“(The brand) saw my YouTube videos from the gym (flipping a 1,000 pound tire as a training regimen and more) and contacted me to be an endorser: a badass. I said: ‘Let’s do it,’” DeLaCruz, 30, said from his Metroflex gym in Fort Worth, Texas. ” I am always looking for another challenge whether it’s in the gym or outside of it.”Read on to see what Rendy DeLaCruz wants to lift next, what happens when you don’t lift safely and which NASCAR driver he wants to “dwarf toss” for charity.People who meet you in person often seem to want you to lift them, or something else nearby. Does that get old?

“Nah. I have been doing this for 10 years. As a strongman, I want to accept any challenge. It’s part of the job; people expect you to lift whatever they point at.”

In this promotional role, will you be doing more lifting stunts, and what’s the creative process like for a strongman: do you sit down for lunch and think “I could lift that fridge, that pizza oven… that food truck?”

“I spend time looking at stuff that’s not supposed to be picked up, figuring out how to pick it up. Then, I  pick it up….I definitely want to do more with Jeremiah. I am up for doing anything for a good cause (like the cab rides program).”

You have pulled a plane, a car and other assorted heavy objects. Is there a ‘Holy Grail’ for you: a strongman stunt you’d like to attempt?

“What I’d like to do is pick up two Smart cars. I’d like to figure out how to put a bar through them so that the Smart cars would be like 45 pound plates on a weight bar. Then I want to deadlift it.”

Have you ever come across anything so heavy you couldn’t lift it, like the burden of expectations on the Miami Heat, for instance?“No. Everything I have set my mind to that I wanted to lift, I have lifted; everything I trained for, I have been able to do. I have pulled a jumbo jet 50 feet. I used an apparatus to lift 25 people when the last record was 20 people. I did it. …You have to study it and know how to approach it and train for it.”There’s an element of danger with strongman competitions and lifting: Are there any competition failures you’ve seen where people embarrass themselves or, worse, hurt themselves?

“Yeah…One time at a competition, this guy who looked like he could pick up the world tried to lift 1,100 pounds, but he couldn’t and he blew both of his knees out; the weight just crushed him. We had to get the weight off him and call an ambulance…. He just got owned by the weight. Guys try to test themselves, but you need to know your limits; it can kill you if you’re not careful.

Which sports star could you throw furthest: LeBron James, Tom Brady or Kyle Busch?“Hmmm…I think Kyle Busch. Maybe we can put him in a harness? Some of the strongman guys do this thing for charity where we do dwarf tossing — people donate money based on how far you can throw a person. Maybe we can do the same thing with Kyle. I’ll bet I can throw him pretty far.”How much of the Jeremiah Weed drinks can you consume within the realm of your training regimen?

“On heavy days or hot days, I like to drink the Spiked Cola. It’s got just a little alcohol content, so it’s a good drink for those days…In this Texas heat, my wife likes the lemonade.”

You consume 12,000 calories each day: What’s a normal breakfast, lunch and dinner menu for you?

“In the morning, I have 2 cups of oatmeal and 20-30 egg whites, depending on the day, and a weight-gainer shake. I eat like that every 2-3 hours…At lunch, it’s some fish, a few pounds of meat and maybe some rice or vegetables and then for dinner another few pounds of meat, like  ribs – I eat 4 to 5 pounds of meat each day – and a potato and a vegetable…. 12,000 calories is a standard day, but on a heavy lifting day I can do as many as 14,000.”

Will you continue being a strongman as you get older or try to get into training others?“My gym is an appetizer for me, not a profession. …Age is just another number. Lifting is all I know how to do; It’s all I want to do. I don’t like doing anything else. I’ll wind up being the world’s oldest strongman, I guess.”

SEARCH