Strong Minds, Strong Bodies giving youth options

FREMONT — Every Sunday at 5 p.m., boys of all ages and sizes walk through the doors of Ironcore Gym in Fremont looking for one thing: help to get stronger and better.

What they leave with is bodies worn out with fatigue, muscles strained to their limits, minds released of the week’s tension and a deeper friendship with the man who is making it happen — Bryan Moreland.

Moreland owns the gym with his wife, Betsy, and he formed the “Strong Minds, Strong Bodies” program for youth about three years ago. The program allows kids and teens to use the gym’s facilities and receive weight training for free on Sunday evenings.

The initial idea was to mentor troubled youth and give them a place to release tension while learning discipline, but Moreland found that the program attracted all kinds of youth, even those who were already learning discipline at home.

“I was going to focus on troubled youth, kids that have trouble in school, have family issues or drug issues,” Moreland said. “Then parents starting calling and asking me to work with their son, and I’d say, ‘Sure, I’m always up there on Sundays at 5.’”

When they come, the younger kids work on the basic fundamentals, going through the motions of lifting, but without weights. It teaches them to use their muscles correctly. More experienced teens do weight training.

“Hopefully, what they learn here — if they do school sports — will transfer into that,” said Moreland, who gets help with the program from other volunteers, like Fremont Middle School track coach Logan Garcia and professional fighter Joe Garcia.

Youth must have their parents’ permission to participate, but they don’t need to register for the program. They can just show up.

“Sometimes we have one, and sometimes we have 20. But that one is just as important as the 20,” Moreland said.

That commitment to each kid shows up in their individual improvements. Seventeen-year-old Jacob Lewis — known at the gym as “Milkshake Jake” — is one of the original youth that started with the program three years ago. He was playing football at the time and wanted to bulk up.

“I was a little small. In three years, I put on 40 pounds and gained a lot of strength,” he said.

Lewis, a Ross freshman, recently beat the state record in raw classic lifting for his weight class and division at a powerlifting competition.

“I’ve always loved lifting. It’s a great sport, and I knew this place would help me get better. Bryan is a strength coach. He got me where I needed to be,” Lewis said.

Austin Castro, an 18-year-old from Old Fort, is a competitive dancer who has been participating in the program for two years.

“It’s a great place for strength and motivation and to let your steam out and turn it into positive energy,” Castro said. “I come here to train and get fit. It’s a great atmosphere. They treat you like family.”

Joaquin Puente, a 14-year-old Ross freshman, joined the program after a concussion sidelined him from football permanently.

“He went through a bit of depression, and I worried,” said his mother, Melissa Puente. “I wanted him in the program to keep him off the streets and out of trouble.”

Moreland helped Joaquin redirect his focus onto powerlifting.

“Bryan has impacted his life by keeping him positive and focused. He’s talked to him about the side effects of bad things like drugs and how they break down your muscles,” Melissa said. “He keeps Joaquin’s focus on good things, instead of on what he can’t do. He’s been a huge blessing.”

Although the Sunday night program is free, kids and teens, like Puente, can use they gym anytime for the special youth rate of $15 a month.

“I don’t think parents realize that with that $15, you get so much more out of it (than just weight training). I’m very grateful for Bryan. He’s a positive role model, and a personal trainer would be ridiculously expensive,” Melissa said. “He’s producing good kids and keeping them off the streets.”

The “Strong Minds, Strong Bodies” group meets on 5 p.m. Sundays at Ironcore Gym, which is located at 109 N. Columbus Ave., Fremont. It can be reached at 567-342-2272.