CALGARY -- When gyms were shut down across Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic, professional strongwoman Bailey Deschene knew she couldn’t sit around.  

She had go keep up with her training or she would lose her edge.

She was lifting keg barrels and tractor tires that she had at her house. When she went down to the Bow River, she’d find heavy rocks and lift them.

Deschene was running hills and climbing stairs. 

But the one that got the most attention was when she took her dog for a walk.

“Right when it started getting nice out I packed my backpack with text books, cans of beans, whatever I could find in the house that was relatively heavy," she said. "And I’d go for a walk with the dog and do lunges and front squats. I’d go up and down the benches.  I just had to think outside the box.

“I was getting looks from people all the time but I don’t mind, I was having fun."

Bailey’s next competition will be at the National Strongman in Quebec City starting on Oct. 3.

That event is for amateurs and even though Bailey is a professional, she says they’re going to allow her to compete.

“Usually I wouldn’t compete in the nationals,” she said.

“If the Strongest Women in the World didn’t get cancelled then I would be competing in that.  But since I don’t have any shows coming up they’re letting me join in.”

The only stipulation is that Bailey will have to move up a weight class.  She’ll go from middleweight to heavyweight.  

Bailey says the competition may be bigger than she is but she doesn’t want them to underestimate her.

“I’ll just kind of make sure those girls know that I’m still a pro and I’m going to try to keep up with them.  So don’t underestimate me,” she laughed.

If Bailey wins she could earn her pro card as a heavyweight. But she says she doesn’t want that. She says she’s happy competing against women her own size.