paul valpreda Posted January 11, 2002 Share Posted January 11, 2002 I have been a serious grip trainer for some time now and I have never practiced bending nails or anything. I have recently gained an interest in bending objects. I think my interest was sparked when I found a bolt at work and bent the ends together. I don't know what the dimensions or the grade of the bolt were. Anyway, I experienced the thrill of overpowering metal and I would like to pursue it more seriously, even though the bolt I conquered was probably a wimpy one! My question to all of you bending experts on the GripPage is this; what types of exercises, sets/reps, or routines do you recommend to seriously strengthen your bending abilities? I currently perform grip workouts that include pinch gripping, plate curls, CoC grippers, Hardy Handshake and the Telegraph Key. I'm going to buy some nails to bend as well. Any suggestions that would help to greatly increase my bending strength would be very much appreciated. Thanks, paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryduty Posted January 12, 2002 Share Posted January 12, 2002 Paul, it's great to hear of your interest in bending steel! I use 3 different bending techniques-each technique uses different muscles. You'll want to develop those muscles that compliment your bending technique. Typically, these include wrist, forearm, and pecs. I prefer to bend using just my hands and without any kind of bracing. The best exercise that I've found to strengthen the muscles that I use for bending steel is to...well, just bend steel! People are different and what works for me might not work for you. I like to occasionally vary (and experiment) with my bending workout in my training session, but currently: I usually bend 3 warmup pieces, a medium piece, and then tackle a hard piece. My training partner usually takes longer to warm up and might bend as many as 10 warmup pieces before tackling a tough piece (no medium piece). Some days you feel stronger - on those days, try challenging yourself! Lately, I've been bending every other day, but you need to be careful about overtraining. Some people only bend once a week. For more than a month, my training partner was bending multiple times a day every day! He's now only bending every other day. Experiment to find what works for you. I recommend that you get Ironmind's Bag of Nails. This consists of sets of varying steel "nails" (rods actually). From easy to hard the bag contains: Whites, Greens, Yellows, Blues, and the infamous Reds. These "nails" are very consistant, provide feedback on what your bending level is (i.e. you can U-shape a Green nail but only kink a Yellow), and offer progressively harder nails to bend. Instead of the Bag of Nails, you could just get different kinds of nails to train with. But nails vary a lot and some are much more challenging than others. So, unless you devise a method (or hire a machine shop) to test the nails, it can be tough to know which nails are easier to bend than other nails. Also, you could buy metal rods (that you cut down) to bend so you can tackle progressively harder metal. In order of easy-to-hard: aluminum, brass, hot rolled steel (HRS), cold rolled steel (CRS), and hardened steel. To start with, You'll probably want to get different metal rods in 1/4" and maybe 5/16" thicknesses. Please describe the technique that you use when you bend. Train smart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul valpreda Posted January 12, 2002 Author Share Posted January 12, 2002 Strongman, Thanks for the response! I am going to purchase the "Bag of Nails" from IronMind very soon, but until I receive them, I was going to visit my local Home Depot store, probably today, and purchase some nails or steel to start with. I really don't know what grades or sizes to begin with, so I'll be taking a chance right now. I need to start somewhere, so I'll buy a range of them and see how that goes. As far as my technique is concerned, I don't think I have one yet! I sure could use some advice here too. I'm pretty sure I go about bending the wrong way. When I have bent before, I just grasped the bolt with both palms facing away from me and my thumbs very close to touching each other. I then pull downward at the same time, putting a lot of stress on the very tips of my thumbs. Kind of like the way you would snap a pencil in half at school. I do not think this is a good way to bend. I have seen pictures of Tom Black bending, and it almost seems like his hands are in very different positions from each other at the beginning of a bend. I haven't seen any illustrations that are clear enough for me to learn the technique though. I definitely can use technique advice at this stage of the game. Good technique will probably make a big difference in my bending ability right now. Are there any good places on the internet to see pictures showing the best way to bend? I'll let you know how my shopping trip to Home Depot goes today, and thanks again for the reply. paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Demchak Posted January 12, 2002 Share Posted January 12, 2002 Strongman, As for buying metal rods and cutting them down, what is a good length to work with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryduty Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Paul, always a true please to provide any help that I can to another steel bender! One important, but often neglected, aspect of bending is protecting your hands. I use Ironmind's Kevlar cloths to protect my hands when I bend. If you use too much material, it's harder to bend. If you use too little, you can bruise your hands. Experiment to find the amount right for you. My greatest advances in bending have been due to using better bending techniques! Initially, I started bending using the same technique that you are currently using - and my bending left a lot to be desired. To clarify the techniques below, on my Home Page, I plan to post pictures of me bending using these 3 different techniques; until then I've tried to explain these techniques below. I went from your technique to a Slim the "Hammer Man" technique: arms at chest level, palms facing the floor, metal held in a horizontal position, thumbs under the metal, palms on top of the metal, index fingers and thumbs touching (imagine 2 fists touching at where thumbs/index fingers connect to the hand). Like a reverse barbell wrist curl but with the hands touching each other. Then to bend, roll the finger knuckles together while rolling the thumbs together, as well. Finish off the bend by crushing th metal together with your palms using strength from your hands, arms, and pecs. I interlace my fingers here for better control. A word of caution: when I switched to this new technique, I underestimated the torque that is placed on the tendons in the elbows and developed mild tendonitis. My training partner (who was bending much thicker pieces of steel) tore tendons in both of his elbows using this technique. So, if you decide to use this technique, go slow and be very careful not to over do it. (In the October 1996 issue of MILO, John Brookfield wrote an article titled "Bending Nails: Conquering the 60-Penny" where he describe a technique similiar to that above but recommends that you hold the nail against your lower abdomen for better