The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
LIFTING SPIRITS
Personal trainer embarks on latest career challenge by opening Dukes Barbell Club
After gaining a solid reputation as a certified personal trainer in various locations, Michael Cedeno has achieved a new career milestone by launching his own gym.
Cedeno opened Dukes Barbell Club at 4304 Maple St. in Perry Village on Dec. 29.
In launching the new enterprise, Cedeno said he did not want to create a conventional gym.
“I have been a personal
trainer for many, many years, and I kept on looking at other gyms, and just noticing people just come into the gym, and they want to get healthy and want to get fit, but there is no direction,” Cedeno said.
At Dukes Barbell Club, Cedeno takes a personal approach by having initial consultations with new members, to learn about their fitness goals
I wanted to make sure that I would not be a victim again. So I started weight training then.” — Owner Michael Cedeno
and come up with programs tailored to achieve successful outcomes.
“Any fitness results that you want, we will design it here for you,” Cedeno said. “Whether it’s just getting stronger, if it’s for just getting more cardiovascular or nutrition. We’ve eliminated the thinking out of fitness. We do all of the thinking for you, as long as it’s within the direction that you want to go.”
While Dukes allows members to work out independently in an opengym format, classes also are available for those who enjoy group-fitness experiences.
Cedeno and his staff of three coaches instruct three different styles of classes:
• Strength — One hour of muscle isolation weight training, focusing on proper lifting techniques, form and full range of motions.
• Functional training — One hour of warmup, stretching, strength, skill work and a workout of the day.
• Cardio athlete — 30 minutes of cardio training.
To help members eat right, Dukes also offers nutrition counseling services. Cedeno, who is a certified nutrition coach, said food is a primary tool in producing noticeable and positive changes in a person’s physical fitness.
“Your body will respond to what (kind of food) you give it,” he said.
Along with his new duties as owner, operator and class instructor, Cedeno provides one-on-one personal training at the gym. For this service, he only accepts clients who demonstrate the highest level of self-discipline and commitment.
“Those people have no choice but to follow the meal plan I give them,” he said. “It’s full-throttle. It’s nutrition, lifting and you see me mandatory three days a week.”
Cedeno opened Dukes in a building that previously served as an NEO Crossfit gym.
A Geneva Township resident, Cedeno said his girlfriend had told him about NEO Crossfit in Perry Village, and he began taking classes there.
The owners then asked Cedeno to teach classes, after becoming aware of his background in personal training and bodybuilding.
“Before you know it, the classes started getting bigger and bigger,” he said.
Eventually, the owners indicated that they were looking to sell the gym and approached Cedeno as a prospective buyer.
“So I thought it would be a fantastic idea, and here we are,” he said, during a Feb. 9 interview.
Cedeno got involved with weight training more than two decades ago in his hometown of New York City.
As a child growing up in the city’s borough of Queens, Cedeno faced his share of rough and scary experiences.
“What happened was, I was bullied and robbed and mugged,” he said.
In fact, the first time he got mugged occurred when he was just 9 years old.
At the age of 16, Cedeno decided that becoming physically stronger would make him a less attractive target to tormentors and criminals.
“I wanted to make sure that I would not be a victim again,” Cedeno said. “So I started weight training then.”
Cedeno would go on and enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps and complete, two tours of duty. After returning to civilian life, he eventually ended up moving to Northeast Ohio through a personal relationship which has since ended.
Cedeno became a certified personal trainer in 2012, and offered his services under the business name of Dukes Fitness.
He chose the name “Dukes” from the phrase, “Put up your dukes,” to reflect the fighting spirit one needs to achieve fitness goals.
Over the years, Cedeno has coached clients who have won awards in sanctioned bodybuilding competitions.
Prior to opening Dukes Barbell Club late last year, Cedeno had worked as a personal trainer and nutrition coach at Armstrong Fitness, a gym located at 402 N. Lake St. in Madison Village.
After about six weeks at the helm of Dukes , Cedeno said he’s found that owning and operating a gym is a challenging and rewarding experience.
“It’s a lot of headaches, so far, trying to get all of your ducks in a row,” he said. “But yes, I feel extremely satisfied that I am being able to help a lot more people, as well.”