Metacarpal Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 Hello, I have only been bending for a few months and I have been stuck on a 7"x9/32 O-1 drill rod for around three weeks. I have it wobbled but it does not seem to want to go any further than what the attached picture below shows (ie I have not moved it past this point despite 4-5 attempts per workout 2x/week for past 3 weeks.) I can fully bend 5.5x17/64 O-1. I have some 0.290 W-1 Drill rod coming on Tuesday that will hopefully help bridge the gap. In the meantime I want to make sure that everything else I am doing it optimal. 1. For you experienced benders, did you find dynamic sledge levering very helpful for getting bigger bends? Was isometric better? Or did you not find much carryover? 2. Do you see any glaring problems with me technique? See attached videos (one is me getting an easy 60D the other is failing at a 9/32 O-1. ) Lastly, I know I am very much a n00b at this point in my bending training so if the answer is just to keep training and see what happens I totally understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Young Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 23 hours ago, Metacarpal said: Hello, I have only been bending for a few months and I have been stuck on a 7"x9/32 O-1 drill rod for around three weeks. I have it wobbled but it does not seem to want to go any further than what the attached picture below shows (ie I have not moved it past this point despite 4-5 attempts per workout 2x/week for past 3 weeks.) I can fully bend 5.5x17/64 O-1. I have some 0.290 W-1 Drill rod coming on Tuesday that will hopefully help bridge the gap. In the meantime I want to make sure that everything else I am doing it optimal. 1. For you experienced benders, did you find dynamic sledge levering very helpful for getting bigger bends? Was isometric better? Or did you not find much carryover? 2. Do you see any glaring problems with me technique? See attached videos (one is me getting an easy 60D the other is failing at a 9/32 O-1. ) Lastly, I know I am very much a n00b at this point in my bending training so if the answer is just to keep training and see what happens I totally understand. Buy letter "i" (.272") O-1 drill rod by working your way to 5.5" lengths. Also try working your way down to a 4.5" grade 5 bolt @1/4" diameter. Add levering an 8lb sledgehammer into your training. Looks like you are bending with modified DU which will help you bending bigger stock than traditional DU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metacarpal Posted October 14, 2018 Author Share Posted October 14, 2018 15 hours ago, Danny Young said: Buy letter "i" (.272") O-1 drill rod by working your way to 5.5" lengths. Also try working your way down to a 4.5" grade 5 bolt @1/4" diameter. Add levering an 8lb sledgehammer into your training. Looks like you are bending with modified DU which will help you bending bigger stock than traditional DU. Thanks man! I ordered some 0-1 0.272. I have some 6x1/4 G5s from ACE hardware, but at this time I can only wobble them to about the same degree as the 9/32. I see you do a fair amount of DU bending as well. When you use the modified version, is most of your emphasis on pushing the ends of the bar together (ie folding) or do you focusing more on torqueing the bar downward? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Young Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Metacarpal said: Thanks man! I ordered some 0-1 0.272. I have some 6x1/4 G5s from ACE hardware, but at this time I can only wobble them to about the same degree as the 9/32. I see you do a fair amount of DU bending as well. When you use the modified version, is most of your emphasis on pushing the ends of the bar together (ie folding) or do you focusing more on torqueing the bar downward? If You can only wobble a 6" grade 5 then you shouldn't be attempting 9/32" O-1 drill rod. Your next stock should be .272" @7" and gradually work towards bending them at 5.5" lengths. Modified DU is like a upside down double overhand bend. So, yes most of your emphasis will be pushing on the ends of the bar while applying some torque from the wrist. I personally bend traditional DU with my hands very close together which seemed to always feel more natural than modified. I should also mention it might be ideal for you to only train traditional DU until you've developed up enough torque in your wrists before using modified DU to bend bigger stock. Edited October 14, 2018 by Danny Young 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 On 10/14/2018 at 11:27 AM, Danny Young said: If You can only wobble a 6" grade 5 then you shouldn't be attempting 9/32" O-1 drill rod. Your next stock should be .272" @7" and gradually work towards bending them at 5.5" lengths. Modified DU is like a upside down double overhand bend. So, yes most of your emphasis will be pushing on the ends of the bar while applying some torque from the wrist. I personally bend traditional DU with my hands very close together which seemed to always feel more natural than modified. I should also mention it might be ideal for you to only train traditional DU until you've developed up enough torque in your wrists before using modified DU to bend bigger stock. @Danny YoungI like your recommendations, especially the one about training traditional DU until he's developed more strength and THEN working on the Modified DU technique. Before I hit my zenith on Modified DU (Fantastic Bastard on the short side of the spectrum - and 5.5" Edgin on the longer side of the spectrum), I had done a lot (years worth) of DU bending with my hands very close together and used pretty conservative (not quite as thick as a single pair of Ironmind pads when wrapped around a bar) wraps. I was patient when learning Modified DU and it paid off pretty quickly with much bigger bends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 On 10/12/2018 at 7:33 PM, Metacarpal said: Hello, I have only been bending for a few months and I have been stuck on a 7"x9/32 O-1 drill rod for around three weeks. I have it wobbled but it does not seem to want to go any further than what the attached picture below shows (ie I have not moved it past this point despite 4-5 attempts per workout 2x/week for past 3 weeks.) I can fully bend 5.5x17/64 O-1. I recommend cheat kinking (using two hollow steel pipes or even braced bending over your thigh) the 9/32"x7" DR O-1 to about 45 degrees. Then doing some attempts at that range during a workout. This way you will get used to the feel of moving it or at least doing isometric hits on it at different angles than a barely wobbled bar. If you can't move it at all during that workout, the next workout cheat kink it to about 90 degrees and then try again. You'll get a different range of isometric work that way. And if you can't move it at all from 90 degrees, cheat kink it to about 3" - 3.5" between the tips and try to crush it down. I have some 0.290 W-1 Drill rod coming on Tuesday that will hopefully help bridge the gap. In the meantime I want to make sure that everything else I am doing it optimal. 