Guest james Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 I just wanna know: How to tear a phone book? What excercises should I do to help me tear a phone book? Could you recommend me any websites or books about phone book tearing? I just do grip(2x week) with the COCs-can't close the #2 yet 1/2" more to go. I tried 'tearing' a phone book and it didn't even budge a bit! Any advice would be appreciated! JAMES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CalvinP Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 In 1975 I discover an "easy" way to rip the phone book. I call it The Leverage rip. Eventually I got better to the point I can tear the thickest one I found in Arlinton VA in less than 20 seconds. The white page there was about 2.1/2" thick. I don't know how many people know this method. I don't flare the pages for the tear at all. But for me I have won so many bets with it. See, my hands are small, yet with the right leverage, You can do it too. I see some of the Pros rip it the conventional way, I can't do it. People probably ask: What is the leverage rip? Before I will ever tell any one. I can say it still take a good grip to tear it apart. Start with a small book about 1/2" inch , pick it up and just mess with it and see if you can find a way to rip it easiest without flaring the pages. That was what I did 26 years ago. The key was with small book you don't have to worry how you control the rip first, so you can have a chance to figure it out. When I did rip it, I did in front of everyone, but it seemed like people got no idea how I did it. I have a feeling someone here know the same thing I do. If in a while no one responds, then I will see if I am willing to reveal my secret. Any phone book less than 1" thick I can rip it in less than 2-3 seconds. Yet! I almost never practice it, because like I said before: using leverage is the key Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega Force Member Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 James I have torn several phone books as a member of the Omega Force strength team and here is how we do it. Take the phone book in hand then push and fold til a V type of crease appears. Hold the V position(the point will face away from you) and then place the thumbs on the inside of the V and the rest of the fingers on the back side of the book. Then while hoding the V tightly pull the phone book apart and it should POP! One side note, you will have to exert some strong force to POP IT!I would start with and less than 300 page phone book and work my way up. Tearing phone books takes practice and persistence. I am okay with them, but not as good as other Omega Force members. God Bless You Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest woody36 Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 James, i don't know if this will help? http://www.sandow.plus.com/Competition/Cou...s/stunts1.htm#1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest james Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 woody36 - thanks for the link. I'll have a look at it. CalvinP - Tell me your secret about the leverage rip. Tell me your 'easy' way of tearing a phonebook. Could anyone recommend me any excercise for tearing a phonebook? Advice would be appreciated. JAMES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest woody36 Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 Removal of duplicated post. (Edited by woody36 at 3:30 am on Oct. 29, 2001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest woody36 Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 James, The easiest way is to break the book along the spine,by pulling back and forth folding the book back as tight as you can you will tear along the top. Once you have the tear,start pulling in a downwards motion this will help pull the book apart.Keep your arms tight and grip as tightly as possible,once you have a good start it should be then possible to rip the book by forcing one hand away from the other. If phone book tearing is going to be your passion, look for things to tear,cards,old newspapers cut into strips and piled up into different thickness levels will give you something to gauge your strength and build upon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CalvinP Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 James Listen to Omega Force member. It sounds like that's what I do to rip the phone book. Start small then you will see it can get thick in a hurry. My motto: "Leverage's key" in everything that requires strength, or you can use brute strength! But why? if can do it better and save energy with Leverage. Like when we position the CoC in our hand to get a better leverage for closing. Didn't Sir Issac Newton once said: "Give the right leverage and I can lift the Earth"? Good luck with your quest and It may get you a few dates as a bet like I did. LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Black Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 That would be Archimedes. He said: "Give me a lever long enough, and a prop strong enough, and I can singlehandedly move the world." Obviously, Archimedes never attempted to close a #3 Gripper or rip a phone book (what lever could he have used?). (Edited by Tom Black at 12:01 pm on Oct. 29, 2001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest woody36 Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 James, don't know if you've seen them but there's a couple of pics on these of book tearing. http://www.dixie-net.com/breakforce/see.htm '>http://www.muscle.org/pictures.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jason Horne Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 Hey everyone. I got a bit bored with doing homework so i thought id burn some time by posting a bit on here. Firstly for those who dont know, my dad (David) recently did a telephone book tearing feat to raise money for charity. The idea was to see how many he could tear in half in 30 miniutes. The books that were used were on average 2 inches thick, most were more. Dad managed 42, this included giving a live interview to the local radio during the 30 miniutes. The event was a prominent feature of all the local newspapers the next day, and the fact he managed to raise £600 for a local hospice (near ) was very appreciated. But that was slightly ot. I tore my first telephone directory when i was 7, and it took me over 5 miniutes to do, since then this is what i have learnt. When tearing books you will find that 'breaking' the spine is the most difficult thing to do, older phone books used to use alot more glue on the spine, this meant it was possible to put a tear in it by simply bringing it down hard onto your leg. But nowadays the spine is merely another thin piece of paper holding the other thousand or so pages together, and requires much more teqnique and strength to tear. The best way of doing this is explosively, by moving the book backwards and forwards you will only dislodge pages and break the spine accross instead of vertically, which makes it much more difficult. You should try and hold it as firmly as possible and then apply pressure diagonaly with your hands, away from each other so left hand goes away from you and to the left, right hand comes towards you and to the right. At the same time turn your hands and attenpt to push throught with your fingers (or thumbs depending on which way you're holding it, although ive never seen anyone do it thet way round). This, with enough strength will work, and from then on just retain a firm grip, perhaps reajusting closer to the origin (part of the book that is in the path of the tear but not yet torn) and use shoulder, bicep and chest strength to continue tearing. Once you have managed to tear a few big books, some interesting advancements are, tearing packs of cards, tearing funny shapes, and the very difficullt tearing of books, not from the spine. I hope this has been of some use to someone, i hope my spelling was not too bad and i hope i have time to finish my homework now. Jason Horne, proud closer of the number 2, and soon to be youngest closer of the number 3!