Empowered Strength is a fitness facility on a mission to empower the people of Bend to live healthy, strong, and pain-free lives through smart and sustainable strength training.

Our gym was created after John Odden, a world-record holding Highland Games athlete, spent years in a broken medical system. Over the years, while working full time in hospitals and other clinical settings, John saw an increase in medical costs, decreased quality of care, and an overall decline in health within the community . This became frustrating and very limiting when he could only practice a very limited amount of his skills and abilities in that environment. John quickly learned he didn’t fit the standard medical model, and knew something had to change.

With the goal of giving his patients the quality of care they needed and deserved, he developed a personalized system of coaching and brought it to Bend, Oregon.
What resulted was a gym that prides itself in three things: Moving well, Getting Strong, and training with a purpose. All three of these things have caused Empowered Strength to build a tight-knit community that believes its vision; that being strong means being able to live empowered.
This gym specializes in functional fitness, which helps keep people injury free in both small groups fitness environments as well as in one-on-one personal training sessions. We achieve this by first requiring all potential members to take part in the Functional Movement Screen. This allows us to ensure that an objective standard of movement is adhered to at all times, thereby giving members the greatest amount of safety each and every session.
Kettlebells, utilizing time-tested principles from StrongFirst, are then the main tools used in all of our training programs. Time and time again, we have found that the kettlebell truly builds the most resilient and robust athlete, whether that individual is competitive or simply likes to live the recreational, Bend lifestyle. But, since so many of those in our programs value being as well-rounded as possible, we utilize the entire spectrum of weight implements, bodyweight exercises, and fun games to expose our clientele to as many new movement experiences as possible. Our unique approach keeps those in our programs feeling fresh, challenged, and energized.
To be a part of Empowered Strength is truly an experience unlike any other. If your goal is to live your life to the fullest, then making our vision a part of your own is closest thing you can get to guaranteeing your success.