Im Yellow

[Justin Reagan]

I started bending about a month and a half ago. The only thing I've worked on is the IM nails, as I'm unsure what else I can work with and where to get it. At first, I just bent lots of whites and greens. When I finally decided to move up to the yellows, I was shocked at how hard they were. At first, I could just put a kink in one. Of course, then my 52 year old dad came in and bent the one I had kinked, with a good bit of struggle. This got me motivated, so I immediately took a new one and, without any kind of bracing, completely bent it. I guess all I needed was some motivation. Well, about 4 or 5 days later, I decided to have another go with it. I warmed up with 2 or 3 easier ones, and then put everything I had into it. No matter how hard I tried, all I could do was put the tiniest kink in it. I tried as hard as I could for about 20 or 30 seconds, then rested, then did the same thing two more times. No luck. Well, as luck would have it, I haven't been able to do much of anything with my wrists, much less any serious bending, for about 3 1/2 or 4 weeks now. Pain in my wrists and in the top of my hands. I even considered having a doctor take a look at it. Within the past week, it has seemed to get better. Little or no pain no matter how I move my wrist. Well, today, I decided to go for it again. No luck today either. I kinked it about as much as I did last time. Is bending strength really that unpredictable? Or was it just the motivation that gave me the strength to bend the first one? I'm just getting really frustrated with it.

Also, can someone give me some cheap alternatives to buying IM nails? I have a Lowe's and an Ace hardware store nearby. I'm out of whites and greens, and that's a lot of money to be spending ($20 for 50 nails). I saw a big progression list somewhere on the board, but that's just too much for me to take in. The Lowe's and the Ace stores are the only place I can get them. I actually tried buying some "60d" (I thought 60d nails are supposed to be tougher??) nails at the Lowe's, but I bent and broke 10 of them in about 5 minutes. Those aren't going to work very well.

Any tips/suggestions/ideas/comments are welcome.

Thank you,

Justin Reagan

[porky]

get out ur phone book and look up steel distributors or steel suppliers or something similiar.

phone them and ask if they sell 3/16'' cold rolled steel stock and 1/4'' cold rolled steel stock.

find out the prices. they probably come in 12 foot lengths or whatever i dunno they will say.

find the cheapest place.

go in and buy a shit load of 3/16'' and 1/4'' cold rolled steel stock and ur set

also go check out some hardware stores for bolt cutters you will need them. get a good pair.

also check out this site

http://www.geocities.com/ltgodfrey/weights.html

http://www.geocities.com/ltgodfrey/home.html

also you may want to wait until you are fully healed.. take it slow when progressing. there is a lot of good articles, check out the stickies on this site also

Edited May 12, 2005 by porky

[Lyle]

definately stick with easy bends for a long time , most including myself have tried max bends way to soon and ended up in a similar situation as yourself.

as for the steel, do what Porky said. a 10 or 20' length will run about $4-5 cdn. so it's a big savings and the stuff can be cut with a set of bolt cutters. it'll save alot over the IM prices, also Fat Bastard Barbell Company has a wide variety of stock at great prices.

[GatorGrip]

Lyle you speak the truth as bad as I hate to admit it I have inflicted some significant injury and pain on my wrists and shoulder girdle area that I am continually paying for and the last has grounded my progress to the RED for a while until I can get my injuries healed up especially around the shoulder blades and rotators. I read many warnings from others preaching the need to stay with a particular stock for a while and doing volume work before jumping to the next challenge bar, bolt or nail but I was enamored by how much progress I was making so quickly and that there was a good chance I could reach the IM RED Nail within 4 months of starting the bending hobby. On day 100 I did put a kink in my first RED that made it impossible to roll the bar afterwards but I could not get it past that point no matter how hard I tried and how many times I kept coming back an hitting it, what I did was injure myself with the 7" piece as I had always worked with 6" and below. The 7" forced me to try to bend at an angle I was not used to nor quite ready for and it got me good. I being stubborn should have acknowledged the pain I was experiencing and stopped but I kept busting through the pain barrier in hopes to get that kink just a little further and I was sure I could sweep and crush it after that point.

I say this not to discourage anyone by any means, but to enlighten them that injury is likely and will happen even faster as you jump to the next level to fast.

There really is no race here as the certification as a RED NAIL BENDER is as good as at the 25th name on the list as would be 100 but our ego says I have got to be one of the top few so I can say I am only the 22nd person in the world to be certified. The accomplishment is awesome no matter what number you are and you know what here is a little reality check.

I have worked directly with Psychiatrists, Neurologists, Psychologist, Social Workers and Master Counselors at the PhD level and many other medical specialties in the art of medicine. I have had the privilege of working along side some that were at the pinnacle of their specialty and had made significant medical contributions to the world of medicine and the Department of Defense and many others outstanding physicians and other medical professionals but I have also worked with some over the years that I really had to scratch my head to figure out how this doctor made it through medical school as they were not the sharpest crayon in the box by far but had MD or PhD behind their name so that was what mattered. I have known a few that took their medical boards over and over to finally pass by the bare minimum but as one doctor told me "I am not that smart in fact If I could make it through you surely could" My ego was a little pumped up but the next thing he said was this:

You know what the student with the highest GPA and the lowest GPA at med school have in common when they graduate?

"They both are called doctor and have M.D. behind their name"

In other words you will probably never know who was the star student and who was the one that just scraped by because both met the requirement to be called doctor, and that is what they were striving for and achieved.

So back to the RED NAIL being certified as one who can bend it within the parameter of Ironminds qualification makes you a certified Red Nail Bender and your name goes on the list. So whether you are the next guy or the next to the last guy it makes no real difference as you have done something that billions will never try nor do because many will never know about it and most would not care. For all those that do know and do care they will have to commit to what it takes to reach this elite level of strength and most will never be willing to make the sacrifices and efforts required to reach this mighty goal.

