Donati's Log Of Steel Bending, Grip And Powerlifting

[Buccos1]

Sat (5/4)

Michigan Bending and Breaking Championships
5/4/2019

Double Overhand (IMPs)
1/4 x 7" square - good 
Bastard (5/16 x 7" CRS) - good 

Reverse  (DHWG wraps)
1/4 x 6" Grade 5 - good 

Double Underhand (IMPs)
Bastard (5/16 x 7" CRS) - bent to 33 degrees 
passed on 2nd attempt

Braced - Spike
12" spike - good

Braced - long bar
3/4 x 40" HRS - good

Medley (4 events)
8" wrench - good
DC1 horseshoe - good
3/8 x 14" HRS snap - good
unbraced oval nail snap - 3 total
total medley points: 13

Overall - 2nd Place

I had planned to attend this competition since Don made the announcement last year.  The months leading up to the competition had been very difficult and almost affected my participation, or at least made it closer to 50-50 instead of 99.9 - .01, which it had been originally.  But, things improved enough that I booked a hotel and made final plans in the weeks leading up to 5/4.  

Overall, a great competition, with a lot of guys bending/competing.  This was also a very unique competition as it tested most styles of bending and turned out to be an absolute marathon and test of will and pain tolerance.  

Event 1 - Double overhand 
My first attempt was a 1/4 x 7" square which was a relatively easy bend.  As always with square, your fingers take somewhat of a beating, but nothing unusual.  Attempt #2 was a Bastard from FBBC.  It was an easy bend and was in the 10-second range (don't have the actual numbers).

Event 2 - Reverse
This has always been my weakest style, mainly due to not having spent much time on it and partly due to frustration of it never having felt "right."  But, in preparation for this competition, I dedicated a lot of time to reverse-style.  I recently bent my first grade 5 bolt reverse in single IMPs recently, which was a major hurdle to overcome mentally with this style.  In training with DHWG wraps, my best bend to date with a grade 5 had been about 20 degrees.  When I selected the Grade 5 today, it was with a goal of getting a decent kink, while not necessarily thinking a full bend was a possibility.  But, as the stars alligned, I got an excellent first hit into the bar, and it moved like I wasn't expecting.  I hit it two more times and took it down to about 40 degrees.  One more quick hit ensured that I got my first official Grade 5 revese bend in single DHWG wraps.  Always nice to set a PR in a comp too.

Event 3 - Double underhand
I knew if I had any chance of beating Don today, I would have to make some big attempts, and maybe take a few chances.  I decided to attempt a Bastard with my first double underhand attempt.  My previous best DU with a Red in single IMPs was in the 25 degree range, I believe; I had never made an attempt at DU with a bastard, in single IMPs.  After my usual warm-up, I made my first attempt at the Bastard and got excellent movement.  I took another two hits and got the bar, ultimately to about 32 degrees.  I was going to make a last hit but my thumb and palm were still reeling from the reverse attempt shortly before this.  I ended up passing on my second attempt, as did Don.  The 32 degree Bastard bend put me at #1 for double-underhand.  I was happy with this, as I had planned to make a second attempt at the Bastard, with the goal of being a partial bend with DHWG wraps a few months back.

Event 4 - Spike
Easy, easy bend.  I had no idea where to go with this.  I have bent a lot of 10" spikes in training, but have gotten several mutants over time, which have consistently stopped me around 20-30 degrees.  Thinking about the possibility of the same, I went with the 12".  It turned out to be a sub-10 second bend (by a lot) and was regrettably easy.  But, the bend had to be completed to count, so I didn't want to chance it, especially being the one event I didn't really train for.  

Event 5 - Long Bar
This turned out to be a brutal bend!  My best 3/4" bend was back in 2011.  At that time, I was in the 35-36" range at 3/4".  In the training leading up to this event, I had bent a few bars at 3/4" diameter at lengths of 41.5, 42, 44 and 48".  The shortest two were tough, but didn't really stop me at any stage.  There were several of  us bending at the same time: Don, Tom, Anton and myself (all attempting 3/4 x 40" stock).  Immediately, I knew I was in trouble as I couldn't get a good grip on the wraps, when I was trying to kink the bar.  My hand slipped a few times, and then I ended up dropping the bar before trying to re-set a couple of times.  All-in-all, this wasted about 2 minutes.  So, 2 minutes in (5 min. time limit), the bar was bent about 10 degrees and my hands were tired, sore and hurting.  After several attempts, nothing much was happening.  

