Racing Towards The Red Nail, Who Will Be First?

[Jared Goguen]

Hell yeah man that was a good looking bend. I can't wait to see where your at on the 7".

I'm taking the next week off to let my arm heal from tattoo work.

[Billy Jack]

I have finally had time to read this thread. I am usually on top of everything pretty quick but a new baby has me in a daze.

I am not going to comment much on the technique as I am a new bender myself and am still not in great form in my opinion. Plus, guys like EJ, Mike, etc are very technical benders and have all the bases covered already.

The only thing I am going to offer is the same old same old: "only bend 7" stock if you are trying to cert the red." I know this advice gets old, but I think it is the most important aspect. In my opinion, which may not be worth much, you really need to post a 7" bend in order to get proper technique critique if your goal is to ultimately bend a bar that is 7". Your basic technique will stay the same ie: get it high up under your chin, hand placement, etc.. However, you will need to make slight adjustments when going from 6" to 7" bars and this slight tweak can cause injuries if you try to use the same technique. For example, after I decided to bend exclusively 7" bars, I found that I have to lean back further to get the bar high up under my chin. See here for my example: http://youtu.be/QHrQ9yWVSxc.This changed my starting point for my thrust into the bar for the kink. It took me a few sessions to get used to this. When I first bent a 6" bar I had laying around in September, I was able to get over the bar more easily and just overpowered it with chest and wrist/arm strength. I found out quick that the starting point of my kink on a 7" bar relied alot more on my lats and upper back. Thank god I did not try to go heavy to start with on 7" or I could have injured myself.

I know some people say that they only use the 6" bars to get stronger because they can get a complete bend on a 6" bar before a 7" bar, etc, etc. As I think Mike stated earlier, even if you are not completely bending the 7" bar and are giving max effort, you are getting an iso workout and you will get stronger. I was skeptical of this at first, but 3 sessions before I bent that red on video, I was only able to get one to about 55 degrees. I worked on that same bar the next two workouts until I crushed it down. My next WO I fully bent my first red nail and I knew the iso work helped because I flew right past my previous sticking point.

Good luck guys

Edited December 8, 2014 by Billy Jack

[JaredWith1R]

Got my G and H delivery today, so I quickly chopped that up and started my 7" bending training, finally. I didn't get anything lower than G, but I have a fair amount of A and D in 6", which is right in the poundage rating I want to warmup. It's not ideal, being 6", but it's all I've got right now. Still just in single IMPs, and the wrapping is a lot more solid with the first inch fold.

I tried to take some tips from a handful of EJs videos, and really toned down my movements (videos coming after a heavier workout tomorrow). Got the bar right under the chin and tried to bend around it. Changed up my sweep and crush to take advantage of my stronger side, which I think is leading to a significant off center bend, probably about 0.25".

The length change didn't hurt too much, a few changes in hand position and I think I got it. Bending right under the chin made it easier to find a grip, which was helpful for changing stock lengths. Gonna work on G, H and possibly I tomorrow after a climbing day. Today's 7" trial workout is listed below.

• Bending

  • O1 DR A x 6” easy, off center (gotta start tracking sides) in IMPs (3/10)

  • D x 6” fairly easy, off center (5/10)

    • 0.245” x 6”

    • 0.138” final bend

  • G x 7” some effort, off center (7/10)

    • 0.261” x 7”

    • 0.151” final bend

  • H x 7” large effort, off center (8/10)

    • 0.265” x 7”

    • 0.145” final bend

So my goal is to increase bar size over the next few sessions until I hit a size I cant finish. Is that a good way of training? I don't know how to gauge when to stop increasing weight, besides hitting a ceiling. Thanks for all of the great advice, as usual.

[EJ Livesey]

So my goal is to increase bar size over the next few sessions until I hit a size I cant finish. Is that a good way of training?

No. Find a piece you can finish, but it takes a little longer than the rest. A piece you have to work for but can finish. Do volume work with that size. I have the feeling you are trying to rush your progress. You want s stronger base. You want a CNS that has adapted to the abuse of bending. You do not want to shock the CNS. You will get sick or hurt. Stick with volume work and toughen your skin, tendons bones. If you really want to push yourself, bend everyday, don't try to max out.