So go slower and build your body strong before jumping into an injury that will sideline you and halt your progress.

It is better to make slow and steady progress while remaining injury free than to reach some goals faster than you really should safely and end up being hurt and not able to make any progress for a while if your lucky and must start back trying to build up slowly from where the injury has left you.

As long as you’re moving ahead the pace in this endeavor is not really that important. Enjoy the journey and when you get to your planned destination it will be even sweeter knowing you are still in top shape to go after your next goal.

Just my 2 cents and 100 dollar bill

GatorGrip

[Justin Reagan]

The reason I moved up so quickly is probably because I couldn't afford to do volume work with the IM nails. If I can eventually find someone that sells steel for cheap, I might be able to do some volume work.

Thanks,

Justin Reagan

[Left Side]

Justin I know exactly what you're talking about. Too hard, too fast. After only two days of nail bending I had to try a 6" nail. Sure enough, serious pain in the back of my left hand. I was forced to take a month off, and when I returned to bending, I was right back to my starting point, struggling with wimpy 4" nails. Not only that, but my progress was much, much slower after the injury. That could be the reason you can't bend the yellow right now.

These guys are right, the key is high volume, with a nail you are comfortable with. I find that standard 5" ardox nails, from the hardware store, work great. I'm forcing myself to bend ten pounds of these before even touching the 6" nail again.

Definitely check out Godfrey's site, and don't worry, if you start slower, with lighter nails and high volume, you will climb back to that yellow nail, and well beyond.

Don't get discouraged, this too shall pass.

Edited May 12, 2005 by Left Side

[Justin Reagan]

Left Side

What's an "ardox" nail?

Thanks,

Justin Reagan

[Justin Reagan]

Are "ardox" nails a normal thing in most hardware stores?

Thanks,

Justin Reagan

[Left Side]

Ardox nails are standard nails. (The ones with the twists in them)

The people at the hardware store will know what you're talking about.

Also, galvanized nails can be a lot harder, so start with non-galvanized.

Have fun.

[JNowiski]

I started bending about a month and a half ago. The only thing I've worked on is the IM nails, as I'm unsure what else I can work with and where to get it. At first, I just bent lots of whites and greens. When I finally decided to move up to the yellows, I was shocked at how hard they were. At first, I could just put a kink in one. Of course, then my 52 year old dad came in and bent the one I had kinked, with a good bit of struggle. This got me motivated, so I immediately took a new one and, without any kind of bracing, completely bent it. I guess all I needed was some motivation.  Well, about 4 or 5 days later, I decided to have another go with it. I warmed up with 2 or 3 easier ones, and then put everything I had into it. No matter how hard I tried, all I could do was put the tiniest kink in it. I tried as hard as I could for about 20 or 30 seconds, then rested, then did the same thing two more times. No luck. Well, as luck would have it, I haven't been able to do much of anything with my wrists, much less any serious bending, for about 3 1/2 or 4 weeks now. Pain in my wrists and in the top of my hands. I even considered having a doctor take a look at it. Within the past week, it has seemed to get better. Little or no pain no matter how I move my wrist. Well, today, I decided to go for it again. No luck today either. I kinked it about as much as I did last time. Is bending strength really that unpredictable? Or was it just the motivation that gave me the strength to bend the first one? I'm just getting really frustrated with it.

Also, can someone give me some cheap alternatives to buying IM nails? I have a Lowe's and an Ace hardware store nearby. I'm out of whites and greens, and that's a lot of money to be spending ($20 for 50 nails). I saw a big progression list somewhere on the board, but that's just too much for me to take in. The Lowe's and the Ace stores are the only place I can get them. I actually tried buying some "60d"  (I thought 60d nails are supposed to be tougher??) nails at the Lowe's, but I bent and broke 10 of them in about 5 minutes. Those aren't going to work very well.

Any tips/suggestions/ideas/comments are welcome.

Thank you,

Justin Reagan

←

haha, hey dude send me some of those easy 60d nails! hahah

60d nails are tougher, unless they are 60d timber ties.

-Jon

[Left Side]

Aren't 60d nails and 60d timber ties the same thing...?

[JNowiski]

Aren't 60d nails and 60d timber ties the same thing...?

←

The 60d timber ties I had were super easy. I have some 60d common nails that are hard as crap. I can get a slight kink using DU, but nothing more, and its a very small kink, whereas I can DU 60d timber ties with my barehands.

-Jon

Edited May 26, 2005 by JNowiski

[supermagnamon]

Ardox nails are standard nails. (The ones with the twists in them)

The people at the hardware store will know what you're talking about.

Also, galvanized nails can be a lot harder, so start with non-galvanized.

Have fun.

←

i found that out the hard way.

[Justin Reagan]

The easy 60d's I got at Lowe's weren't timber ties. They were some sort of "polebarn" 60d nails. I guess the regular 60d's that are more difficult are called 60d "common" nails (which again, the local Lowe's doesn't carry...). I did find out that the only spiral nails that our Lowe's sells are some little thin 2" spiral nails. No timber ties. Home Depot it is for me. I'm working on that 30 lb. box of timber ties that I got a couple weeks ago--about 15 of them once or twice a week.

Thanks,

Justin Reagan

[Left Side]

i found that out the hard way.

←

Sometimes when you bend galvanized nails the galvanized coating rips off the top of the nail, very sharp, and no fun at all when you get that on the chin.

[supermagnamon]

i found that out the hard way.

←

Sometimes when you bend galvanized nails the galvanized coating rips off the top of the nail, very sharp, and no fun at all when you get that on the chin.

←

ouch.