The Second Annual Massenomics Lift Hard Live Easy Classic Strength Event is back and much bigger than a year ago.

The event, set for Saturday at the Odde Ice Center, is looking to continue to build on its inaugural event last summer.

“It went really well just from the perspective of the competitors that did it. We got really great feedback from them and then also from a spectator point of view,” said event organizer Tanner Baird. “I think we probably had, I think there was close to 500 people there last year, maybe a little under that.”

Baird said the event, which runs from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m., will jump from 60 lifters a year ago to about 110 competitors this weekend.

“It’s in the Odde Ice Arena, so we have more than enough capacity,” Baird said. “It was not overly full last year, so hopefully we can keep it growing.”

While the event will nearly double in size, Baird said that plans are to make sure that it will last about the same amount of time as last year because of a change in format.

“It almost doubled in size, but we’re doing it so that there’s more going on at one time, so our total run time shouldn’t be that much longer,” Baird said. “We’re hoping to have it done in the same amount of time, it’s just that we have two platforms running at all times now.”

The competition will be divided into two separate parts this year. One will be the basic powerlifting portion, the same as last year, which combines the total weights from squat, bench and dead lift.

The new part of the event will feature some interesting activities during a strongman competition, which will feature about 20 competitors.

“Those are the odd events where it’s not just weights on a barbell,” Baird said.

It includes Atlas stones, which are huge concrete boulders, a log lift, and a new event featuring a mysterious shield that men and women will have to carry as far as possible.

Interestingly enough, this whole competition came about through a decade of podcasts that brought these individuals together from all across the country.

“There’s some people that come in that are really strong, but on average, these people are all like you would consider very intermediate in lifting. … Most of these people aren’t world competitors, they’re actually world-wide listeners of the Massonomics podcast which we record here in Aberdeen of course,” Baird said. “We’ve been doing that for almost 10 years now. Of the 110 competitors, almost every single one of them is a pretty avid listener. They come in, it’s hard to say just because of the podcast, but that’s absolutely what’s brought ’em in the door.”

Baird said the event is divided into several parts. The Lift Hard part takes place Saturday during the competiton. The Live Easy is celebrated Thursday through Sunday away from the competition when competitors get to visit Aberdeen landmarks that they hear about on the podcasts.

“It’s really fun. It is a lifting event, but it’s also kind of a just a big get together for people now from all over the world,” Baird said. “The fun part to me is everyone floods to Aberdeen, S.D.”

The Lift Hard Live Easy event will once against feature people from all across the country, along with two Canadian Provinces, as well as a competitor from England this year.

Baird, who refered to the event as a “spectacle,” said that Saturday’s competition will feature a variety of flamethrowers and smoke machines, in addition to an announcer by the name of Geno who is coming from the East Coast. “He dresses like a pirate and he puts on a good show,” Baird said. “He used to be a backup singer for Motley Crue and that sort of thing. …. Ours in particular is a spectacle. It’s a competition, but also meant to be a show. It’s almost a mixture of a lifting competition and almost like a little bit of a WWF.”

And to think that a podcast has produced a gathering of powerlifters who for one weekend will make the most of their opportunities in the Hub City.

“It’s kind of fun just to see it all come together right here in Aberdeen,” Baird said.