I stopped briefly and saw how Don (finished), Anton and Tom were doing with their bars.  Don killed his and Tom was almost at the leg crush.  I think Anton was having similar troubles as I.  At this point, I regained some of my composure and power and made another attempt to get the bar moving.  I got a good grip on the far handle/wrap and was able to move a leg about 30-40 degrees, at which point I kept transitioning to a lower-bar position while sweeping.  When I got stuck on the sweep, I made a few chest crush hits and got the bar to about 45-50 degrees.  Around this time, I heard people calling out the time we had left, which was quickly approaching zero.  I had the bar into leg crush position when someone began counting down at 10 seconds.  I put everything I had left into those hits and officially completed the bend at about 1 second left.  I have bent a ton of long bar/HRS in the past 10 years and this was probably the toughest, given the circumstances.  It also took a long time for me to recover after this event.

Medley (4 choices)
I went with the DC1 horseshoe first and took it down relatively quick (3 points).  Next up was the wrench.  I picked the 8" wrench, of which I've bent several in training.  Today, though, I could only get about a 10 degree kink after several attempts.  I ended up rewrapping it twice as the wraps kept slipping and time was wasting.  Finally, after several minutes and attempts, I got more movement over my leg, and then took it down to crush it.  At his point, I finished it with a strong leg crush.  Next up was braced snapping, which I selected the 3/8 x 14" bar.  In training, I have bent several similar bars, most of which have taken about 8 minutes.  I'm not sure about today's time, but it was faster then the training bends.  (4 points).  Finally, I began making attempts at the unbraced oval nail snaps.  This too, was better than I did in training, including time.  I snapped 3 nails until time was nearly up.  (3 points )  Total: 13 points (out of 16)

Final thoughts:
This trip almost didn't happen for me.  As discussed above, there were challenges in the months leading up to the event.  Both of my kids were sick a few days before too, and almost forced me to change plans.  But all of that ended up working out (mostly) and let me get up the night before and get semi-settled.  I was very happy to have another chance to compete against other people in a dedicated bending comp.  This one was incredible in the scope of events that were contested.  A true test of overall bending ability.  If someone had a weakness, it would have been exploited.  I ended up taking 2nd place at last years comp in Massachusetts; Don took first.  Once again, I took 2nd place and Don got the top spot.  I did not make the trip to take 2nd and had my sights set on first place the entire time, but knew it would be very difficult.  In the end, I did better than I had planned on several events and am happy with 2nd place.  I hope that there is another in the future and I get at least one more chance to compete, as these things help continue to fuel the fire into its second decade. 

Finally, there were some very cool trophies put together by Don and his father-in-law and sculptures by Josh Henze!  Don put on a great contest and had some great food and drink ready for everyone afterwards.  It was really great to get a chance to see some familiar faces again, meet some new people and hang out with a bunch of like-minded people who share some element of the passion of bending.

 

 

[Anton.Torrella]

Awesome job at the comp Carl - congrats again on your first reverse gr5 and your DU bastard bend was really impressive! You really powered up and went into beast-mode right at the end on that 3/4 x 40" bar and I remember watching you switch pads and relentlessly attack the 8" wrench til you killed it - really great work at every event - great seeing you again and really glad you were able to make it and bring the heat! Fierce competition as always!

[Buccos1]

On 5/7/2019 at 1:15 PM, Anton.Torrella said:

Awesome job at the comp Carl - congrats again on your first reverse gr5 and your DU bastard bend was really impressive! You really powered up and went into beast-mode right at the end on that 3/4 x 40" bar and I remember watching you switch pads and relentlessly attack the 8" wrench til you killed it - really great work at every event - great seeing you again and really glad you were able to make it and bring the heat! Fierce competition as always!

