our story

Our story begins in a local high school weight room in 1969. It was this year that a young Harry McDonald took a job teaching physical education at Chugiak High School. “Coach Mac” as he was affectionately known to his students was a former athlete playing football and hockey in high school and went on to play Division 1 college hockey for the University of Minnesota. Coach Mac taught various PE classes but his two loves were hockey and weight training. Coach Mac taught at Chugiak for 25 years until his untimely death in 1994. Over the course of his 25 years teaching he inspired and guided countless young men and women through his love of physical fitness. From jocks that wanted to increase their strength and bulk up in their off season to non athletes that wanted to shed a few pounds and become physically fit, Coach Mac helped them all and shared his passion for the weight room. Coach Mac’s favorite body part to train had to be legs and there are many documented stories of him grabbing whoever didn’t have a partner and put them through one of his legendary leg days. While Coach Mac was able to use the high school gym during the school season, it wasn’t long until his home gym started taking shape so he could work out during the summer months. He hired high school welding students to build various pieces of gym equipment including a bench and power rack, both of which we still have in use today. Coach Mac’s home gym was used by all four of Coach Mac’s children throughout their athletic endeavors.

Fast forward to 2014 when high school athletes Sutton McDonald, Coach Mac’s eldest grandson and Taylor Rofidal ,who had become fast friends in grade school, shared a common interest and found solace in the Eagle River High School gym, under the tutelage of a modern day Coach Mac, Eagle River High School PE teacher Kirby Senden, who was ironically one of Coach Mac’s former hockey players. It was there that the idea of one day owning their own gym took hold. At the young age of 16 these two young men had a bold vision. Their high school days flew by but their love of pumping iron continued to grow much like their young bodies.

Fast forward to the 2020 COVID Pandemic! During the pandemic the gyms they were working out at were forced to shut down. That is when Sutton and Taylor decided to resurrect Coach Mac’s home gym which had sat silently in storage for many years. All the pieces were brought to Sutton’s parents house, where they were put back in action. Over the next year a small group of friends started working out in this weight lifting haven, money was pooled and more equipment was purchased. Sutton and Taylor’s small group of buddies were coming and going at all hours to what was now known as Mac’s Gym. Their vision and passion for opening their own gym was reignited.

2022. GET READY TO LIFT! Now we want to share it with you! From beginner to advanced we hope to see you embracing a healthy lifestyle and would be honored to have you join us on your fitness journey. We chose our name to honor the man who started it all, Coach Mac. Mac’s Strength & Power will carry on the old school traditions that Coach Mac instilled in so many. Come ready to “Get after it” as Coach Mac used to say we like to say at Mac’s Strength & Power, LET US PREY……