Walk the walk

Story & photos by Herman Delgado

The name and image of Bill Kazmaier stands out for me when discussing the World’s Strongest Man. Kazmaier was an icon of the sport and a force to reckon with back in the 1980s. Watching these 300 pound plus size men on ESPN back in the 1980s pulling semi-trucks and placing 300-plus pound stones on a wall is what I remember about these televised events, and it made me wonder what type of training goes in to prepare for this type of competition. I decided to visit the West Texas Dungeon (WTD) Gym…a place that accommodates the type of training needed to compete in these strongman competitions.

Four competitors from the WTD just returned from competing in the United States Strongman (USS) Nationals competition in Columbus, Ohio on June 8, 2019. Maribel Armendariz placed 2nd in the 50-plus age division (masters), Josh Silva 3rd (super heavyweight), Carina Perea 4th (middleweight), and Cynthia Pinedo 5th (masters). Team WTD is coached and trained by Andre Silva and Ernie Batson, who not only prepare these athletes for competition, but also put in the work on the weights in order to maintain that physical and mental edge.

These athletes make up the gamut of the El Paso community, but they unite as a tight knit family when it comes to preparing and helping each other out. Armenderiz, 51, has been training and competing in USS competitions for the past two years with Team WTD. She is a healthcare provider, Bouncer at Tequilas Discotheque, and does personal training at different gyms around town when she is not training and competing. By placing 2nd in the nationals, Armendariz qualified for the USS Worlds in Austin, Texas on October 5th, but will forgo this event because of lack of competitors in her division. She will instead prepare for the Clash of New Mexico’s Strongest in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 19th.

Another competitor who put Team WTD on the map was 23 year-old Perea, who was competing in her first national tournament and placed 4th amongst 40 other competitors in her middleweight division. Perea is no stranger to sports or tough challenges, as she has been involved in martial arts for over 14 years. She currently attends UTEP and works at a local clinic in the field of sports medicine. She will be making the trip to Austin, Texas in October to compete in the USS Worlds and is hoping to place and qualify to become a Professional Strongwoman.

A competitor you can’t miss when you walk into the WTD, is 26 year old Silva, who tips the scales at 460 pounds. He has only been competing in the sport for five months, but made quite an impact at his first nationals this past June, by placing 3rd in the super-heavyweight division. Silva played collegiate football at New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) and his last three years at UTEP. For Silva, training for these competitions is a full-time job and he plans on making it a career. As a professional in this sport, he knows he can gain some endorsements which will allow him to continue his training and competing full-time; which are requirements for this demanding sport.

The backbone and support of this program and training facility are Andre Silva, whose family owns the business (Vistacon Inc.) and property on which WTD is located at. Silva is one of the two coaches at WTD, and he works with all the competitors, including Josh. “I got into this sport…because of Ernie,” said Silva. “I no longer compete because I broke my hip a couple of years ago. It’s not about me anymore; it’s all about focusing on my athletes here at the gym.”

The man behind the clipboard at WTD is Ernie Batson, who at 48 is still competing in the sport and involved in all training and preparation of all competitors at WTD. WTD started up in August 2014, and Batson along with Silva have been hands-on and quite involved with promoting strongman competition and events here in El Paso and across the Southwest. Strongman competition is a one-day event that consists of five separate events and usually takes up to 10 hours to complete. The events include: Atlas stones, pressing event, deadlift event, and two moving events that require picking up, loading, and transferring heavy objects from one location to another. Coach Silva is retired from competing, but Coach Batson feels that he has a few more miles to go, as he will be competing in the Iron Strongman III on July 27th, in Silver City, New Mexico. Batson, who proudly served in the United States Marine Corps kept it brief and simple, “Can you walk the walk?”