is just a great community, and it’s a lot of heavy lifting, which takes a lot of support,” Olson said. “I weigh 135 pounds, and I’m in here with 400-pound dudes, and they treat me the same.”

For anyone thinking about getting into strength training or Strongman competitions, she says, “Just do it,” and seek advice from more experienced lifters.

“Watch it. Watch all of the events and just don’t take it too seriously,” Olson said.

Jared Gibson, 29, has trained at Teton Strength Club since they started. In his early 20s, Gibson said he had gotten out of shape. But then he got back into lifting. Since then, he’s competed in 17 Strongman competitions. The community is more accepting than people would expect, he told EastIdahoNews.com.

“You could be lifting half of what the other guys are lifting, and everyone’s still cheering you on,” Gibson said.

Gibson said that anyone who wants to get involved in strength training can come to Teton Strength Club on Saturdays when it’s free to the public.

“You can come meet some people, see the equipment and just ask other guys in the gym. There’s no one that will make fun of anyone for not knowing anything. Everyone’s super helpful,” Gibson said.