Just a quick thankyou

[Guest woody36]

Tom,

      just like to thankyou for restoring my workout

page,it disappeared with all the other threads and

i didn't have the heart to bother Wannagrip i

figured he had enough on his plate trying to recover

all that he has.

Tom while i'm here i found some more jack chain which

i managed to pull apart with some considerable effort.

The thing is i don't know what gauge it is,as it just

came in a metre length in a plastic bag.The links are

1-1/2 inches in length,and the steel itself is an 1/8 of

an inch.I had to wrap both ends round my hands to

get a decent grip and it took five big efforts to pull it

apart,just wondered if you had a clue.

ps: Thankyou again

[Tom Black]

  No problem regarding the workout reports.  I guess you know now that I watch for them!  Actually, I wasn't sure if you would catch it because the title did not come back.  I don't know at all about the jack chain, I haven't done it in a while, but I believe mine was 3/16".  I'm curious how did the chain break, anything unusual happen?

    By the way, I just finished bending a 5/8"x4-foot cold-rolled bar about 1-foot.  Nasty stuff.  This was the first time I tried this length and thickness.  Sort of expensive to practice on, the piece was about Ů.00.  I think I could bend it all the way if I could have kept my momentum, but I didn't know what was going to happen and thus stopped mid-way and could not recover.  If I could find hot-rolled in this thickness I know I could bend it without a problem.

[Guest woody36]

Tom, i only noticed it had come back after i saw your

name against workout reports,i read everything you

post so looked to see what you'd written.

regarding the chain break nothing really happened,

four links broke away one hitting my daughter in the

ear (it's nice to involve family) but apart from that

nothing.Tom how did you bend the 5/8,was it over the

thigh as in your previous bend with the 1/2"bar,or did

you have to change technique because of the increased

length.This may sound daft,but i think you would have better leverage on a slightly shorter bar,flicking through

Musclemag the other day i noticed Bill Kazmaier bending

a piece of what looks like 1/2"HRS against his chest

pulling the other end in towards him.This is how i had

to finish off my bend on the first piece of 16mm HRS

i ever tried.

Thanks again for getting back to me

[Tom Black]

    You're right Woody, the 4-foot length was hard to get leverage on behind the back.  I tried it that way first, but could not get my complete power onto it.  Not one to give up easily I looked for other angles to apply and stumbled on one not so obvious.  I put the center of the bar behind my butt and pulled like a banshee!  I used no padding on my hands and butt, except for the natural amount I have.  After the initial bend I put a towel under my leg (contacting my hamstring) and then the bar and bent it a little more.  I probably could have done better if I had started the bend this way.  I took a video of this, and it's kind of funny to watch, but a bit embarrassing so don't expect to see it on my site  

I bought that issue with Kaz as well, and I thought it was cold-rolled that he bent.  On second look I realize that you are right, it looks like 1/2"x3' hot-rolled, really not that difficult.  I wouldn't put down Kaz without knowing for sure, it could be a dark looking cold-rolled bar, and that would have been very difficult.

[Guest woody36]

The placing behind the hamstring that you tried,

i did that also but got nothing.The only way i could

get the initial bend on the 16mm bar was to place it across my kneecap and pull towards me,i then placed

one end of the bar on the inside of my thigh and

crushed inwards with my other arm in a slightly bent

position.This replaced the method used as in the Kaz

pic,because even with padding there is a lot of

discomfort on the abs.I think lengths in the region of

four feet favour guys like Kaz and Capes who have

longer arm spans,if i remember rightly Strongman's

a big guy and this length of bar is probably more

suited to him.Tom do you know what technique

Mr Pleskun uses for his big bends?also did you try

bending over the head as in strongest man,i gave

this a go and nearly snapped my neck.

[Guest todd_xxxx]

Thats gonna kick ass when butt-bending becomes a world's strongest man event!

[Tom Black]

Woody,

   I seem to remember mentioning this before, careful with the kneecap technique.  It seems like too much pressure in that area. I have a picture of Stanless doing what looks like 5/8"x4-feet over his thigh, just like in my 1/2"x24" bar bend.  I guess he is just that much wider, I didn't seem to be able to apply power this way, but with the bar under the thigh I really locked on.  Also, this is more of a grip feat because I'm pulling up and need to hold on tightly.  I'm certain I could have done the full bend if I had started under the thigh, once I got it going I had to stop and shift around, this is a bad idea because the bar begins to cool.  I won't be doing it much, like I said, it's kind of expensive to practice.

  I just checked "Strength and Speed" by Dale Harder and 5/8" is the only size the big guys can finish off (he doesn't mention if they bend cold-rolled, but since that is what I bent they should be able to as well).  They all got stuck on 11/16".  I'm fairly satisfied with my bend, most of those guys out weigh me by 100 pounds!

[Guest woody36]

Tom, i may try some 5/8CR if i can get it cheap enough,

i got the 16mm HRS for a pound a metre and it comes

in a 6M length,the CRS comes in 10ft lengths so i may

get a piece for round about the same price.

If i do i'll let you know how i get on,but i don't hold

out much hope of bending it a foot!

Thanks again.