Special Olympics Lifters Attend Opening of Poundstone Gym

Derek Poundstone, a professional strongman athlete and police officer for the Naugatuck Police Department, officially opened his new gym, Poundstone Performance Training Center, on Saturday, June 16^th. The gym, which is located on 1818 Baldwin Street in Waterbury, features state of the art strength training, strongman, and cardiovascular equipment designed to train anyone from a casual lifter to a professional athlete. The mission of Poundstone Performance Training Center is to promote a healthy lifestyle to everyone, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.

While Poundstone is a three time winner of America’s Strongest Man and of other various strongman competitions around the world, he has a gentle and selfless heart. He has been highly involved with Special Olympics Connecticut. He is currently a Global Ambassador for the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run and offers his valuable time to its athletes. He cordially invited Special Olympics power lifters to attend his grand opening on Saturday. Mike Canty Jr., James DePaola, and John Brillante of the Tri-Town program were all in attendance and worked with some of the equipment at the gym. Poundstone himself even offered professional expertise to the athletes.

On July 1, Poundstone’s gym will be hosting an event called Bros vs. Pros where anyone can come in and challenge Derek Poundstone in various lifting competitions. Proceeds of the event will benefit Special Olympics Connecticut. For more information about Poundstone Performance Training Center please visit http://www.poundstoneperformance.com.

Editor's Note: Matt Vaghi, a senior at Springfield College in Massachusetts, wrote this article, which was posted by Nora Mason. Matt is completing a summer internship with Special Olympics CT in the Southbury office.