Thanks Anton!  I was very happy with everything and am not sure things could have gone better (aside from the too-easy 12' spike bend).  Reverse has been a pain for me over the years and was really the only thing I didn't spend much time with - mainly due to not being that good at it and not wanting to admit it to myself.  But in the months leading up to this comp, through consistent training on it, my reverse has started to climb and previously thought of bars that might have been "impossible" are starting to fall.  I'll probably continue to work it in, with hopes of making it to another comp next year.

That 3/4 x 40" bar was brutal.  Things were just not aligning the first few minutes and then the realization that I wasn't going to finish the bar, and looking over at Tom destroying his attempt, got a boost of desperation adrenaline.  Afterwards though, I wasn't 100% sure where I was.  LOL

Good times.  Great fight with your bar too.  They were tough stock.  Wish we could have met up that night too!

[Buccos1]

Tue (5/7)

Axle Bench Press
(1x5)  125
(1x3)  175
(1x3)  215
(1x2)  255
(1x1)  285

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5)  bar
(1x5)  85
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  155
(1x1)  175

Pull-ups
(2x5)

Everything was still sore and hurting today from the comp this past weekend.  I usually take a day after a competition (bending, grip, powerlifting) and get back into something easy, more if I'm feeling strong.  But after Saturday's bending competition, and 2+ day's rest, I thought I might be OK once I got moving.  No.  Not even close.  Every single rep was painful today.  

[Buccos1]

Wed (5/8)

Deadlifts
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  405
(1x1)  425

Grippers - MMS
(1x5)  Trainer
(1x3)  #1
(1x3)  #1.5
(1x3)  HG 200 - 95
(1x2)  GHP5 - 111
(1x1)  RB 210 - 120


Today was another rough session.  Numbers felt down across the board by 10-15%.  If I'm still feeling this rundown tomorrow, I'll take a few days off completely.

[Buccos1]

Thur (5/9)

DU - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
1/4 x 7" Grade 5
18/64 x 7" CRS

Barbell Curls
(1x5)  bar
(1x5)  65
(1x5)  95
(1x5)  115

Pull-ups
(2x7)

Band Pushdowns
(2x20)

[Buccos1]

Sat (5/11)

Squats
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  275
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  335
(1x1)  365

Grippers - 20mm
(1x3)  Trainer
(1x3)  #1.5
(1x2)  #2 - 114
(1x2)  GHP5 - 111
(1x1)  RB 210 - 120

Pull-ups
(2x7)

[Buccos1]

Sun (5/12)

DO - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
18/64 x 7" O1
Red Nail

Reverse - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
Yellow Nail (6")

Ironmind Hub
(1x1)  40
(1x1)  50
(1x1)  55

[Buccos1]

Mon (5/13)

Axle Bench Press
(1x5)  125
(1x3)  175
(1x3)  215
(1x3)  255
(1x1)  305

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5)  bar
(1x5)  95
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  165
(1x0)  190

Pull-ups
(2x8)

[Buccos1]

Wed (5/15)

Sumo Deadlift
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
add briefs
(1x1)  405
(1x1)  435
(1x1)  475

Pull-ups (+25)
(2x4)

[Buccos1]

Sat (5/18)

Squats
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  275
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  345
(1x1)  375

Grippers - MMS
(1x3)  #1
(1x3)  #1.5
(1x3)  HG 200 - 95
(1x2)  GHP5 - 111
(1x1)  RB 210 - 120
(1x1)  Super Master - 126

[Buccos1]

Sun (5/19)

DU - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
1/4 x 5" Grade 5

DU - BBW
1/4 x 6" Grade 8

Pull-ups
(2x8)

Band Pushdowns
(2x20)

[Buccos1]

Mon (5/20)

Bench Press
(1x5)  135
(1x3)  185
(1x3)  225
(1x3)  265
(1x3)  300

Push-ups
(2x20)

[Buccos1]

Thur (5/23)

Deadlift
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  405
(1x1)  455

Grippers - 20mm
(1x3)  #1
(1x3)  HG200 - 95
(1x1)  GHP5 - 111
(1x1)  RB210 - 120

[Buccos1]

