Tom's Road to the Tall Bastard

[Tom Flesher]

I missed a workout with @Anton.Torrella and @Vinnie today because of the weather but I promised Anton I'd bend anyway.

After a newbie wrist injury in January I lost some steam on bending. I read up on how people have bounced back from injuries and I decided to do three things:

1) Set a new intermediate goal. I'd been working up to the Bastard and bending 400-420lb bars in doubles, but I'm not there anymore. I'm working on the Tall Bastard now.

2) Work on my technique. To that end I'm using exclusively 8" stock to help build strength and shoulder flexibility.

3) Drop the double wraps. I'm bending exclusively in IMPs for now. I'm fairly convinced it was the double wraps encouraging me to bend bigger stuff than I was ready for that helped lead me to bending heavier steel than I should have with bad technique.

I bought a Road to the Tall Bastard bag from @Andrew P and I've been working my way through some light stock. Today I did two sessions of three bars each, totaling 2 CRS 1/4" rounds, two CRS 1/4" hex bars, one 17/64" piece of drill rod and one 9/32" CRS round. 

I'll update this as I go with bending workouts and probably accessory work too.

 

 

[Vinnie]

I missed it, too!  I will be there next week (if it is taking place on the holiday weekend).

[Tom Flesher]

6 hours ago, Jlark27 said:

Hi. What type of wrist injury did you sustain if you dont mind me asking? 

I have had some pretty bad injuries in both hands. But came back from it. I ask because when I bend 8" or longer bars, my wrists seem to be more valunurable. But by taking away the double wraps it kinda evens out.

Can you bend red nail stock ? When I was first able to bend the red nail, I could barely kink the bastard. I cut down reds and other types of 5/16 steel until I could finally get the bastard. 

So from the 8" do you plan to cut it down by 1/4" or more until you reach the bastard?

Are you new to bending? Sorry for soooo many questions. I know I have seen you here on the board but not lately. 

 

So, it was a sprain of some variety. Really nothing to write home about. I was working on a bolt and heard a popping sound in my left wrist, down by the ulnar knob. It wasn’t debilitating, but it made my bends really weak and painful for a while. It also led to some problems getting a good grip with the last two fingers - I was, eg, failing farmers walks with unimpressive weight. I took some time off to see if it would heal up and started rehabbing it with light grippers, and it feels like it’s back to normal.

I haven’t given the red a shot yet, but I’d venture that I’m probably not quite there. I am planning to cut down the 8” 5/16” stock - I have a few extra bars that I can work with - but a big part of this rehab run is getting comfortable with being explosive again. The first few bends coming back were tough, so I realized I needed to get some really light stock to build my way back up. I’ve got some heavier stock left over that I’m building toward.

I definitely consider myself new. I started bending stuff not very seriously last year in August. We’re talking a trip to Home Depot and working through a container of 16Ds, 20Ds, 40Ds, and ordering bags of 60Ds from Greschlers. Around November I picked up an advanced bag from FBBC and ground through some of that, but I didn’t have a real plan for it. I was just grabbing whatever felt right for the day and jumping all over different lengths in doubles.

It’s my hope that having a more organized approach is going to help me figure out my technique and get back the progress I had.

[FrankD]

Very nice Tom! I will be following your progress. Good luck with your goals. Train smart and you will reach them! For me, half the battle in progressing was trying my best to avoid injuries. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by FrankD

[Donc101]

Good luck with your goal! I’m not sure about the 2 sessions in 1 day. I think that is asking to get hurt. I would do all your bending in 1 session. That would cut out need to warm up 2x and limit over training. I’m excited to track your progress. 

[Danny Young]

I started bending on July 7th 2016. I've only had 1 injury back in September of 2016. When I finally recovered from the injuries I sustained in September. I began my journey in January of 2017 by ordering 1/4" Round CRS @7 from Ironmind and FBBC advance bag. On March 15th 2017 I successfully bent 2 FBBC bastards after bending 2 5/16" HRS @7 all in the same day. On March 31th 2017 bent a 7" 6.5" 6" FBBC golden bastard IMPs only and all in the same day. On April 17th 2017 I bent 2 FBBC shiny bastards consecutively all in the same day as well.

[Tom Flesher]

11 hours ago, FrankD said:

Very nice Tom! I will be following your progress. Good luck with your goals. Train smart and you will reach them! For me, half the battle in progressing was trying my best to avoid injuries. 

Thanks, Frank! I'm lucky it was just a newbie injury and nothing more serious - I wasn't taking care of myself at all, really. I'm trying to be patient this time around!

[Tom Flesher]

10 hours ago, Donc101 said:

Good luck with your goal! I’m not sure about the 2 sessions in 1 day. I think that is asking to get hurt. I would do all your bending in 1 session. That would cut out need to warm up 2x and limit over training. I’m excited to track your progress. 

Thanks, Don! Yeah, definitely something to think about. The double session arose from me crapping out on a bend I should have gotten and then coming back for more when I felt recovered. In retrospect, not my smartest move!

[Tom Flesher]

11 hours ago, Jlark27 said:

Those various d nails are good for conditioning and getting you used to the bending again.  One more thing, I have found it very difficult to build power on 8" stock and i am pretty flexible. Just be careful at that length, things only get bad once your hitting pr s at that length.

