Z-man Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 After reading the recent bending logs of Jeff, Dan, John and Clay, I have decided to try some additional volume in my quest for the...... 60D! I am NOT seeing red yet, in fact I am hoping to see blue shortly I start old terminator style and bend until I lose momentum, then switch to double overhand, hands high near chin and towards the end of the bar. I have already benefited greatly from all the advice I have received here, please feel free to comment/critique. Some background: 27, 5'10", currently 200 lbs. I was lifting great (combo of O/Powerlifting) and bending/gripping until March. In March, my wife and I seriously started looking to move out of VT and closer to our families in MA. So, I had to find a job, leave my old job, sell the house, and move. We're just getting settled now but sadly I am no longer lifting or gripping, and hardly bending. I was getting close to the blue in the spring, it's time to get back on track!! A PR for me will be a 6.25" yellow or a 5.5" G2. I have assorted stock from onlinemetals to help me progress, ie brass, aluminim, HRS, CRS, square, round, etc.... 7/15/2004 *I have been low-volume bending daily for 5 straight days, today was just a test run. -6" 5-8 twist TT x 8 (all I had left, most were 8 twist) -6" G2 bolt x 1 (easy enough, right wrist is sore now) -40D x 1 (easy enough) -5.5" G2 x 30degrees (I've never bent a 5.5", this was max effort and now left tri is sore) -yellow x 45 degrees (I can normally bend this, I am toast for today, will rest until monday) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-man Posted July 20, 2004 Author Share Posted July 20, 2004 7/19/2004 Unfortunately I decided to bend a bit over the weekend. Bought a 30lb pail of timber ties from Home Depot, these are all 6 twist and noticeably harder than the older 8 twists I just finished. Also received Grade 5s from mcmaster-carr, 6", 6.5" and 7" which are frickin impossible to even kink right now! So another sore wrist day, I will bend light volume again. -6" TT x 3 -5" TT x 1 -Finished 45 degree yellow from last workout -40Ds x 2 -6" TTs x 6 -Fought with 30 degree 5.5" Grade 2 from last time, I got it further but no way it is going to be a U today. Dissapointing day again, I will bend on Thur and try to avoid any bending until then, its so damn addictive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-man Posted July 23, 2004 Author Share Posted July 23, 2004 7/22/04 Not a bad day at all! Still can't handle much volume, but the 3 days rest worked wonders. Hit a PR, it was only a kink but a PR nontheless. -6" TT x 4 -Yellow x 1 This was good, I haven't bent one in a while and missed on 7/16 -6.5" HRS x 1 Another good bend, I'm going for the blue! -Blue x 35 degrees Major PR, I have tried this dozens of times and failed, hoping for next workout -6" HRS x 30 degrees Another miss, but had to try, felt as hard as the blue but my wrists are now very sore -6" TT x 2 I will keep bending every 3 days for now and strive to keep increasing the volume and hit prs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 The blue is nothing to sneeze, at z-man! You're almost there, keep it going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnOBrien Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 Good start Zman! When I started in March, I could only kink a yellow, so you can make a lot of progress in a short time if you are smart about it. Listen to your body and take a break when you need one. You will come back stronger almost every time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Edgin Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 Train hard and you'll get that 60d easily. Last October I couldn't bend a yellow, in December I bent my first blue, then in March I did my first 60d and everything just took off from there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-man Posted July 25, 2004 Author Share Posted July 25, 2004 7/25/04 Clay, AP, and John, Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I have been reading and rereading many of the logs here, they are a great source of info. Nice esp to hear of the progress of John and Clay, I want a 60D so bad!! THE BLUE IS MINE!! -6" TT x 1 warmup. Watching Lance about to win, does he warm up every day or just start pedaling?? -6.25" HRS x 1 Felt easy -BLUE x 1 started a new one, unkinked, it went quick -6" HRS x1 previously kinked, but now a U Another short workout, my left tri is pretty sore from a lot of house work over the weekend. Another 3 day rest, plan is to hit a PR every workout. I have a lot of varied stock that I will start on, I'd rather not be trying to hit a PR on sub 6" blue, I will work on longer lengths of stronger stock to get to a 60D and my 7" G5s..