Bending.....wrist Strength Or Overall Strength

[ishred]

This post is not meant to discredit anyones accomplishments. Most of you guys can bend stuff that I won't even attempt.

Today I attempted a 10" 1/4 round, double overhand, like i normally have been bending. The bar would not budge. Then for fun I tried the double underhand method and to my surprise, the bar folded like paper.

The only thing my wrist felt during the double underhand was a stretch that my wrists aren't used to.

Everyone has their own method for what they are comfortable with, but I think the rules need to be clarified. Is bending a test of wrist strength? if so, double overhand should be the only method used.

From my assesment of the current rules (not going below waist, not leaning against anything, etc.), bending is supposed to test wrist strength.

[OldGuy]

I think a lot of it is pain tolerance and intensity. It is hard on the wrists but I do not see they are doing the bending.

[mmainlands]

Could anyone describe how wrists only could fully bend a nail / bar to under 2 inches??

They bend mainly back and forth, but not much side to side, so how could they fully bend anything? They are in a supporting role only. No one can be faulted for using whatever leverage they have, within the rules, to their advantage. It is no different in any other sport., an example being a deadlifter with long arms and short legs - i.e. - an ideal physique for the deadlift. This did not stop Don Reindoudt of long legs and short arms, from deadlifting near to 900 pounds, no complaints.

[ishred]

Your right, there are no rules concerning the type of grip to use when bending. But maybe there should be.

Although I think your deadlift example could have been better (ie. deadlifters using sumo style which makes for a much shorter ROM).

[Ray Hansford]

I agree that the wrists are in a supporting role for bending,and they could not bend anything by themselves.

When I bend I feel it in my forearms,biceps,lats,chest and abs

[maidenfan]

I think the wrists act a lot like the abs when squatting. Weak wrists equal all the power from the rest of the body not going to the bar being bent.

[ROBOHANDS]

Everyone has their weakpoints. I cannot bend half underhand of what I do overhand. I don't believe either style stresses the wrists that much less, it is just a matter of preference.

[herc]

WRONG! Double underhand bending puts a huge amount of stress on the wrists. You could have the strongest upper body in the world but if you did not have the wrist strength to go with it you would not be able to bend much with this style. The wrists are the weak link in double underhand and cannot be bypased with upper body strength as is the case with other styles.

[Jedd Johnson]

Bending is certainly full body strength, but wrist strength is also the limiting factor in successful bending.

If the wrist is weak, it will not allow the strength of the rest of the body to channel through it, causing a break in the system, or weak link in the chain if you will.

It should always be the goal to develop full body strength, and to bring up all weaknesses. Bending is a great example of how even the strongest bodies can have a weakness in them.

-Jedd-

[Ray Hansford]

If the wrist is weak, it will not allow the strength of the rest of the body to channel through it, causing a break in the system, or weak link in the chain if you will.

-Jedd-

AMEN!!

[JustinH]

I have found when trying to bend nails that my wrists are the weakpoint by far. Right around the time that I know the nail is about to bend my wrists have immense pressure on them and feel like they are going to snap. Even when doing somewhat heavy seated wrist curls my wrists hurt a lot. Any other time they feel fine and I know my forearms are easily strong enough to lift the weight but my wrists aren't. I will buy a sledgehammer as soon as I can but until then I will just have to do wrist curls.

Any other ideas on how to strengthen the wrists?

[Ray Hansford]

Any other ideas on how to strengthen the wrists?

Keep bending!!

[nils]

WRONG! Double underhand bending puts a huge amount of stress on the wrists. You could have the strongest upper body in the world but if you did not have the wrist strength to go with it you would not be able to bend much with this style. The wrists are the weak link in double underhand and cannot be bypased with upper body strength as is the case with other styles.

Stress on the wrist. yes.

But for me it seems like I can go on until my Ulnar collateral ligament gives out and I stop. So it is a test of wrist strength, but of the wrist ligaments themselves and not muscles.

Which I find a bit questionable. Even though I haven't really decided if I believe that it is a good enough reason not to use that style.

