Force Barbell is set back in a small plaza in Fishers, IN. When you walk in, you notice its simplicity. Aside from a reverse hyper and a chest supported rower, there are no fancy machines. Rather, the floor is engulfed in turf, rubber mats, and weightlifting platforms. Racks and squat stands are set to the side and, along the wall, strongman implements and stone loading platforms. This is an athlete’s gym, focused on the big three strength sports: strongman, powerlifting, and weightlifting.
Owner Tyler Miller, a former Purdue thrower turned strength coach, trains everyone from MLB draftees and full-time NFL athletes to middle school and high school aged athletes, adults, and strongmen. With an array of coaches under his tutelage, Tyler has really created an amazing training facility.
Professional heavyweight strongman Chad Robison also gets in the mix, training athletes while putting in hard work himself. You can see the diversity among everyone training, but you can also feel the camaraderie as they cheer each other on, despite the differences in respective sports.
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The weekend I went out there, there was also something else great going on. United States Strongman President Willie Wessels and Vice President John Albrecht were on hand to help run the annual Hoosier Strength Challenge, where dozens of competitors, from light to heavy, men and women, beginners to masters, came out to compete. Willie, a 31-year veteran to strength sports also competed himself, showing new and old athletes alike his love for the sport.
Also on hand was a man that is well known in the strongman community for how much time and effort he gives to the sport of strongman by coming out to contests and using his chiropractic abilities to help athletes perform their best, all for free. Dr. Todd McDougle can be seen working day in and day out from local level shows to nationals, and even working on some of the strongest men on the planet at events like The Arnold Classic. He truly pours his heart into strongman.
Force Barbell is one of the standouts in the large strongman community that Indiana has to offer. If you’re in the area, whatever your athletic endeavour, make sure you stop in and show your support.
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