Pamela McQueen: First gym membership 1998
Pam got into the fitness industry because her husband and friends at the time were all bodybuilders so she always had the intention to compete one day. Workouts were fairly consistent over the next 15 years and in 2013 Pam decided to attempt her first bodybuilding competition.
She entered a figure competition in spring of 2014. Switched classes to Womens Physique for a spring of 2015 Competition. In 2016, she competed in a spring and fall show. During that time, she became involved with SABBA, helping organize the volunteers for the competitions. If she wasn’t competing herself, she would be at the shows in that capacity. Even after she finished competing, she continued to work at all the competitions. After her last comp in 2016, she knew she was finished competing in bodybuilding. Maybe 2 shows in one year was too much, but she had given 110% of her attention and was just never able to master getting lean enough to be really good at it.
During 2017, she tried a few new sports out to see where she would fit in (Crossfit and Powerlifting were a few.) She then met a strongman group through facebook and started training with them. Spring of 2018 she competed for the first time in Strongman and fell in love with the sport. Pam has never been an “athletic” person and still don’t consider herself as that, but the challenge and rush you get competing and training for Strongman is very addicting.
😊From there she became involved with a new gym in Saskatoon as a Co-Owner and opened a Strongman/Powerlifting gym. There has been some changes with the location and owners of the facility in that time, but continues be a partner with Barbarian Strength. Pam enjoys being involved with all the athletes and supporting them in their competitions as well. She is also a great ‘hype man’ 😊 The gym has hosted Rookie Competitions in the past which included the fall Classic Strongman group. Pam loves seeing new people come in and try Strongman events for the first time. “We just never know how strong we actually are, its exciting to see people find that out.”
Competition History:
2014 Spring Novice Figure Competition - SABBA
2015 Spring Provincial Womens Physique Competition - SABBA
2016 Spring Provincial Womens Physique Competition - SABBA
2016 Fall Womens Physique Competition - SABBA
2018 April Regional Strongman competition - CAASA
2018 June Powerlifting Meet - CPL
2018 August Provincial Strongman Competition - CAASA
2019 Spring Regional Strongman Competition - CAASA
2019 August Provincial Strongman Competition - CAASA
2019 Fall Nationals Strongman Competition - CAASA
2020 October King Kong Classic – Grip Competition
2021 June Canada Grip Sport “Sask Strongest Hands”
2021 Mas Wrestling Tournament
2021 August Strongman Competition – Classic Strongman
2021 Fall King Kong Classic – Grip Competition
2021 Mas Wrestling Tournament
Tom Bryson:
Tom’s fitness journey started when he was 22 years old. Up to that point, he had been overweight most of his life (285lbs at probably 75% body fat). After getting tired of hearing him complain about being fat, two buddies that trained together got him out to the gym. For the first 3-4 months, he had to be berated into meeting them after work, but after he was able to see the weight loss and see some results, he was full on. Tom went from 285 down to 245 in 6 months, and 225 and fit after about 18 months. As he got more confidence, he became far more extraverted and adventurous, leading him to quit his job and sell his house and everything he owned and moved to China.
Once he had moved back, he started into combat sports to try something new. Again, once he fell in love with it he was all-in. He trained kickboxing, BJJ or both pretty much every day. He was able to have a couple of amateur kickboxing fights as well as go to a few tournaments in BJJ. He wasn’t as comfortable in the competitive aspect but kept training for fun.
Eventually he decided he wanted to see how strong he could make himself, and the journey into strength sports began. The first competition he did was in Highland Games and then Strongman. He was able to get a couple of great training partners and they travelled around Canada doing all the competitions available. He was also able to get involved in grip strength and MAS Wrestling competitions. To date, he has probably done over 40 shows and has been able to travel across Canada, the US and Saudi Arabia.
The community in strength sports is nothing Tom has come across before. All the people he competed with became friends and training partners. People are always willing to help spot lifts, give advice, or just handle and motivate whenever needed. Tom has been fortunate enough to be involved in coaching Special Olympic Powerlifting. We would run a program for 6-7 athletes over 6 months and have it culminated with them competing in a sanctioned Powerlifting meet. Working with them was the best thing Tom could have asked for learning about the sport. He learned how to coach and communicate with different personalities, and there is nothing more motivating then watching them love what they were doing. No real ego or expectations, just people happy to be in the strength world.
Barbarian Strength recently put on a Novice Strongman competition to help give more people the opportunity to see how great this sport is. Faith from Down2Cookie was there selling cookies that she donates the proceeds from to organizations that help people and families with Down Syndrome. She had mentioned that with Covid, fundraising had taken a large hit. Speaking with the gym owners of Barbarian Strength gym, we decided to put on a small deadlift party to raise money for AIM (Ability in Me.) In another phenomenal example of how great this community is, we had various Corporate Sponsors and Donors, athletes with money pledged based on performance, and over 40 people coming out for the day. We also added a grip specific event, the Double Overhand Axel Deadlift. That was a sanctioned event, so any athlete had an opportunity to get on the Gripsport rankings. There was also a few athletes that went for for Canadian records.
The places Tom has gone, people he has met, family gained and opportunity to give back to the community were all made possible through fitness. Training, competing, coaching, travelling are all things he would never have said he would be involved in 15 years ago. But now he is able to be fully involved, and will continue in some aspect for the rest of his life.
