(rdnewsNOW/ Ian Gustafson)

By Ian Gustafson

Lifting Heavy

Inaugural Alberta’s Strongest Man competition puts on a show in Red Deer

Mar 29, 2025 | 4:18 PM

Red Deer’s Larson Hehr hasn’t been a professional on the strongman circuit for long but has quickly made a name for himself.

The 27-year-old, who grew up in Calgary, has competed professionally for a year and a half and is one of the newest and youngest pros in Canada.

There are exceptions but most who compete in strongman competitions are at their strongest in their early 30s.

Hehr has been a multi-sport athlete for most of his life but after he suffered from a long spell of depression during the pandemic, he discovered strongman competitions online. He immediately wanted to give it a try.

Once he started doing it, he picked it up fast only competing as an amateur for four months before turning professional.

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“I wanted to give it a try because they were big guys and obviously I’d do well as a bigger guy,” he said. “That’s not necessarily always the case, you have guys competing from all sorts of weights… I wanted to give myself something to do and stay competitive. Strongman was it.”

Weighing in at approximately 370 pounds, Hehr has competed in national competitions including Canada’s strongest man last year where he placed ninth out of 14 people.

“That doesn’t seem great but being that it was my first time there it was actually pretty impressive. A lot of people usually come last in their first time,” he added.

On Saturday, he joined 10 other competitors in the 2025 Alberta’s Strongest Man Pro-Am at the Red Deer Fire and Flood Emergency Services building.

Hehr, who’s also an organizer for the event, said there’s never been a true professional Alberta’s strongest man named, which means all the competitors are from Alberta.

Red Deer he said was the perfect spot for it and hopes to bring the event here every year.

“Red Deer hasn’t had a strongman event since 2017 and I just feel there isn’t a lot to do in Red Deer sometimes. So we wanted to offer a free event for people to come to and enjoy. Maybe see something they haven’t seen before,” he added.

Those in attendance to the free event got the opportunity to see some of the provinces strongest people lift weights that sometimes got as heavy as thousands of pounds, and made it look easy.

Hehr said it can be an inspiring sight to see.

“A lot of individuals I find think they’re a lot weaker than they are. Sometimes it’s nice to come and see that a lot of these things are possible,” he explained.

“There are some guys in here that are amateur and some of these weights are really heavy for them but they’re still going to do their best. I encourage people to do that every day.”

Promoter for the event Nick Ris said a lot of the competitors have been doing it for a long time from all walks of life but come together for events like this to test their resilience.

“They put it all out on the line and on the side handle car deadlift (deadlifting a large tire plus weights), we could see 1,200 plus pounds being lifted. It’s pretty impressive,” Lis said.

Overall the athletes took part in six different events in Red Deer all for the glory of being called Alberta’s strongest man.

As an unsanctioned event, the competition featured not only professionals but also amateurs and really anyone who wanted to compete.

Lis said competitions like these is a great opportunity for those looking to make a name for themselves and earn a spot on the circuit. Depending how they did in each event it could open doors for them to compete in national strongman competitions.

Many of the professionals have competed both nationally and internationally. One of the judges, Tristain Hoath from Edmonton, is currently ranked the fifth strongest man in the world.

“There’s going to be a lot more of this moving forward in central Alberta.”

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