This week, our featured Diesel Interview is Dan Cenidoza. From Baltimore, MD, Dan and I competed against one another in Grip competitions and Strongman contests for years, and along the way became great friends. Now, instead of working to beat one another, we share information and help one another with strength training, product development, and business endeavors. Look for more collaborative efforts from Dan and me in the near future.

Tell us about how you got into serious strength training

I read about the death of the Mentzer brothers in a muscle mag, which at the time was my only source of training info. This led me to Arthur Jones and his writings about HIT and that is when I started to emphasize basic compound exercises, hard training and full body workouts.

Must Read Interview

What are your thoughts on isolation exercises, such as leg extensions, and bicep curls for athletes?

Unless their sport demands a high degree of a similar or antagonist movement, most single joint exercises are probably not necessary.

Should anyone do isolation exercises?

Sure, but the focus should always be on multi-joint exercises.

Many of the DieselCrew.com readers train for Grip strength. Do you have any Grip goals? Ever consider entering a contest?

As you know, we all competed together at our very first grip contest – BFGS. I still pride myself on beating Jedd by .5 a point in that contest 🙂 I also competed in the first two Global Grip Challenges held by the Diesel Crew. After GGC 2005, my training focus changed and grip work got lumped into a maintenance program but now it’s back in the forefront and I have several goals all pertaining to steel bending.

Ever train for feats of strength? What is the feat you are most proud of?

Probably bending the Red Nail, only because it is the most recent.

You use a lot of tires and other strongman training methods. How often do you incorporate strongman training with your athletes?

Strongman training is included as a variety day or a finisher. Most of my programming for athletes (or anybody else) revolves around basic compound exercises, kettlebell conditioning and flexibility training, as necessary.

What is your best overhead press?

Strict press – 180, Axle push press – 250 x 2, Jerk – 255. Overhead lifts have always been one of the more difficult lifts for me, but I’m working on it, and one of my current goals is to strict press my bodyweight (225). I’ll let you know when I hit it.

What other types of fitness training, besides weights, do you do? Running, jump rope, speed bag, etc.

I’ve got a 1.5 mile neighborhood route that I run regularly. Occasionally I will hit it for 2 laps and sometimes I will run sprints. Besides running I do yoga semi-regularly. I move better and feel better when I do yoga a couple times a month. Yoga is the next best thing to a full body massage.

Check out Dan in action, bending horse shoes.

Do you supplement with protein? When do you take your shakes?

I take a milk, fruit, flax and whey concoction post workout.

Tell us about your website, www.bemoretraining.com

I started Be-More Training as a personal training company and I soon began specializing in kettlebells and strongman. The website offers articles, videos, presentations and a few select pieces of equipment to the general public but it is mainly a way for me to connect to the people who are interested in my training and my training services. I have recently expanded my services to include professional strongman shows and motivational speaking.

Any products? Tell us about them.

Yes, I have the presentations I gave at the 2008 & 2009 PA State Strength & Conditioning Clinic available for purchase (just contact me on my site)  and I just started a new website — www.ironbonsai.com — hand bent metal art pieces.

There you have it, my friends. Dan is a strong dude that has tried just about every strength training protocol that exists and has experimented with different diet regimens. Thanks for taking the time to speak to the Diesel Universe!

-Jedd-

Check out Jedd’s Products

Nail Bending eBook – The Most Complete Reference on Nail, Bolt, and Steel Bending in the World

Card Tearing eBook – Learn How to Tear Cards with Your Bare Hands

Stone Lifting Fundamentals DVD – The Premier DVD on Stone Lifting, Hands Down

Home Made Strength On-line DVD – Build Strength Without Breaking the Bank

The Sh*t You’ve Never Seen DVD – Hardcore Strength Training Footage from the Diesel Crew

The Ultimate Sled Dragging Manual – Innovative Ways to Train with Out of One of the Most basic Implements

How to Bend Nails | How to Tear Cards | Strongman feats of Strength | How to Build Your Own Equipment | How to Lift Atlas Stones | The Sh*t You’ve Never Seen | How to Implement Sled Dragging for Athletes

Articles You Might Also Like:

• Dan Cenidoza Bends the Red Nail
• Fast Conditioning with Kettlebells and Chains
• Nail Bending eBook Testimonial
• Steel Bending Contest Coming to Philadelphia
• Intro to Nail Bending

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 11:45 pm and is filed under feats of strength bending, how to improve grip strength, how to tear cards, improve grip strength crush. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.