[JaredWith1R]

So my goal is to increase bar size over the next few sessions until I hit a size I cant finish. Is that a good way of training?

No. Find a piece you can finish, but it takes a little longer than the rest. A piece you have to work for but can finish. Do volume work with that size. I have the feeling you are trying to rush your progress. You want s stronger base. You want a CNS that has adapted to the abuse of bending. You do not want to shock the CNS. You will get sick or hurt. Stick with volume work and toughen your skin, tendons bones. If you really want to push yourself, bend everyday, don't try to max out.

That sounds very reasonable. I'm certainly not trying to hurt myself, and am in no rush. Thanks for the advice.

[Jared Goguen]

I had a pretty good session today. I start with F-Drillrod, then H-Drillrod, I attempt some I-Drillrod and failed, and then I finish up with another H-Drillrod.

Ill be sticking with some H-Drillrod for a bit I think, the I-Drillrod is just too hard at the moment.

[Mike Sharkey]

I had a pretty good session today. I start with F-Drillrod, then H-Drillrod, I attempt some I-Drillrod and failed, and then I finish up with another H-Drillrod.

Ill be sticking with some H-Drillrod for a bit I think, the I-Drillrod is just too hard at the moment.

Good music . So nice to see a bending video that DOESN'T have thrash metal playing

Your kink position looks pretty good. Try to dig the bar just a little farther back into your throat. Little bit of shoulder stretching and it should be no problem. Once you're in the position, try to involve your neck and upper back in the vice like motion. Almost roll the shoulders forward to transfer power into the bar. You can actually see Jose does this well in the one IMP bend since he helpfully only wears wife beaters in videos You're probably not gaining anything with the extra squat like motion during the hits. As your bending evolves you can experiment with different foot placement and angles, but right now I'd try to train my upper body to involve itself as much as possible.

You can actually break down the motions of the bend into different parts, as they are in fact different ROM's and involve different muscles. The same way I would train the movements of a clean & jerk separately to allow my body to understand them before putting together in one complete motion I broke down the bend into kink, sweep and crush training. Actually EJ taught me this and it helped my training a lot.

Basically, I would kink 1-30 bars in one session, depending on the difficulty of the bar, usually to about 4-4.5" between the legs (once I got into my actual strength range 3-5 bars was the right number). The next day I would work the open hand sweep on those bars until I had them to around 3.5" which is where I was able to interlock my fingers for the crush, which would be done usually the next day, or often later that evening if I had the urge. Sometimes I even stopped around 2.25" which is where I would switch to gripper crush and separate that too. I'd line them up on the table and run through them. There were sessions where I would just crush through 20 pieces of steel.

This type of training allowed me to really do more volume as I was working different muscles on different days rather than just exhausting the entire bending set every time I trained. It also allowed me to get more out of my steel as it had work hardened over night AND it stressed different parts of my hands and skin at different times. Thus, even though my hands were bruised or skin was raw from kinking, I could still sweep the next day, etc. By the time I got done crushing, my hands had healed enough for another kink session.

Glad to see you doing the work. It will pay off. Incidentally, H bars are the same thickness but quite a bit harder than Yellow Nails. Keep at it.

[EJ Livesey]

Sharkey explained it very, very well. He is a very detail oriented person, where as I am big picture person. I would have said, "kink, sweep and crush on three separate days. Different ROMs and your body will thank you. Plus it saves you money."

Very impressive explanation Mike.

[Mike Sharkey]

Sharkey explained it very, very well. He is a very detail oriented person, where as I am big picture person. I would have said, "kink, sweep and crush on three separate days. Different ROMs and your body will thank you. Plus it saves you money."

Very impressive explanation Mike.

I think that's your way of saying I have a lot of hot air

Anyway, its your concepts and ideas. Totally worked for me. I know there is an emotional component to bending a piece of steel and some people need that vitriolic energy, but for me the step by step methodical training appealed to my mind. As a musician, I enjoyed the hours of practice more than the concert itself though.

[JaredWith1R]

I too had a solid workout yesterday, though I feel that my videos lack some of the quality of OldRustyStuff's.