Truth. I may shift gears as I go - it'll just depend on how it's feeling, I guess! Always good to get advice from guys who have been there. 

[Tom Flesher]

It's a tough week for me. My classes have their last meetings this week and I promised them I'd do something stupid, painful, and possibly entertaining on the last day. For my micro classes, I'm bending 1/2" 24" HRS bars. For my macro class, I'm doing St Croix Forge Ultralite #2s. For my Current Economic Issues class, I'm bending a 60D  

Today I had a micro at 8 AM and a macro at 9:30. I also had to do a second shoe in the office because the chair wanted to know "the trick", so I showed her.

Since I got home kind of gassed already and didn't want to wear myself out for tomorrow (two long bars and a 60D), I didn't go too hard on the bending - I just bent and snapped a 1/4" 8" CRS bar. I've never snapped before - it's a hell of a workout!

 

 

[Chez]

That is pretty cool dude. I never had a teacher do anything as cool as that in class. Your students must think your awesome. 

[Tom Flesher]

It also discourages them from complaining about their grades.

[Anton.Torrella]

Haha yea if my economics professor bent some steel during class i would have paid a lot more attention - good bends Tom! Looking forward to saturday!

[Anton.Torrella]

On 5/19/2018 at 7:04 PM, Vinnie said:

I missed it, too!  I will be there next week (if it is taking place on the holiday weekend).

Oh it is definitely taking place!

[Vinnie]

3 hours ago, Anton.Torrella said:

Oh it is definitely taking place!

Only possible glitch is if I have my son that day, because I can't see him when I am at the nationals the next weekend and I love you guys but I love him more.  But it is a long weekend so maybe I can get him after grip and have him Sunday.

[Tom Flesher]

Following today's end of semester feats (two 24" x 1/2" bars, a 60D in double wraps that barely even counts, and two horseshoes for incredulous coworkers), I've decided to take tomorrow off of any strength work. The feats may not sound like much but they really stressed my upper body (and the leverage points on my thighs). 

[Anton.Torrella]

On 5/22/2018 at 5:45 PM, Vinnie said:

Only possible glitch is if I have my son that day, because I can't see him when I am at the nationals the next weekend and I love you guys but I love him more.  But it is a long weekend so maybe I can get him after grip and have him Sunday.

Hah sounds good - completely understandable

[Anton.Torrella]

On 5/22/2018 at 5:46 PM, crushonomics said:

Following today's end of semester feats (two 24" x 1/2" bars, a 60D in double wraps that barely even counts, and two horseshoes for incredulous coworkers), I've decided to take tomorrow off of any strength work. The feats may not sound like much but they really stressed my upper body (and the leverage points on my thighs). 

I love how you unveil your superpowers on the last day of class - all this time they thought you were just a mild-mannered economics professor.... - rest up!

[Tom Flesher]

Today was a morning run (4km aerobic, 5K race coming up on June 17) and then, after work, a bending workout. 4 1/4”x8” bars, two round and two hex. I’d planned to do some key pinch today, but that can wait!

[Tom Flesher]

It’s been days! I took a weekend trip with the wife to Philadelphia and brought a 1/4” bar to bend on Saturday just to keep my hands engaged. This morning I did a bunch of bending including a 6” grade 5 bolt, all in IMPs, and hit the treadmill for a short speed workout.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2018 by crushonomics

[Tom Flesher]

Wednesday 5/30: started Stronglifts 5x5. Weight is low enough right now that I'm not concerned about it interfering with bending, but if I find it does I'll slow down on the lifts. It's essentially assistance work for bending.

Speaking of, if anyone has assistance suggestions, I'd be more than happy to hear them.

3km jog

Squats: 5x5x150 (based on recent lifts)

Bench: 5x5x45 (I've not benched since high school and am finding my form)

Barbell row: 5x5x65

 

Thursday 5/31: 2.6km jog (speed work - 400m warmup, 1km at race pace, 200m recovery, 1km at race pace, then a cool down)

Bends: 1/4x8 hex

17/64x8 drill rod x2 (video posted)

1/4x7 square

 

 

[FrankD]

21 minutes ago, crushonomics said:

Speaking of, if anyone has assistance suggestions, I'd be more than happy to hear them.

The three movements you listed - squat, BP and BB row should work very well with double overhand bending. 

[Tom Flesher]

30 minutes ago, FrankD said:

The three movements you listed - squat, BP and BB row should work very well with double overhand bending. 

Thanks, Frank!

[wobbler]

Clasp your hands under your chin and pull apart, isometric with various times and % effort. Works upper back and shoulders pretty much in exact opposition to overhand bending.

[Tom Flesher]

Thank you!

Friday 6/1: 4km hill module on the treadmill at my easy run/aerobic pace (took around 27:30, my easy run pace is a touch over 11 minutes/mile) and then the B day of the 5x5 program

Squats 5x5x150

Overhead Press 5x5x5

Deadlift 1x5x145

Saw my doctor today. He doesn't fully understand bending or why you'd do it, but keep up the strength and cardio. I'm going to be in a new weight class next time I see him.