Sat (5/25)

Squats
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  275
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  335
(1x1)  365

DU - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
17/64 x 7" O1
1/4 x 6.5" Grade 5

Pull-ups
(2x8)

[Buccos1]

Sun (5/26)

DO - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
18/64 x 7" O1
Red Nail

Reverse - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
1/4 x 6.5" O1

Horseshoe
Diamond Classic #00

Grippers - MMS
(1x3)  Trainer
(1x3)  #1.5
(1x3)  #2 - 102
(1x3)  #2 - 114
(1x3)  RB210 - 120

Finger Walk - F/B
(2x1)  10

Seems like I am developing an issue with my hand and forearm, which is likely due to pushing things too hard with reverse lately.  Bending today was unusually painful.  Kind of surprised too that I got 3 solid reps with the 120, with how everything was feeling.  I'm going to start turning recovery focus to my hand/forearm to hopefully prevent any mid- or long-term issues.

 

[Buccos1]

Mon (5/27)

3" Axle Bench Press
(1x5)  125
(1x3)  175
(1x3)  215
(1x2)  255
(1x1)  285

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5)  95
(1x3)  135
(1x3)  155
(1x1)  185

Band Pushdowns
(2x25)

[Buccos1]

Tue (5/28)

3" Axle Curls
(1x5)  bar
(1x5)  55
(1x5)  75
(1x5)  85

Ironmind Hub
(1x1)  40
(1x1)  50
(1x1)  60

Stub
(1x1)  20
(1x1)  25
(1x1)  30

Finger Walk - F/B
(2x1)  10

[Buccos1]

Wed (5/29)

Sumo Deadlift
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
add briefs
(1x1)  405
(1x1)  425
(1x1)  455

Pull-ups
(3x7)

[Buccos1]

Sat (6/1)

Squats
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  275
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  345
(1x1)  385

Grippers - 25mm
(1x3)  #1
(1x3)  HG200 - 95
(1x1)  #2 - 114
(1x1)  RB210 - 120

[Buccos1]

Sun (6/2)

DU - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
1/4 x 7" Grade 5

Reverse - IMPs
Yellow Nail
Yellow Nail (6")
60d spiral
1/4 x 6.5" O1

Pull-ups
(2x10)

Band Pushdowns
(2x25)

 

[Buccos1]

Mon (6/3)

Bench Press
(1x5)  135
(1x3)  185
(1x3)  225
(1x3)  255
(1x2)  305

Standing Barbell Press
(1x5)  bar
(1x5)  95
(1x5)  135
(1x2)  165
(1x1)  190

Barbell Curls
(1x5)  bar
(1x5)  80
(1x3)  135

The 190x1 on strict press tied a PR.  But, today, my weight was around 210; the last time I did it, I was around 195 bodyweight.  Not a perfect rep, but still working towards a 200lb. strict press.

[Buccos1]

Thur (6/6)

Deadlifts
(1x3)  135
(1x2)  225
(1x1)  315
(1x1)  405
(1x1)  455

[Buccos1]

Fri (6/7)

DU - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
18/64 x 7" CRS
1/4 x 7" Grade 5

Horseshoe
SCF Lite Rim #2

Braced
12" spike (hard)

I grabbed a bunch of spikes from Lowes last week and finally got around to making an attempt on one.  As easy as the spikes were at the comp, these were brutal.  The others were "U"-shaped; this one bent like an "A."  Left some nice bruises too, which is unusual for 12" spikes.  

[Buccos1]

Sun (6/9)

DO - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
18/64 x 7" O1
Red Nail

Reverse - IMPs
Yellow Nail
60d spiral
1/4 x 6" O1 (30 deg.)

Grippers - 20mm
(1x3)  Trainer
(1x3)  #1.5
(1x3)  HG 200 - 95
(1x1)  GHP5 - 111
(1x1)  RB 240N - 117
(1x1)  #2.5 - 123

Pull-ups
(3x7)

Seem to be having some issues with two of my fingers (in addition to my knuckle on reverse).  It started to hurt on the GHP5 during grippers.  I made a few adjustments, and everything was OK, but weaker in positioning.