A x 6"

D x 6"

G x 7"

H x 7" #1

H x 7" #2

H x 7" #3

I x 7" (FAIL)

Bending Workout Log 12/10/14

• O1 DR A x 6”

  • easy, slightly off center (left longer), 2.25” wrap (2/10)

  • 0.2335”, 0.131” final

• D x 6”

  • easy, slightly OCL, 2.25” (4/10)

  • 0.245”, 0.141” final

• G x 7"

  • average effort, slightly OCL, 2.25” (5/10)

  • Felt great for a 7” bend. Got set fairly easily, high and under the chin.

  • 0.261”, 0.149” final

• H x 7" #1

  • some effort, centered bend, 2.25” (7/10)

  • Had some trouble getting set.

  • Some pain in Left Ring and Left Middle after the bend.

• H x 7" x#​

  • 0.266”, 0.190” final

  • better effort, CB, 2.25” (6/10)

  • Much better getting set under the chin. Felt like a great bend.

• ​H x 7" #3

  • 0.266”, 0.151” final

  • good effort, slightly OCL, 2.25” (6/10)

  • Finger pain slowed me down a little, but still no problem.

  • 0.266”, 0.166” final

• I x 7” (Failed)

  • terrible effort, no bend, 2.25” (9/10)

  • Really didn’t eat enough, started running out of energy after the H’s. Nothing left to draw from after the first few kink attempts.

  • 0.271”, 155 degree final bend

Should have a photo of my final bends, soon. The only sad one is the I, but that's just temporary. Thanks for all of the technique advice that I definitely need.

ninja edit: Terrible formatting

Edited December 11, 2014 by JaredWith1R

[Jared Goguen]

Thanks for the advise Mike and everyone else for that matter.

[Jared Goguen]

I too had a solid workout yesterday, though I feel that my videos lack some of the quality of OldRustyStuff's.

Yeah so I am a former professional YouTuber. I got the fancy camera, software, computer, and editing down.

You got some good stuff in those videos!

[king crusher]

Man I'm liking your guys race. You guys are pretty close to each other.

[Jared Goguen]

Man I'm liking your guys race. You guys are pretty close to each other.

Thanks!

[JaredWith1R]

Man I'm liking your guys race. You guys are pretty close to each other.

This sure is shaping up to be an interesting race! Both currently stuck at the I size.

[king crusher]

Man I'm liking your guys race. You guys are pretty close to each other.

This sure is shaping up to be an interesting race! Both currently stuck at the I size.

thats great though. You guys will push each other. Jared you gotta keep the bar closer to your chest. Is it hard for you to get it there? When you get close it starts to bend. When it's way away from your body you lose leverage and increase instability. Sorta like trying to deadlift away from your shins. You want the bar riding up your shins.

[Jared Goguen]

Man I'm liking your guys race. You guys are pretty close to each other.

This sure is shaping up to be an interesting race! Both currently stuck at the I size.

thats great though. You guys will push each other. Jared you gotta keep the bar closer to your chest. Is it hard for you to get it there? When you get close it starts to bend. When it's way away from your body you lose leverage and increase instability. Sorta like trying to deadlift away from your shins. You want the bar riding up your shins.

Also to add too the race we have the same name.

[JaredWith1R]

Man I'm liking your guys race. You guys are pretty close to each other.

This sure is shaping up to be an interesting race! Both currently stuck at the I size.

thats great though. You guys will push each other. Jared you gotta keep the bar closer to your chest. Is it hard for you to get it there? When you get close it starts to bend. When it's way away from your body you lose leverage and increase instability. Sorta like trying to deadlift away from your shins. You want the bar riding up your shins.

I find that I have trouble getting my force really driven into the bar when its too high or close to my chest, sometimes. It's a little difficult to remember from when I was bending, but I'm watching all of my videos to see what's going on. I recall that sometimes I think I have a good high position, then I try to push, and it's like I forgot how to use my muscles.

Man I'm liking your guys race. You guys are pretty close to each other.

This sure is shaping up to be an interesting race! Both currently stuck at the I size.

thats great though. You guys will push each other. Jared you gotta keep the bar closer to your chest. Is it hard for you to get it there? When you get close it starts to bend. When it's way away from your body you lose leverage and increase instability. Sorta like trying to deadlift away from your shins. You want the bar riding up your shins.

