‘This is what I was made for’. Hillcrest grad Brooke Yorgesen is the strongest woman in Idaho and pursuing a national title

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IDAHO FALLS – As a third grader at career day, Brooke Yorgesen already had it figured out.

“My plan was to be a first responder super hero during the day and then do some kind of performance at night, either singing or dancing. That was my plan,” she said.

How’s that working out?

Yorgesen, now 28, is a patrol officer with the Idaho Falls Police Department, joining in 2023.

She said she loves her job.

That second part?

That turned out to be a little more physical than singing or dancing.

We’ll just call her the strongest woman in Idaho because the numbers don’t lie.

– 446.8 pounds in squat

– 226 pounds in bench

– 440.9 pounds in deadlift

Those are the state-record powerlifter numbers that Yorgesen has compiled so far.

The top woman powerlifter in the state, who also has national title ambitions, is a Hillcrest High grad, a local cop, and apparently nailed it at her career day.

“There’s just something I loved about it,” she said of her pursuit of powerlifing. “It’s just raw strength.”

Yorgesen began lifting weights as an athlete at Hillcrest and continued in college as part of her training regimen at Southern Virginia University, where she played basketball and was a weight thrower on the track team.

Eventually her workouts turned into a passion that triggered her competitive nature.

“We always had a really athletic family,” she said, noting her older brothers all played football at Hillcrest and her father Bret was instrumental in getting the children to compete.

“Me, being the first girl, my dad encouraged me to play basketball and that’s where my love for athletics started,” she said.

Did we mention 446.8/226/440.9?

Yorgesen started to get serious about powerlifting and began working out on her own in 2020.

She had studied constitutional law in college, but after returning to Idaho Falls, she heard about an opportunity to join the IFPD and she passed the training to join the force.

Meanwhile, powerlifting was still a priority.

She would fit in workouts when she could and found a coach.

Fast forward to 2025 and not only is Yorgesen the strongest woman in Idaho based on her competition and those 46.8/226/440.9 numbers, she’s also eyeing the national spotlight.

Yorgesen qualified for the national championships in Las Vegas earlier this year and had the numbers to be competitive.

Powerlifting competitions consist of each woman attempting squat, bench and deadlift disciplines, with the total weight of the three successful lifts combined for the final score.

She was going for a PR in the squat when a spotter apparently touched the bar too early and judges ruled a no lift, ending her chance at a title.

“That was a hard pill to swallow,” Yorgesen said. “There was nothing I could have done.”

But that hasn’t dissuaded her from her powerlifting goals. It may have even pumped up the motivation to get better.

The next national championship competition is in July.

Yorgesen has been training virtually under the tutelage of Tamara Walcott, long considered one of the strongest and most dynamic powerlifters in the country.

She works out at Empire Strength and Fitness, which has the proper equipment required to get her to the level she needs, Yorgesen said.

July can’t come soon enough.

In the meantime, when she’s not patrolling the streets in her IFPD unit, Yorgesen thinks about the influence she may have in a sport that might still have a stigma attached among girls and women.

“I’ve always been the tallest girl in the class, the widest-set shoulders in the class, including the linebackers on the football team,” she said.

“I’ve always been a wider-set person, and for me, it’s a reminder that bodies are built different and this is something my body was built for. I’m never going to be a super model size 0, I’m always going be size 11,” she said. “But finding things that fit my body really helped me with self confidence, self love, and a lot of growing into some femininity.”

She said most of her fellow competitors likely feel the same way about the sport they’ve chosen.

“I feel there are a lot of women that shy away from strength sports because it’s not feminine,” Yorgesen added. “I’ve been fighting that battle my entire life, so to find a sport I can compete in for a lifetime, that actually works with my body and makes me feel like this, is what I was made for. It means the world to me.”