Article content

A 19-year-old man whose powerlifting workout at a Montreal-area gym was aggressively curtailed by another member for being too loud in an incident that has gone viral online has been offered a year’s free membership at a South Shore strength-training gym.

And Charles-Antoine Lalonde will be in good company at the SSP Barbell Club, where powerlifting is popular and where everyone is loud, said co-owner Steve Dubé. “Strength training is noisy … If I don’t hear anything, there is something wrong.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Attacked Montreal powerlifter gets free membership to dream gym Back to video

Lalonde was at the Greenfield Park location of Buzzfit gyms at about 3 a.m. on Aug. 2. He was dong a powerlifting exercise known as deadlifting, in which a bar holding weights is lifted from the ground to hip level and then lowered to the ground.

He was mid-set, lifting 350 pounds, when another member approached swiftly and kicked the bar supporting the weights out of his hands. He then shoved Lalonde against the wall. All the while he was yelling “You’re out” and “Get out.”

Lalonde said in an email Monday evening that he has reported the incident to police and that they are investigating.

The video of the exchange was posted later on Aug. 2 by Tennessee-based powerlifting coach and trainer Pete Rubish, a professional power lifter who has been coaching online for 4-1/2 years and working with Lalonde for about a year.

Working remotely, he sets out for his clients what lifts he wants them to do; they film some of their sets and send them to him. To that end, Lalonde had his smartphone propped on the ground that Thursday and “the camera was rolling,” Rubish said.