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-man Posted July 28, 2004 Author Share Posted July 28, 2004 7/27/04 (Multiple PRs) It is Tue night and I just finished bending. On Sunday night I bought Maximized Bending, and watched Eric's videos repeatedly. Its only been 2 days since my last workout where I hit a PR best, the blue, Today I was psyched cause my wrists felt good, John's log motivated me where he just kinked a red after taking down a G8 last workout, and I could 'see' Eric demonstrating a red bend So, I bent, and man did I have a great workout!! I owe a ton of my success today to Eric's instruction, fact of the matter is I had no style previously. I just wrapped the nail, grabbed it any way that felt ok, and tried to bend it. Eric really drove home proper overhand technique, and this is the best I've ever felt, especially with short bars. Many many thanks to Eric and Wanna, this is a great product supporting a great board, esp for overhand benders needing to refine their technique further. 6" TTs x 4 5.75" Blue ** New PR 5.75" CRS 1/4" rod from onlinemetals ** New PR 5.5" G2 (been trying for ~2weeks!) ** New PR 6" TT x 1 2 40Ds 5" G2 (unbelievably easy) ** New PR Will take 2-3 days off, and go for a 5.5" blue next time..... If I hit it, then I'll go for the 60D next..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaibox Posted July 28, 2004 Share Posted July 28, 2004 Whoah! Nice gains man. Pretty much finalizes my decision to buy Eric's M.B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnOBrien Posted July 28, 2004 Share Posted July 28, 2004 That's an awesome workout and a very good endorsement for Eric's course. I may buy it too so I can see a real pro at work. Keep up that progress and you'll be killing G5's in no time (you are probably very close right now!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-man Posted August 3, 2004 Author Share Posted August 3, 2004 8/2/04 I tried to bend on 7-30, and did a very short 5 twist TT and a Grade2. I hurt my upper trap muscle, so I called it quits. Feel great today, another PR!! -5" TT x 1 -6" HRS x 1 -5.5" Blue x 1 -5.25" Blue x 1 **NEW PR!! -5.5" Blue That's enough for today, STILL can't kink any of my 60Ds though I will try a 5" blue next workout, and hopefully start some volume TTs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnOBrien Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 What kind of 60d's do you have? I would think that if you're able to take a 5.5" blue you'd be able to at LEAST kink an average 60d... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-man Posted August 3, 2004 Author Share Posted August 3, 2004 John, that's EXACTLY what I want to know!! I got them at Home depot and a local Aubuchons hardware. I got the 5.25" blue pretty easily, but my 60Ds won't budge. I have lots of brass and Al stock to bridge the gap, but may focus on a Grade 5 for now. How hard was a G5 for you after being able to do cut blues? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnOBrien Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 I never did cut blues. After I got my first few blues, I focused on volume with timber ties. Started out doing maybe 5-10 at a time and worked up to doing around 50 in a sitting back to back with a pre-rolled IM towel (I was doing 50 in around 10 minutes with the pre-rolled towel). I personally think the volume really toughened my hands and allowed me to ignore the pain to a certain degree. 60d come in a wide variety of strengths though. The first one I ever bent I got from KerbJr and I bent it before I could bend a Yellow consistently. The one's that I'm trying to work into for volume now are tougher than a G5 to start but the crush is much easier. Depends on the nail... You may try some cheat bends to help you bridge the gap too. Pre-kink one until you can finish it off and then next time, don't kink it as much, etc until you are taking on a fresh nail. I've had good success with that training method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-man Posted August 5, 2004 Author Share Posted August 5, 2004 8/4/04 I want to start 'calibrating' my stock from onlinemetals as I'm running out of room of the blues. 5" TT x 1 6" .25" round brass x 1 **very easy, like a green 7" .25" square brass x 1 **pretty easy 6" .25" square brass x1 *still pretty easy, like an easy 7"piece of .25"round HRS failed on a 5" blue, couldn't even kink too short 6" 5/16" round Al *tough, like a yellow, esp at the beginning 5.5" 5/16" round Al *surprisingly it was a fight, I took a break halfway through and it was very tough to start back up on it. Strange feel, seems easy as it warms though, a few parts of the bend were very explosive. 7" 5/16" round brass x kink ** sweeeeet, here's my 'tweener' stock Pissed that I missed the 5"blue, the 5.25" went down pretty fast last workout. I'll probably work on my short bending, but want to keep progressing with harder stock or volume. I CAN'T bend my .25" square HRS, 3/8"Al, or my 5/16" brass but I have plenty of material to fill the gaps to the grade 5 and beyond..... Thanks for the encouragement John, I have a whole bucket of TTs to start volume on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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