leverage. Due to his injury, my training partner then switched to the technique described in the article Spike Bending with the Hands by Charles MacMahon. Here is a link to the article http://www.naturalstrength.com/history/spike.html A third bending technique that I use is similiar to Tom Black's very powerful technique. I hold the bottom half of the nail vertically in my dominate (right) fist so that the top half of the nail is ex[posed. Next, I grab the top half with my left hand. My left hand's pinky finger is resting on my right thumb. To bend, I roll the finger knuckles down along the back of my hand (near the thumb) toward the wrist of the right hand. Then I finish it off by crushing it together like I explained before. John, the lengths that you cut the metal rods down to depends mostly on what your goals are. If your goal is to U-shape 60 penny nails (6"x1/4"), then you'll want to cut the different types of metal to 6" lengths. Tackle the 6" lengths and determine your bending level. By only bending metal that is the same length as your target, you'll get your body used to bending metal that is the same as your target and strengthen the necessary muscles. With time, your strength will grow and you'll surprise yourself by U-shaping 60d nails! After you can U-shape 60d nails, you may want to go after the Ironmind Red (7"x5/16"). So, using this same approach you'd only bend metal that is 7" long. Another approach that some find successful is to bend metal that is longer than his/her target and cut small pieces away from the longer metal until it is the same length as their target, So, if your target is 6"x1/4", but you can only U-shape 1/4" metal that is (say) 9" long, then you'd cut 1/4" off the length making it 8 3/4" long and train with that length until you could U-shape it. You'd repeat this process until you finally got to your target length (6"). One drawback here is that if the target is considerably shorter than what you are bending, you're most likely using different muscles and may not be making as much progress as you might if you only bent metal the same length as your target. Train smart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tou Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Steel bending is EXTREMELY tough on the hands and wrists but it is very rewarding. I began steel bending at the end of summer. At first, I bought 1/4 cold rolled steel and bent some 10" pieces. I'm now bending 1/4 x 6" and it is very tough. You won't believe the pain in the hands. I suggest you begin with hot rolled steel (the cold rolled is shinier while the hot rolled looks unpolished and rough). Have many warm up bends before the big stuff. After you finish, stretch your fingers and apply ice on your hands and wrists. You'll be glad you did the next day. Train hard and have fun, bending is VERY fun ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul valpreda Posted January 13, 2002 Author Share Posted January 13, 2002 Strongman, I visited my local Home Depot today. I was pressed for time, so I just grabbed a few items having no idea how I would fare with them. I purchased a small box of 20d x 4" nails to use as a warm-up. Next I got some 60 penny by 6 inch nails. I also picked up some 1/4" and 5/16" threaded rod. I hope my "Bag of Nails" arrives soon so I have a good method of progression. I bent a couple of the small nails to warm-up with and I almost got the ends together on them. Next I tried one of the 60 penny nails. I really had no idea what technique to use so I just muscled it as best as I could. I placed a cloth around it to help protect my hands. To my surprise, I did bend it slightly! It's not in a "U" shape though. That will have to wait for another day as my hands became very tired after I wrestled with that thing for about 30 - 45 minutes, taking rests in between attempts. Now that I have read the posts here describing bending techniques, I'll try them in my next bending session. I know that you serious benders "play" with those 60 penny nails, but I was pleased that I actually made a slight bend in it. I know that I have a long way to go, and I really appreciate the tips that have been shared here. I will practice what I learn. I am happy to say that I am a bending addict now and I can see why you guys enjoy it so much. It really is satisfying to beat a piece of metal. One more quick question, do you guys usually perform a bending workout with your regular grip workout or do you separate them? Strongman, Tou, Tom Black, and all of the others, thanks for the inspiration and advice! I am beginning a journey that I think will be very rewarding and enjoyable. paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tou Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 Paul, work your bending at the beginning of your workouts. Bending is hard on the hands and tough bends are requiring a huge amount of strenght and endurance. Look at Tom Black's workouts. He laways work the gripper first then, steel bending. I do the same. My priority is ti close the #3 so I work the grippers first then I bend some pieces of steel. If you wait at the end of a workout to bend steel, you'll have a hard time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Black Posted January 13, 2002 Share Posted January 13, 2002 I highly recommend doing the grippers first as Tou mentioned. I have found that even a tough gripper workout doesn't effect my results on the nails/bars. Also, the times I have bent nails without the gripper warm-up I hurt my hands more. It really helps to have the hands nice and warm before bending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul valpreda Posted January 14, 2002 Author Share Posted January 14, 2002 It was pretty amazing today, the day after my first bending workout. I could feel soreness in my hands and it went all the way to my elbows! I'm going to start out fairly easy so I don't injure myself. I am really surprised at how much of the arm was worked simply by bending some nails. I think this will really help my armwrestling as well. Thanks again for all of the advice and I'll keep you posted on my progress. paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tou Posted January 14, 2002 Share Posted January 14, 2002 Nothing hurts hands and wrists like steel bending but it is a lot of fun and very rewarding. Keep at it and go for that 60 penny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul valpreda Posted January 14, 2002 Author Share Posted January 14, 2002 I want that 60 penny nail bad! My biggest concern right now is I'm just not sure what technique to use when attempting to bend a heavy nail. On the smaller nails, I used the method of Slim Farman that Strongman explained earlier in this post, but there is no way I could have put the slight bend in it, like I did, by using that technique. What method do you guys use on the heavier nails/bars? Do you use the same bending methods on the heavy nails that you do on the lighter ones? Thanks again, paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest woody36 Posted January 15, 2002 Share Posted January 15, 2002 Paul, you may be more suited to the technique described in the link Strongman provided by Charles McMahon. Regards Woody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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