Frank DiMeo - Slinging Steel: The Story Of Mace Fit® (Unconventional Workouts Book 1)

Forward This book is dedicated to my mentors in steel mace and club training: Don Giafardino Valerie Pawlowski Rik Brown Without them this book would never have been written.
Chapters

1. Italian ingenuity
2. Armed and dangerous
3. Hungry for more
4. Learn from the best
5. Who would go to Miami on purpose?
6. Crazy girls
7. Heading for Carolina
8. Barbeque and brilliance
9. Coaching good coaches

Onward! 18. What Mace Fit can do for you
Thanks for checking out my book! I hope you will find it interesting and helpful. Whether you are new to working out or you have trained for years, our training can be a great way to improve your health, strength, cardio and more.
Chapter 1 I had no idea who this guy was, but he was following a product review on Adex clubs by Dave Hall and Chip Conrad on Facebook at the same time I was. The product review seemed legit, so I posted that I should get some clubs. The other guy says I have clubs, talk to me.

It turns out the guy was Don Giafardino, the creator of Adex adjustable clubs and maces. Come to find out he lived a few hours away from me on the other side of Florida. He offered to do a free introductory workshop at my gym, the Cave, in Sarasota, Florida. On January 23, 2016 he drove over with a load of his clubs and maces to do the workshop. It was very informative with a lot of hands-on teaching. Donnie is a true Italian and talks with his hands as you can see.

He gets his point across very well, though. Once I got a steel mace in my hands I knew that this would be the next wave of fitness. A few months later Don did a second free workshop at my gym and we were hooked. Don had taken a chance on me at his own expense and we have been at it ever since, Thank God for Donnie!
Chapter 2 I had run a solid training program at my gym for quite a few years already. Now that this new tool has been added to my training toolbox I had to integrate it into my current program. Our crew already was doing all kinds of unconventional training in addition to the basic barbell lifts.

They liked hard work so that helped. I started integrating the mace exercises into their warmups first. Then into their conditioning/accessory work . They really liked it once they started getting the hang of it. Eventually I got a steel Adex club and added it in. Over time I kept adding more maces and clubs, plus the heavy add-ons that came out later.

Now were armed and dangerous in the fight against mediocre health and fitness.
Chapter 3 They interest level kept growing so I started stand-alone classes with Adex steel mace and clubs. At first, the Mace Fit name had not been thought of. I was just using steel club and mace training. Then one day it hit me, and I changed the name to Mace Fit . Soon after I got the name and logo Trademarked.

The classes grew in popularity, so I had some cool t-shirts made up for the class. They were a hit!
The classes appealed to both men and women from a variety of occupational and ethnic backgrounds as well as different age groups. People came for different reasons, but they all loved it! Some wanted to get stronger, some wanted to get leaner, some wanted to get rid of work stress, others just saw the benefit of this radically different way of training.
Chapter 4 Donnie introduced me to Valerie Pawlowski, a very accomplished kettlebell and mace competitor. They had an online 8 week mace course that I took and it helped me to improve on my own technique and knowledge of mace training.
Later Val introduced to Rik Brown aka Mr. Maceman. Maceman.

He was and is the worlds most well-known mace instructor. I enrolled in his online course and learned from him for about 18 months. Rik is incredibly knowledgeable and greatly added to my understanding of the mace. He has taught the mace in many countries from Europe to China. I learned a lot from him in his online course. Chapter 5 Though I had already been running my own training program for a while I attended a Vintage Strength Mace and Club Certification at at LyonStrong in Miami.

It added to my knowledge base and improved my technique and coaching skills. Don Giafardino was the Instructor. His keen eye kept everyones technique in line.
Chapter 6 Donnie and Valerie thought our training program was solid enough to start our own certification. We did that at the Cave in 2018 Donnie, Valerie, and myself certified seven Level 1 Coaches that weekend.