[AP]

I think with bending it is especially unclear how much of the action is due to muscular strength and how much is due to ligament or tendon strength. I don't think any style could be catagorized as using only (or even mainly) the muscles.

I think a beginner or a casual observer might mistake bending as a demonstration of who's wrist can stand the most stress or who can stand the most pain - in short, something largely untrainable. Experienced benders know this is not the case.

Edited June 15, 2004 by AP

[nils]

I think a beginner or a casual observer might mistake bending as a demonstration of who's wrist can stand the most stress or who can stand the most pain - in short, something largely untrainable. Experienced benders know this is not the case.

HHm, tendon strength can be trained.

And coping with pain+decreasing pain from pressure is probably the easiest thing there is to train! Much quicker then gaining muscle strength. So I don't quite understand what you mean with the above lines.

[RSW]

In my case my wrists do most of the work in the initial bend (double underhand) and then my whole upperbody is involved in the crushdown. Properly trained, the wrists are capable of generating tremendous force.

Edited June 15, 2004 by RSW

[milkbone]

I say it's both. You must have the wrist strength or else the power from the rest of the body will not get transferred to the steel. I think bending potential is always limited by one or both of them, be it wrist or upper-body strength.

[AP]

Compare what I said to what you wrote:

So it is a test of wrist strength, but of the wrist ligaments themselves and not muscles.

Which I find a bit questionable. Even though I haven't really decided if I believe that it is a good enough reason not to use that style.

I took this to mean that you thought this style may not be a legitimate form of bending/strength training/or wrist strength demonstration.

It seems to me that the heart of these type of discussions (Mikeal S's questioning of double overhand, Brookfield questioning the 'new' class of benders, ect) centers on what IS considered wrist strength and what shouldn't be considered wrist strength.

My point is that people thinking that a certain style doesn't involve wrist strength is like a casual observer assuming that bending is about being some kind of genetic freak instead of hard work. The heavy bar bends because the person wrenches his wrist with wreckless abandon and if normal people did that thier wrist would simply break. Like it's some form of cheating. Take a look at Dave O's bending of the heavy challenge bars. When I first saw that, my first impression was that my wrists wouldn't be able to take that kind of beating. But I stopped myself, that's the wrong way to think. Dave's wrists stand up to that punishment because he's built up the strength in them so that they can maintain their integrity - it's not some kind of flexibility/pain type of trick. Just strength.

So, thinking that double O, or old terminator style, or double U or any style doesn't use wrist strength is thinking like a newbie, you just don't realize what wrist strength it takes to perform those styles.

But yeah, you can train tendons/ligaments and pain resistance. They are all part of the bending package. That's why I concluded with the last sentence - experienced benders know that the casual observer is wrong. And that all bending styles just take hard work and dedication to get good at them.

Edited June 15, 2004 by AP

[foggymountainmuscle]

WRONG! Double underhand bending puts a huge amount of stress on the wrists. You could have the strongest upper body in the world but if you did not have the wrist strength to go with it you would not be able to bend much with this style. The wrists are the weak link in double underhand and cannot be bypased with upper body strength as is the case with other styles.

If there is a bending style that does not involve bracing that puts the pressure off the wrist, I'd like to know what it is. Heck even bending long lengths of steel puts a tone of strain on the lower arm and that's more upper body strength than anything.

Now some guys understand and others don't that when you're bending that steel you are not feeling it or seeing it the same as other benders do. I have found that my wrist flexion towards the ulna is superior in strength to the other movements in my wrist and largely because of this I find verticle style allows me to bend my toughest metal. Double underhand is a mix of flexion towards the ulna and pronation of the forearm. Double overhand is a mix of flexion to the ulna and supination of the forearm. There are more styles I could disect but due to the nature of your physiology you will naturally find more leverage in certain positions than others. I absolutely agree with Jedd, it's about bringing out weaknesses. I think lots of you guys should try training other bending styles, you may find a better one for you which you have not let develope into it's full potential.