Need Help Getting Over Plateau

[DrBartlebee]

Hey benders,

I feel like I've kinda hit a plateau with bending and haven't progressed much since June of this year. Grippers have progressed a lot, and I've gotten stronger on other lifts. I just don't feel like I'm getting stronger on the bolts I've been working on (1/4-6" G8 and 5/16-6" G2 bolts), and I'm not really making progress on the Red Nail. Is there maybe another progression I should be trying to bridge the gap? Drill rod or 70D nails? 

In my workouts I usually warm up with some 60D nails or 1/4-6" G2 bolts and then work on a few of those challenge bolts. I pretty much only do DO. Usually bend just once a week. Hoping there is something that worked for other people when they got stuck!

 

[Mitch Jones]

I was stuck for a little bit on bending anything 5/16" x 7" and i think it may have been the length. going from 6" to 7" can change leverages from what i can tell.

I ordered 4.8, A4, and A2 bolts from Horrido and at that time, I couldn't even bend the easy 4.8bolt rated at 230. That was after i was bending the 9/32"x6.5" drill rod rated at 410.

I still can't do anything with a g8 1/4x6, but i have bent the g5 1/4x6. I haven't tried either of those recently though.

All i can really say is that it was just persistence on hitting the easier Horrido bolts until i was finally able to bend one, then a week later i could bend the A2, which is about the same rating as the IM red nail. In that same session i kinked a red nail to roughly 20 degrees before i was out of gas and ended up with some sort of internal tear in my left thumb pad. been bending easy stuff until that heals before going for the red nail again.

Wraps will make a difference also, so maybe experiment with that if you haven't already. I started in just suede and eventually went to the thicker leather. thats when i made a jump in progress. Then back to cordura only, now i've settled on double wraps, cordura with Horrido pads.

I bent either one or two heavy bars/bolts per workout, or i bent 5-10 somewhat easy 60d nails in just cordura more for hand toughness. I bend once or twice a week depending on how my hands feel.

I have only been bending for about 2.5 months, so not experienced enough to say this will work for everybody, but its how i progressed. 

[matek]

8 hours ago, DrBartlebee said:

Hey benders,

I feel like I've kinda hit a plateau with bending and haven't progressed much since June of this year. Grippers have progressed a lot, and I've gotten stronger on other lifts. I just don't feel like I'm getting stronger on the bolts I've been working on (1/4-6" G8 and 5/16-6" G2 bolts), and I'm not really making progress on the Red Nail. Is there maybe another progression I should be trying to bridge the gap? Drill rod or 70D nails? 

In my workouts I usually warm up with some 60D nails or 1/4-6" G2 bolts and then work on a few of those challenge bolts. I pretty much only do DO. Usually bend just once a week. Hoping there is something that worked for other people when they got stuck!

 

Just a few ideas:
1. Bolts: work for volume using the G8s: try to bend 5-8 of them in a workout. Rest long periods if needed. Another thing you can try is 6mm 12.9 bolts, the stock ECGB has might be harder than your G8s. 
2. Drill rods: 9/32" CRS wouldn't be enough for you to progress (since you're bending G8s). However, 9/32" O-1 drill rod might be good for you. If you can get it, try to buy size "L", "M", and "N" (these are between 9/32" and 5/16"). 
3. CRS: If you can get it, buy 9/32" HEX CRS. 
4. Stainless: especially if you have problems with the crush, try 9/32" round or even 9/32" HEX, or 1/4" square. But 1/4" HEX won't be enough. 
5. As Charles said, experiment with wraps. You don't have to go doubles if you don't want to. Just try different materials: cordura, suede leather, veg-tan leather. 

For some reason, 9/32" hex stock is kinda hard to get in the US. I don't live there but other people might be able to help to get a source. 

2 hours ago, Charles Jones said:

I ordered 4.8, A4, and A2 bolts from Horrido and at that time, I couldn't even bend the easy 4.8bolt rated at 230. That was after i was bending the 9/32"x6.5" drill rod rated at 410.

Honestly, that's a little bit strange . Maybe you were tired or smg, because there is a huge difference between those. Or it was an evil anomaly 4.8 which is far from 230 haha. 

