How many nails before…

[deadgrip]

Lately I’ve been wondering about a couple things since advancing in bending-  how many nails in a session before calling it quits?  I usually do around 12 in a session and usually around 2-3 hours.  To give an understanding where I’m around- ive bent grade 8s, 6,5.5,5 inch grade 5s, kinked a red, 9/32 7,6,5.5 inch.  
 

id appreciate on some comments/advice about how long a session should be at this stage as well as how many nails I should get in.  also when it comes to warm ups-  do most of you go right into a hard bend after a couple warms ups or just climb the ladder in nail toughness to warm up?  

 

Thanks guys.
 

 

[ChuckinCanuck]

I think people get too hung up on how many pieces or how long. Just bend. If you’re feeling good, keep bending. Some nights I’d be good for 20-30 pieces and other nights it would be one and done. 
 

I find that having a goal piece of steel laid out is the way to go and then just work up to it. If your goal is to bend a 5/16” then leave that as your peak for the session. Hit some easier or different pieces and then hit it. I find conventional stretching to be absolutely useless when it comes to bends. Don’t get caught up on this notion of “conditioning your hands” with easier steel either. They will be plenty conditioned when hitting isometric pieces for a few rounds, trust me lol There we’re three of us super ready to bend a gold nail in IMPs and not one of us was doing conditioning with anything other than the gold nail itself. 

[Fist of Fury]

Let your skin guide you. Do as much as you can. If you start to get problems with your skin you need to rest (do less). Or if you feel really weak in other parts of the body. With bending it's not as simple as just counting the bars either. You really should count each hit and time each hit, that way you truly know how much you're doing.

Also agree with ChickinCanuck about conditioning. Just train with the bars you want to bend. I would actually advice against trying to condition your hands with less wrapping. I did that and I got nerve problems. It's risky to do that. Unless your goal is to bend steel barehanded I don't think it's worth the risk.

[Blacksmith513]

I've been doing like 3-5, snapping the last two. plus some isos with a G5. I'm now moving on up to a little harder stock.

I think it depends on your goals. Bending is a long term goal, i'm very gradually working on it. Right now my short term is levering and the inch. So i'm not trying to take away from those. If bending is your goal, then bend and listen to your body.  It sounds like you're already a good bender.  

It really sounds all you need to do is keep doing what you're doing, listen to your body and don't get injured.

[bruce1337]

For warming up I just try and get blood flowing into my hands. I feel that with my hands warm they feel sturdier, can take more damage, and my skin feels more 'grippy' so theres less chances of any slips if youre bending with single cordura.

As far as training goes its based on the individual. But for me, Iso's is what really does the trick in terms of building overall strength and power for bending. 

Also it wont hurt to be strong overall especially in your back if you want to chase DO bending.

Edited September 9, 2022 by bruce1337

[Lennix]

It's very individual I guess. My typical DO sessions have been like 30 min and 4 nails or bolts. 1 or 2 very easy nails/bolts one thougher bolt/nail and then go hard on the goal nail/bolt. On the goal I give it 3 or so sets with 2-3 hits each before quitting (that's if it doesn't move alot) If it does move alot i'll give it a good 5-10 minutes of trying to bend it fully.

[Mike Sharkey]

On 9/6/2022 at 1:58 PM, deadgrip said:

Lately I’ve been wondering about a couple things since advancing in bending-  how many nails in a session before calling it quits?  I usually do around 12 in a session and usually around 2-3 hours.  To give an understanding where I’m around- ive bent grade 8s, 6,5.5,5 inch grade 5s, kinked a red, 9/32 7,6,5.5 inch.  
 

id appreciate on some comments/advice about how long a session should be at this stage as well as how many nails I should get in.  also when it comes to warm ups-  do most of you go right into a hard bend after a couple warms ups or just climb the ladder in nail toughness to warm up?  

 

Thanks guys.
 

 

I used to separate my bending as to get the most movement memory and muscling conditioning in a session, allow my body the most recovery per part of the overall bending set of movements, and also to allow my bars to work-harden. Especially as I got to bars that were nearing my 1 rep limit to analogize to lifting (If you were going for a day of max effort bench press, you would not also do max effort military press on the same day)

What I mean is on Monday I might kink 5-10 L bars to 20-30 degrees and leave them. Wednesday come back and take them to the point I could interlock my fingers, 2.5" to 2.75". Friday I would crush them all. 

This also allowed me not to rely on momentum or the heating up a bar. Both of which I found to be irregular. It allowed my muscles and hands to take more work overall.
 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Mike Sharkey