SANDPOINT — In his home gym at the base of Schweitzer Mountain, Chuy Fragoso was hyping himself up as 584 pounds on a deadlift bar lay in front of him Tuesday. 

After working through his preparation routine, Fragoso grabbed the bar and readied. He lifted it once, twice, three times, and as the veins bulged from his forehead, lifted a fourth and final time. As the bar fell to the mat with an ear-splitting crash, Fragoso’s excitement met the same pitch. 

“I love this, Jack,” Fragoso told me with a laugh and a smile. 

It was a new personal record for the 53-year-old, four reps on 548 pounds or 265 kilograms, just 11 days out from another trip to compete at the World Masters Powerlifting Championships. Fragoso, who placed second in his weight class at the 2025 Worlds, is again set to compete under the United States’ banner in Reno, Nev., from Oct. 15 to 23. 

The Sandpoint local is no stranger to powerlifting, having rekindled his childhood passion for the sport in 2019. However, it’s been far from an easy journey for Fragoso, who has overcome three hip replacement surgeries. 

Most recently in 2023, Fragoso was training for the Master Worlds competition at his home gym, attempting to do four reps of 507 pounds when he broke the neck on his femur.  

"I had the music blaring, and you could hear the pop over the music,” Fragoso recalled.  

That injury prompted the third total hip replacement surgery that Fragoso has endured, but it didn’t stop him from storming back and making it to Worlds in 2025. In training for the 2026 Masters Worlds, Fragoso tasked himself with handling the lift that broke him on the third anniversary. 

“I’ve done that weight plenty of times before, but it’s like five years later you listen to a song, and it reminds you of that one girl that broke your heart,” Fragoso said. “You’re in a different relationship now, but for whatever reason it takes you back and you have to relive that. So that trauma was there.” 

Not wanting to face it alone, Fragoso FaceTimed with a Team USA teammate and went to battle with the bar. Fragoso said once he got to the fourth rep, he cursed the bar and totaled 10 reps on the anniversary. 

“My motivation was to prove to myself that I’m just different and I don’t quit,” Fragoso said. “My kids, they’re 20 and 21 ... and I wanted to show them that their dad’s pretty cool. I wanted to show them to never stop dreaming, never stop competing. Do something.”

The resilience that Fragoso has shown will be a part of every Team USA member’s wardrobe next week. He said when his coach was looking for a team motto ahead of this year’s Masters Worlds, he immediately chimed in. 

“Be undeniable,” Fragoso said.  

Fragoso said that he feels this Masters Worlds will be his year to bring a championship back home to Sandpoint. 

“You put a bar on that platform, and you tell me that if I lift that I’m gonna become a world champion, I’m not stopping until that bar starts moving back down on its own,” Fragoso said. 

For those wanting to follow along with Fragoso’s journey at the Masters Powerlifting World Championships, they can do so by watching a livestream by the International Powerlifting Federation during the event. Those interested in learning more about the sport of powerlifting can reach Fragoso at [email protected].