Aberdeen’s Tanner Baird of Massenomics Gym addresses the crowd during the 2025 Lift Hard, Live Easy powerlifting competition at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel. This year’s event is Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18 at the Ramkota. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Tanner Baird thought it was a lark when he and his friend Tommy DeFea decided to create a new powerlifting event.
Now, the Aberdeen competition is a popular stop for the lifting community.
Baird, co-owner of Massenomics Gym, is set to host the fourth Lift Hard, Live Easy strongman/powerlifting competition.
“Never would have guessed we’d be going for four years,” Baird said. “Sometimes Tommy and I joke like, ‘I wish nobody liked this and we didn’t have to do it every year,’ but it keeps growing, which we didn’t think would happen. It just speaks to the support we continue to get, and that’s what makes this pretty cool.”
MORE: Terry Dosch’s coaching legacy capped with hall of fame selection
Baird said this year’s event will have the most participants yet.
“We’re up to 170 lifters taking part with people from 31 states and a handful of Canadian provinces coming into town. It’s really become more of a five-day event because people start coming into Aberdeen (Tuesday) and wind up staying until next Monday. The Aberdeen airport gets to experience a different-than-normal crowd this week,” he said.
Leg room could be limited and seating could be tight.
Lift Hard, Live Easy expands to two days
Competitors check out the Drink Spotter apparatus during the Lift Hard, Live Easy strongman competition Saturday, July 19, 2025, at the Best Western Ramkota. This year’s event is Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
The now-two-day event begins Friday, July 17 with the strongman competition and continues Saturday, July 18 with powerlifting. There’s no charge to attend
Events begin at 9 a.m. both days at the Best Western Ramkota and will be live-streamed on the Massenomics YouTube channel.
“Just due to the number of people who will be here, we’re splitting the competition into two days instead of our traditional one really long day on Saturday,” Baird said. “Saturday will have the squat, bench and deadlift for powerlifting. Friday, we’ll have the strongman, which has all of the odd lifts to it.”
Those “odd lifts” have become a staple of the strongman competition. Each year, Mekel and DeFea come up with some object they turn into a piece of equipment that becomes part of the competition.
Last year, they took their patented magnetic cup holder, the Drink Spotter, and made it a life-sized version to hold kegs. Contestants have to carry kegs to the Drink Spotter, drop them in, then haul the entire contraption back to where they started before putting in another keg. That event returns this year.
There are two new apparatuses this year. Baird teased them, but it is waiting for the big reveal.
MORE: Gallery: Competitors flex at 2025 Massenomics Lift Hard, Live Easy Classic
“Well, we have one lifting competition in the deadlift event with an obscenely long barbell that will probably look cartoonish. The other, I’m just gonna say rocks and leave it at that. I mean, sure, it likely involves rocks of some sort, but beyond that, no one knows what that event is,” he said.
Baird said the theme for this year’s Lift hard, Live Easy is outer space.
“I’ve already seen several space helmets from some of the competitors who are coming in,” he said. “The whole two days is also part costume party. It wasn’t by design, it just organically evolved to that. We have best and worst dressed awards at stake as well.”
Fans look on during the 2025 Lift Hard, Live Easy powerlifting event inside the Best Western Ramkota in Aberdeen. The event is hosted by Massenomics Gym. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
How long can Lift Hard, Live Easy event continue?
Baird said he figured starting the Aberdeen event would be difficult and involve lots of work.
He was right.
“I’ll say this — It takes a year for us to put this together. I mean, there are events much larger than ours I’ve been to, and I don’t know how people do it. The moment (Lift Hard, Live Easy) ends, we start planning the next one. The week leading up to it is just a sprint. We take it pretty seriously because we want to make sure it’s fun. We want to make sure all people have to do is get there and have a good time. It’s a lot of work, but we really enjoy it,” Baird said.
He said it’s fortunate that “I can operate on not much sleep.”
MORE: Aberdeen Senior Games offer competitors chance to stay active, challenge themselves
As for how long Lift Hard, Live Easy will continue, Baird seems resigned to the fact that as long as he and DeFea continue with Massenomics, the event will remain.
“We’ve created a monster. Tommy and I both know we can’t not do it. We’d have an angry mob after us at this point if we didn’t do it because people mark it on their calendars a year in advance, and for our little community, it’s a big deal,” he said. “There aren’t many events quite like ours. What we do is pretty unique. We found the right group of people, or they found us — not sure how it all happened — but we caught lightning in a bottle and found some special people who want to come into Aberdeen, hang out for about a week, do a bunch of crazy stuff and have a good time.”
