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Chasing Bends & Climbing the Mash Monster Ladder


devinhoo

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Monday
Axle deadlift with straps
297x5x5 

Overhand steel bending
timber tie x1
60d nails x5
All bends done in two layers of denim (12"x8" folded in half) with bands. Got a video of the first 60d nail.

 

Wednesday
Z-press
77x10x5 (lbs x reps x sets)

Inch Wrench
60x8x5
First time doing any real grip work in two weeks. 
Right middle finger numbness still there, and my right 3rd MCP joint still kind of hurts. Trying to take it easy on my hands, but missing working with grippers.

 

Friday
Zercher squats w/ zercher deadlift to rack position
187x5x5

Steel bending overhand
timber tie x1
60d nails x6
All bends done in two layers of denim with bands. HOWEVER I bought some battlefield wraps and leathers from @Andrew P as well as the FBBC advanced benders bag. Looking forward to getting some real wraps and bending some more difficult steel. For now I'm just adding a 60d nail a week to make sure I don't overtax myself bending but still get some practice in. This was only my third bending session ever and I don't want to get hurt because I haven't figured out the technique.

Barbell Shrugs
187x10x5

 

Edited by devinhoo
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  • 2 weeks later...

Tuesday
Zercher squat
247x2 (pr)

Axle deadlift with straps
297x1

Floor press
187x2 (pr)
Low volume day for the Garage Gym Competition in hopes that I can win some prizes (here's looking at you squat rack).

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAGsTLfARXg/

 

Saturday
Steel bending overhand
timber tie x1
60d nail x1
9/32 x 7" CRS x1 (330)
9/32 x 6" CRS x1 (380)
5/16 x 7" CRS x1 (Bastard 450)
60d nail x6
1/4 x 6" Grade 5 bolt (380)
Got my Advanced bending bag from FBBC! Couldn't resist trying some things. The leather pads are amazing, way better than the denim I was using. Everything I bent today was in leather with rubber bands except for one 60d nail that I bent in benders battlefield wraps just to see how it feels.
Turns out the crush is what I really struggle with. Took me a minute to get use to bending 7" versus 6", but the kink and sweep felt pretty good after that. Even bent my first Bastard bar, although I definitely cheated the crush by bracing my elbow against my leg for a bit. After the 60d nails, which are basically a warm up/drop set now, I tried a grade 5 bolt which I honestly couldn't get down to 2". Got close, but not quite.
Edit: I keep forgetting how to measure bends; I did complete the bend of the g5 bolt after all. Have to remember to measure the inside width not the outside. Had the same problem with the Bastard too and had to re-post it to instagram. Only my 5th time bending so I'm still learning the rules. 😅

Zercher squat
187x8x3 (lb x reps x sets)

 

 

 

Edited by devinhoo
I keep forgetting how to measure bends​​​​​​​; I did complete the bend of the g5 bolt after all. Have to remember to measure the inside width not the outside.
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Tuesday
Axle deadlift with straps
297x8x3 (lb x reps x sets) 

Overhand steel bending
timber tie x1
60d nail x1
9/32 x 7" CRS (330)
60d nails x3
Barely finished the 9/32 x 7" CRS. I really struggled with the crush on that one for some reason. Also managed to punch myself in the face on the sweep.
My plan was to do my main bends in leather, then bend some 60d nails in BBW's without bands to simulate the IM red nail cert conditions. However I really struggled wrapping the nails in cordura and keeping them tight without bands. Each of the three 60d nails I bent in BBW's took me about the same amount of time as bending six 60d nails in leather.
New plan for bending: use @Chez's approach to grippers and just get so stupid strong at MMS (leather and bands) that a wider set (cordura and no bands) doesn’t slow me down on an easier gripper (nail).

 

Friday
Zercher squat
187x8x3 (lb x reps x sets)

Steel bending overhand
timber tie x1
60d nail x1
1/4 x 7" square CRS x2 (The Square 390)
60d nails x6
20d nails x2
60d nail x1 (*in BBW with bands)
All bends in leather wraps with bands*. First attempt with the square me a long time because it was way off center so I did another one to see if I could get it down under a minute. Still off center, but it went quicker.
I also checked the bars I bent today against the bastard I bent last week and it looks like they’re all off center by almost exactly the same amount, even though the ones today have the three sharpie marks on them to keep track of center and for wraps like @Squeezus suggested. I think that means the issue is with my bending technique rather than my wrapping technique.

 

 

Edited by devinhoo
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  • 2 weeks later...

Behind on posting. I had my medial school COMLEX level 1 boards exam on Friday and then spent the entire weekend moving. My forearms were pretty sore yesterday from carrying things, but after climbing two flights of stairs a zillion times my calves are so tight I can barely walk.

I probably won't have access to a gym or weights for a while, so it's back to bodyweight exercises. 😪

 

Monday
Floor press
137x10x5 (lb x reps x sets)

Steel bending overhand
Warm up with a timber tie then a 60d nail
1/4 x 6" grade 5 bolt in leather with bands (380)
9/32 x 7" CRS in BBW without bands (330)
60d nail x 3  in leather with bands
20d nail x 3 in leather with bands
Since the workout log on my phone only inputs numbers, I've been using 210 lbs for the timber ties, 320 lbs for the 60d nails, and 160 lbs for the 20d nails based on what I could find on the gripboard, recommendations from Tom Flesher, and bending a nail with a loading pin and some weight. I know the 60d's vary a lot by brand etc, but does anyone have better numbers for those? There isn't as much data on the shorter/easier nails from what I've found. 

Gripper chest crush
133x5x5
Took me a few tries to figure out how to put some padding on the handles so that they still touched. Bruised my palms a little, but I need to work on my crush.

 

Wednesday
Zercher squat
137x8x3

Steinborn squat
187 fail
137x1 (on the third try)
Last workout with the borrowed plates before I had to return them, figured I would do something silly with them before I gave them back.

 

Thursday
Steel bending overhand
Warm up with a timber tie then a 60d nail
5/16 x 6" grade 2 bolt (400)
9/32 x 5.5" CRS  (420)
60d nail x 3
20d nail x 3
All bends in FBBC leather with bands. Grade 2 bolt went down super easy, the 5.5" bar freaking sucked though. Kink and sweep were easy for me as always, but the crush probably took me 15-20 minutes to go from ~2.25" to 1.75". I had to keep taking the padding off to check if it was done, re-chalk my hands, and try a different technique. Finishing off this bar felt about as difficult as finishing the Bastard I did a few weeks ago. I was over the time limit for a cert, but this was a PR for sure. Need to try to bend another Bastard in a few weeks and see if I can get it down to under five minutes for the FBBC cert, although under one minute would be pretty cool as an indicator for the IronMind cert (and instagram).

 

Edited by devinhoo
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  • 10 months later...
  • 2 months later...

I don’t know if I will ever be able to say enough good things about @Cannon PowerWorks. Not only are they the absolute gold standard when it comes to rating grippers, they are also a tremendous resource to the grip community.

They partner with top notch brands like Grip Genie, Ivanko Barbell Company, Barrel Strength Systems, IronMind, Gillingham High Performance, Heavy Grips, and more to provide absolutely the best grip tools available.

When I started bending steel I saw that the IronMind pads they sell were out of stock. I inquired about when they would be back in stock and asked if CPW would consider selling official Red Nails as well. Because of that small request I was able to certify on the Red Nail.

I recently asked if they could stock official Gold Nails as well.

They just arrived.

201273164_10226038978100940_6731302040782561212_n.jpg

Edited by devinhoo
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