Jose's bending log

[Jose Matus]

Hello all, I have decided to start a log in order to help keep me focused on my bending goals as I haven't been as motivated as of late so I hope this helps get me back on track. I am primarily focused on braced bending but have messed around a little bit with some short steel in the past and other feats. The pic shows my most recent PRs. A 19 inch 5/8 bar, my first ten inch adjustable wrench, a Kerckhaert Century Bigfoot #5, Kerckhaert DF #1 and a failed 17.5 inch 5/8 bar.

[featsofalex]

Yesss!!! I love watching your horseshoe bends, they’re always a thing of beauty!

[Jose Matus]

Thanks for the compliment Alex! 👍

[Jose Matus]

Recent braced bends I did my most recent session. I am primarily focused on mid length bending right now but decided to try and heart an SSP #3 first to see if I could as I never tried before and was curious. It was tougher than I expected due to the shorter legs compared to the DS5s and St Croix 5 Xtras I've hearted but was pleased as I was able to do it. I did a 20 inch 5/8 bar down below to gauge my performance and to build some confidence and was able to do it in about a 90 seconds which is more than twice as fast compared to the last 20 inch I attempted. I also tried a 16.5 inch 5/8 bar as I was curious to how difficult it'd be and failed unsurprisingly, it'll take me a while before I get that. My biggest weakness currently is my leg crush as I am able to get my goal bar which is a 17.5 5/8 bar to a power position to leg crush but have yet been unable to pull it off so I've been doing 1-2 hours worth of leg crush isos 1-2 times a week.

[featsofalex]

Great bending Jose, and great training insights too on the leg crush iso programming!

[Jose Matus]

I managed to perform a successful braced bend attempt of a 19" 5/8 bar for David Horne's list. The bend felt pretty good overall and was the fastest I ever managed to bend a 19" bar. Following the video attempt, I bent 3 more 19" 5/8 bars successfully. I feel like I am ready to try an 18.5" which I will do later this week after I have recovered. https://youtu.be/kNt2YTb55z4

[John Knowlton]

NICE WORK

[Jose Matus]

I achieved a new PR today by bending a 17.5" x 5/8 bar. I've been after this bar for several months and am pleased to have finally gotten it. The bend took me roughly 13 minutes to complete. Following that, I decided to do a speed bend attempt on a DS5 Horseshoe and was able to heart it in less than a minute. For the rest of the bending session, I focused on isometrics with the leg crush phase of the braced bend as that is my weakest link currently. 

The attached photo shows the 17.5" 5/8 bar, a DS5 heart and a St Croix Ultralite 2 heart for size reference.

 

Edited September 26 by Jose Matus

[Jose Matus]

 

[Londonjoseph]

15 hours ago, Jose Matus said:

 

Love to see the videos Jose, I hope you post more. 

[Jose Matus]

My first attempt at long bar bending, I bent a 3/4 x 34" bar. I didn't expect to be able to complete it but I managed to do so after working on it for 20 minutes. The kink was not as hard as I expected but the final sweep portion of the bend to get the bar into a power position to leg crush was quite challenging. I'm going to start implementing long bar bends into my routine and see how far I can take it. 

[Jose Matus]

First attempt bending a "Wonder-Bar" (3/8 x 2" x 30") and was successfully able to complete the bend in around 10 minutes. I had no idea how hard this bar would be and honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to get movement but was pleasantly surprised I completed it. 

 

I've also recently made two video attempts at attempting a 17.5" x 16mm bar for DHWOG and failed both attempts. I was able to get the bar to about 90° in a little over a minute but failed at the leg crush which is my weakest phase of the bend. I have only successfully bent the bar all the way twice in previous training sessions. I intend to focus on the leg crush phase with increased volume and hopefully complete the bend for DHWOG before the year ends.

[John Knowlton]

That’s f$$king crazy 

[Jose Matus]

My "Wonder bar" attempt I completed this morning. I submitted this attempt to David Horne hoping to get on to his grip feat list. 

Spoiler

 

 

[Jose Matus]

New PR 19mm x 30.75" A36. This is my second attempt at this length. The first time I attempted this last week, it took me roughly 25 minutes to complete. Today I was able to complete it in 8 minutes. 

[Jose Matus]

These are some recent bends I did within the last 7 days. I bent a 19mm x 28.75" A36 bar early last week and it is by far the hardest bar I have successfully finished. It took me roughly 25 minutes to complete. I also did a speed bend of a 16mm x 24" bar which I was able to do in 20 seconds. 

 

I don't actively focus on horseshoes anymore since I am focused on braced bending but I hearted a St Croix 5 Xtra the other day just for fun. I also snapped my first horseshoe. Never snapped anything before but was curious. Took me about 8 minutes. 

 

The braced bend I failed was a 19mm x 27.75" A36 bar. The bar was an absolute monster that I fought for 40 minutes but ended up failing to finish. 

 

I also recently ordered some rated mid bars from David Horne which I look forward to trying out. I intend to get into the top 5 rankings on DHWOG for rated mid length bar bends hopefully early next year.

 

 

 

[Jose Matus]

I did a 14mm x 14" braced bend rated at 230.7k today. I've never attempted rated stock before and was unsure of how tough the bend would be. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was and was able to complete the bend in a minute. 

[John Knowlton]

killer bend, nice work

[Jose Matus]

A 278k 16mm x 22" braced bend I did this morning for DHWOG. This bend puts me at 2nd place on David Horne's list for rated mid bar bends. It was a fun bend and was happy with how smooth it went. It felt similar in difficulty to the unrated A36 16mm x 19" bars I have bent in the past. 

 

 

 

[Blacksmith513]

nice braced bending dude. 

[Jose Matus]

17 minutes ago, Blacksmith513 said:

nice braced bending dude. 

Thanks man 👍