2 hours ago, Charles Jones said:

All i can really say is that it was just persistence on hitting the easier Horrido bolts until i was finally able to bend one, then a week later i could bend the A2, which is about the same rating as the IM red nail. In that same session i kinked a red nail to roughly 20 degrees before i was out of gas and ended up with some sort of internal tear in my left thumb pad. been bending easy stuff until that heals before going for the red nail again.

For what it's worth, every piece of 5/16" CRS (BSC Moose, IM Red, FBBC Bastard,  3 different suppliers I buy steel from) was harder to bend to 40 degrees (reverse and DU) than the Horrido A2 (I had three batches from that in total). The crush for DO would be a different story of course, because it's stainless. 
I hope the thumb heals soon. 

[Fist of Fury]

Best way to progress with Do bending is to add more wrapping IMO. Then once you make some progress, remove the wrapping gradually until you can bend it in singles.

Also, kinking 8 mm CRS will be a lot harder than kinking 6.3 mm bolts. So training with them might not give the desired effect.

[Fist of Fury]

On 10/8/2023 at 8:27 AM, matek said:

Just a few ideas:
1. Bolts: work for volume using the G8s: try to bend 5-8 of them in a workout. Rest long periods if needed. Another thing you can try is 6mm 12.9 bolts, the stock ECGB has might be harder than your G8s. 
2. Drill rods: 9/32" CRS wouldn't be enough for you to progress (since you're bending G8s). However, 9/32" O-1 drill rod might be good for you. If you can get it, try to buy size "L", "M", and "N" (these are between 9/32" and 5/16"). 
3. CRS: If you can get it, buy 9/32" HEX CRS. 
4. Stainless: especially if you have problems with the crush, try 9/32" round or even 9/32" HEX, or 1/4" square. But 1/4" HEX won't be enough. 
5. As Charles said, experiment with wraps. You don't have to go doubles if you don't want to. Just try different materials: cordura, suede leather, veg-tan leather. 

For some reason, 9/32" hex stock is kinda hard to get in the US. I don't live there but other people might be able to help to get a source. 

Honestly, that's a little bit strange . Maybe you were tired or smg, because there is a huge difference between those. Or it was an evil anomaly 4.8 which is far from 230 haha. 

For what it's worth, every piece of 5/16" CRS (BSC Moose, IM Red, FBBC Bastard,  3 different suppliers I buy steel from) was harder to bend to 40 degrees (reverse and DU) than the Horrido A2 (I had three batches from that in total). The crush for DO would be a different story of course, because it's stainless. 
I hope the thumb heals soon. 

Might seem strange but if it's done DO it can happen. The horrido 4.8 bolt is over 18 cm long and has a larger diameter. If your kink is weak and you're tired it can happen.

Especially if you're a beginner and haven't developed a good technique/flexibility. This happend to me a few times also, quite often bending shorter bars was easier for me in the beginning.

That's why bending longer bars is also good when training DO. Since it impoves mobility and strength. When you go back to shorter bars again those 7" will feel more comfortable.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Fist of Fury

[Buccos1]

On 10/7/2023 at 5:24 PM, DrBartlebee said:

Hey benders,

I feel like I've kinda hit a plateau with bending and haven't progressed much since June of this year. Grippers have progressed a lot, and I've gotten stronger on other lifts. I just don't feel like I'm getting stronger on the bolts I've been working on (1/4-6" G8 and 5/16-6" G2 bolts), and I'm not really making progress on the Red Nail. Is there maybe another progression I should be trying to bridge the gap? Drill rod or 70D nails? 

In my workouts I usually warm up with some 60D nails or 1/4-6" G2 bolts and then work on a few of those challenge bolts. I pretty much only do DO. Usually bend just once a week. Hoping there is something that worked for other people when they got stuck!

 

Drill rod will definitely allow you to dial-in a leveled sequence up to the Red Nail and beyond.  When I did my Red cert, I wasn't aware of drill rod and used Grade 8 bolts and 5/16" HRS as the steps that bridged the divide.  But drill rod is the way to go IMO.  Rated drill rod will leave no ambiguity of where you are at and also provide a needed challenge on the sweep to help with CRS like the Red.