Also to add too the race we have the same name.

Word. I wasn't entirely sure who King Crusher was talking to ha! What are the chances?

[king crusher]

Haha guess I'll call rusty Jared, rusty haha.

[Jose Cabrera]

Jaredwith1r, i totally understand the muscle "amnesia", this stuff takes as much technical practice as it does strength and pain tolerance, just keep workin and study videos of the elite benders and youll get the swing of it faster than you can bend a white nail.

[JaredWith1R]

Jaredwith1r, i totally understand the muscle "amnesia", this stuff takes as much technical practice as it does strength and pain tolerance, just keep workin and study videos of the elite benders and youll get the swing of it faster than you can bend a white nail.

I have definitely found that to be helpful thus far. I binge watched a good amount of EJs videos the other day (slow workday), and my bending session after that felt like a significant improvement. So many technical details to watch over and perfect!

I definitely have to watch a few other benders so I can get a good variety of technique.

[Mike Sharkey]

Jaredwith1r, i totally understand the muscle "amnesia", this stuff takes as much technical practice as it does strength and pain tolerance, just keep workin and study videos of the elite benders and youll get the swing of it faster than you can bend a white nail.

I have definitely found that to be helpful thus far. I binge watched a good amount of EJs videos the other day (slow workday), and my bending session after that felt like a significant improvement. So many technical details to watch over and perfect!

I definitely have to watch a few other benders so I can get a good variety of technique.

Also check out David Wigren's bending videos. A highly technical, and also lighter, bender. Pay attention to the many different angles of force he is able to generate, especially in the open hand sweep.

[Alawadhi]

Jaredwith1r, i totally understand the muscle "amnesia", this stuff takes as much technical practice as it does strength and pain tolerance, just keep workin and study videos of the elite benders and youll get the swing of it faster than you can bend a white nail.

I have definitely found that to be helpful thus far. I binge watched a good amount of EJs videos the other day (slow workday), and my bending session after that felt like a significant improvement. So many technical details to watch over and perfect!

I definitely have to watch a few other benders so I can get a good variety of technique.

Also check out David Wigren's bending videos. A highly technical, and also lighter, bender. Pay attention to the many different angles of force he is able to generate, especially in the open hand sweep.

Yes but mind you we can't learn all of his technique from his videos. I mean no one should think he can learn his ways so easily. The dude is so flexible that he did bent a 10" 80d nail UNBRACED (also listed on fbbc). OF course bending his way is so better but not all of us can achieve, Aaron (acorn here) once got a Gold Nail prototype from Randal and Aaron said his biceps are too big right now to try anything over 6".

[king crusher]

Jaredwith1r, i totally understand the muscle "amnesia", this stuff takes as much technical practice as it does strength and pain tolerance, just keep workin and study videos of the elite benders and youll get the swing of it faster than you can bend a white nail.

I have definitely found that to be helpful thus far. I binge watched a good amount of EJs videos the other day (slow workday), and my bending session after that felt like a significant improvement. So many technical details to watch over and perfect!

I definitely have to watch a few other benders so I can get a good variety of technique.

Also check out David Wigren's bending videos. A highly technical, and also lighter, bender. Pay attention to the many different angles of force he is able to generate, especially in the open hand sweep.

Yes but mind you we can't learn all of his technique from his videos. I mean no one should think he can learn his ways so easily. The dude is so flexible that he did bent a 10" 80d nail UNBRACED (also listed on fbbc). OF course bending his way is so better but not all of us can achieve, Aaron (acorn here) once got a Gold Nail prototype from Randal and Aaron said his biceps are too big right now to try anything over 6".

Bicep size would have little to do with it. It's shoulder mobility. My biceps are over 17.5 cold and I'm pretty lean and I have zero issues getting an 8" bar up in position.

You'd have to have some giant 21" Arnold arms to have an issue is guess lol

Edited December 14, 2014 by king crusher

[Jared Goguen]

Not a session worth videoing but I went and worked on technique today with some extra yellow nails I had sitting around.