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest woody36 Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 Jason, i can't tear a book in the method you described, but i have torn one by breaking the spine.This is why i assume it's the easier way,at the time i did it i had only been training for about a month. Mind you, i did have a big lever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CalvinP Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 HI Tom Thanks for correction about who said it (had been 26 years ago since my hight school day). As for the quote, I translated it from another langue to English that was translated from French to that langue, confuse enough? But the meaning 's basicly same. With a long lever one can generate a lot of force using leverage point of the fulcrum (correct spell I hope). The CoC gripper has handles, and we all knew squeezing it away from the coil generate more force, the handles therefore are the levers. But too bad we also have less finger and palm to click-close it as well, not to mention the gripper become wider too as we move away from the coil. Unless your hand are long enough! I would think if all CoC handles are parallel (same width), then so many of us can close #3: More leverage. I said the word too many times excuse me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobsterone Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 I find that the spine method is easeist. In fact I have never done it the other way. I also find that I need to practise and so have 'borrowed' the yellow pages left outside of empty houses and saved them up. There is also the kink method which is used with cards and can be used with thick books. Lastly isn't there something on this in Brookfields book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest james Posted November 1, 2001 Share Posted November 1, 2001 I have Brookfield's book. I've read it a million times. He talks about people ripping phone books with duct tapes etc but he doesn't tell HOW to rip a phone book. Does anyone have a book on "HOW TO TEAR PHONEBOOKS?" What excercises? James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest woody36 Posted November 1, 2001 Share Posted November 1, 2001 James, It's very doubtful someone would write a book just on Phone book tearing,it's usually just part of a Strongmans act. If you just want excercises? Train your wrists one day eg:wrist roller,wrist curls, hammer curls. later on in week- Pinch Grip-one/two handed,thick- handled bar lifts,COC grippers. The options are endless,the point is if you build a solid strength base then tearing a phonebook is going to be that much easier.This is why Brookfield doesn't say specifically how to do it,if you train your Grip/forearms on a few well chosen excercises that Brookfield recommends then you can't go wrong. You don't build a house on clay,you start with strong foundations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harlan Jacobs Posted November 7, 2001 Share Posted November 7, 2001 I read where Jason Horne tore his first phone book at 7 years old. Well, I would just like to mention that my 14 year old daughter left me a 430 page phone book on the table this morning that she had tore in half from top to bottem.She has only been working on tearing for about 2 weeks. I was impressed ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryduty Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 James, I just received a book that you might want to check out. (I bought it used from Amazon.com for $5) It's titled MUSCLEBLASTING! Brief and Brutal Shock Trainingby Robert Kennedy & Don Ross. This book has a chapter on feats of strength for Strongmen (i.e. tearing a phone book in half, bending spikes, breaking a chain, bursting a hot water bottle, tearing license plates, etc.) and with each feat of strength listed is a recommendation of specific exercises to perform that is designed to build strength for that specific feat of strength. Hope this helps! Strongman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarBender Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 Bursting a hot water bottle is a feat best left alone. This one is potentially fatal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest james Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 Strongman - Thanks for the info. I'll have a look at the book. Train Smart. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnimalCage Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 My elbow injuries (from being over-zealous, end of January) have subsided. I've been working with 3/4" books for the past month. I warmed up today with a few 1/2"ers, and tried 2 1" books with no pain. When I tear through the spine, I haven't had to brace the book (yet), but tearing top to bottom, I had to brace the book against my leg. Is it common for tearing enthusiasts to brace the book against their body? Thanks, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersqueeze Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 I only tear lengthwise (top to bottom) and always have the book resting on my thigh. I cannot tear anything very thick yet, though I have been trying for a long time. I fear my technique probably sucks. I have read all the descriptions about book tearing technique I can find. Sadly, I have a hard time visuallizing most of them. What I do is pinch tightly with both hands and then twist with my wrists to start the tear. The book is always resting against the outside of my left thigh at this point. If the tear starts, the rest is easy. How do you tear when going top to bottom? -Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Say Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 I've read all the descriptions & I have a hard time picturing them too. What's all that talk about leverage? How does that work? What's with the 'V' how does that help? How does it POP? Is the spine up or down when doing that? Once the tear is started, do you just pull with one hand & pull with the other or is there more to it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 I've only had the curiousity to tear a phone book just once. It was a big, thick 3 inch deal, and I didn't put a dent in it. That ended my curiousity! :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Say Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 After reading in Iron Grip that David Horne tore something like 30 in half in only 10 minutes & reading that other guys say it really easy just makes me want to do it more! :crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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