1. For you experienced benders, did you find dynamic sledge levering very helpful for getting bigger bends? Was isometric better? Or did you not find much carryover? Never did much sledge levering, but I know enough former elite benders that were fond of sledge levering who sing its praises. Plus, it's cheaper than bending steel bars all the time, lol. 2. Do you see any glaring problems with me technique? See attached videos (one is me getting an easy 60D the other is failing at a 9/32 O-1. ) I actually think your Modified DU technique is very solid already. One tip that might help is to hold your isometric "hits" a few seconds longer than what your body and brain tell you is optimal. An elite bender on the board gave me that advice a long time ago and it made a big difference within a few workouts for me. Lastly, I know I am very much a n00b at this point in my bending training so if the answer is just to keep training and see what happens I totally understand. It looks like you are using leather pads currently. Nothing wrong with that. However, you may get a good training effect by "retiring" your leather pads for a few months and bending solely with Ironmind pads. They do not have as much "grip" on the bar. So you have to squeeze a bit harder. This will probably feel like your progress is going in reverse. The proof that it is working will be 6 to 8 weeks down the line when you get your trusty leather wraps out again and absolutely MURDER the 9/32"x7" DR O-1 bar. You should also chalk the inside and outside of your leather wraps. And same for the Ironmind pads. It helps the wraps get a better grip on the bar - and YOU to get a better grip on the bar. Experimenting a bit with your bar placement (how much of the bar you put inside the wraps) can also have a big payoff in a short period of time. To some guys it's common sense to vary the amount of bar that is put into the wraps depending on the style of bending they are doing. But I didn't have that common sense and had to figure it out myself over time. Here are some examples using a 7" bar for reference. And these are for me. Yours may vary a little or a lot. Or it might be the tip that gets you over the 9/32" DR O-1 hump. Modified DU, Ironmind pads - ideal results with 2" of the bar (on each side) in the pads. Modified DU, fat pads (double set of leather pads) - ideal results with 1.25" of the bar in the pads. DO, Ironmind pads - ideal results with 1.75" of the bar in the pads. DO, fat pads - ideal results with 1.25" of the bar in the pads. When I used even thinner pads (Ironmind pads cut in half or very thin leather wraps), I put slightly more of the bar in the pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 On 10/14/2018 at 10:08 AM, Metacarpal said: Thanks man! I ordered some 0-1 0.272. I have some 6x1/4 G5s from ACE hardware, but at this time I can only wobble them to about the same degree as the 9/32. I see you do a fair amount of DU bending as well. When you use the modified version, is most of your emphasis on pushing the ends of the bar together (ie folding) or do you focusing more on torqueing the bar downward? You can also order some 1/4"x7" G5s. They are expensive, but well worth it (in my opinion) just to get used to the strength needed to move them. You will graduate to shorter G5s soon after. Order a dozen if you can afford it. If you buy 1/4" Hex (CRS 1018) it is going to be pretty close to 1/4" G5 strength too. And much cheaper. I know your question was aimed at Danny, but I used to do a fair amount of DU bending so I'll answer it too. I put about 95% of my effort into pushing into the ends of the bar (folding) and about 5% effort into "directing" the bar by torqueing slightly on the bar with radial deviation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metacarpal Posted October 29, 2018 Author Share Posted October 29, 2018 On 10/28/2018 at 5:33 AM, bencrush said: I'll certainly try some of that cheat kinking out next workout. Right now I am using codura I got off amazon. I heard that is what the IMPs are made of. Will certainly experiment more with pad placement. Since switching to traditional DU for the past few weeks I really have not noticed much drop off in the steel I can bend. I think that may just indicate that my folding strength/press strength was being sub-optimally used during modified DU. I should note that I usual bend the day after a push/pull workout. I intentionally did it that way because I felt is would diminished the strength gap between by biceps/triceps/chest/lats and the puny wrist muscles (ie decrease the chance of wrist injury). I will probably flip that after another few months. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metacarpal Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 On 10/28/2018 at 5:48 AM, bencrush said: You can also order some 1/4"x7" G5s. They are expensive, but well worth it (in my opinion) just to get used to the strength needed to move them. You will graduate to shorter G5s soon after. Order a dozen if you can afford it. If you buy 1/4" Hex (CRS 1018) it is going to be pretty close to 1/4" G5 strength too. And much cheaper. I know your question was aimed at Danny, but I used to do a fair amount of DU bending so I'll answer it too. I put about 95% of my effort into pushing into the ends of the bar (folding) and about 5% effort into "directing" the bar by torqueing slightly on the bar with radial deviation. When you say 95% pushing into ends, is that just with modified or also traditional? Also, at the highest effort point of a DU bend, are your wrist completely in radial deviation (end range-relying on connective tissues strength) or do you make an effort to keep the wrist neutral (which seems to be more of a muscle strength thing to me). Thanks again for the input Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 15 hours ago, Metacarpal said: When you say 95% pushing into ends, is that just with modified or also traditional? Only with Modified DU. With traditional DU, I always attempted to actively move my wrists through radial deviation, even though most of the time it was probably a tiny bit of actual movement and then isometric tension when the bar was actually bending. Also, at the highest effort point of a DU bend, are your wrist completely in radial deviation (end range-relying on connective tissues strength) or do you make an effort to keep the wrist neutral (which seems to be more of a muscle strength thing to me). Yes, my wrists were completely in radial deviation during a traditional DU bend. But maybe halfway of their range of motion during Modified DU bends. Thanks again for the input You are so welcome! Your passion for bending is refreshing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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