There’s just nothing quite like destroying perfectly good items in your own two hands. It’s a lot of fun, builds tremendous power, and can impress others.
Today, I want to take you a little deeper into the world of oldtime strongmen.
Did you know that one item is not equal to another even though they may look the same?
The 60D (pronounced 60-penny) nail is the standard among strongmen for short bending. But not all 60D nails are created the same.
At a recent workshop we were teaching the attendees how to bend. I had just purchased a new box of 60D nails. And a good number of attendees were able to destroy these with either ease or a lot of effort.
But as far as 60D nails are concerned this was a batch of some of the easiest 60D nails I had ever come across. The ones I had at home (that had collected a bit of rust) were probably about 30% harder.
And Bud Jeffries happened to have on hand a 60D nail that is equal in difficulty to a Grade 8 Bolt. That’s a huge jump.
(As a related side note: Did you know that many weight plates may be off up to several pounds in either direction? Unless you have calibrated weights then what they say may not be completely accurate. So while this may not be as drastic in weights it can still happen there too.)
My next example is cards. I’ve been working lately on my card tearing to make it even stronger.
I knew the cards I had been working with were strong, but I didn’t know just how strong they were until recently.
In working the progressions I was up to about 40 cards tearing fairly easily on these decks.
Then I’m over at Chuck Halbakken’s gym and tearing a bunch of cards. (We probably went through 100 decks that day).
The cards he had were a bit easier then mine. Enough so that I was able to do about twice as many. This video here shows my first attempt ever at a deck and a half.
I also hit some other PR’s that day. A deck behind the back and a deck torn vertically (which is ridiculously hard – all the more props to Chuck as that’s his preferred way to do it).
The gold standard among card tearing is usually using Bicycle decks. I was able to go through that easily too.
So it turns out I’ve been working on some of the hardest decks out there. And there is something to be said for working the hard way so that when you need to perform or do other things its much easier.
As you get more experienced you’ll be able to tell the difference just by looking and feeling items. And in the end you should be able to destroy them all.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. If you want to get started on bending nails or tearing cards click the pages for more details.
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength, Oldtime Strongmen, Videos by on May 3rd, 2011. 1 Comment. 
I talk a lot about grip strength and feats of strength.
Why?
1) Because they’re fun to do.
And more importantly…
2) Because strong hands means you’re stronger overall.
My website isn’t really for beginners. I’d like to think that everyone who reads my messages is a step above the normal population especially when it comes to strength and fitness.
When the average person on the street may be puzzled when you say ‘Grip Strength’ you are not. And just by training your hands you’re are several steps above!
But where should beginners start?
And what if you have hole’s in your foundation yet you’re trying to move onto the ‘advanced’ stuff? (That can easily be a recipe for lack of progress if not outright disaster.)
There are a few people well worth listening too when it comes to hand and wrist strength. My friend, Adam Glass is one of them. He is strong, especially when it comes to grip.
Among some of his accomplishments are ripping decks of cards and phone books in a second. He lifts hundreds of pounds with a single finger. A thick horseshoe Adam bent for me lies on my shelf, far larger than the horseshoes I regularly bend.
And if you’re not quite complete without a world record Adam has one. He owns the world record in the 2″ vertical bar deadlift with a 353 lbs pull at a body weight of 204lbs.
Adam is releasing a DVD on how to build strong hands. But you can’t get it yet. First off he wants to give you a series of free videos showing you the how’s and why’s of grip strength.
At no cost it’s a no-brainer.
Go there and sign up, get the free videos, and get started.
Personally, I can’t wait to see what he has in store. And when you sign you’ll see many of these feats done with ease.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength by on Nov 23rd, 2010. Comment.
Have you joined us over at Super Human Training?
Wrapped up a great call with The World’s Strongest Redneck, Steve McGranahan, last night.
You can imagine my surprise when I heard about Steve running an ultra-marathon and chewing up lightbulbs. On top of that we covered some great training information:
- Getting in the Zone, Going Unconscious and more on Mindset for High Performance
- The Reverse Cow Milking Technique for steel bending power
- How to Build Vice-Like Hands and why this is a must for just about any feat of strength
- Build Super Strength by Maintaining Weights
- Big Volume in Two A Day Workouts
- The Biggest Secret in Keeping your body fresh and ready to gofor the next workout
- Training Tips on the Last Two Fingers and How this will put your Hand Strength Through the Roof
- And much more
You may have missed the call but there is still some time to listen into the replay.
And if you aren’t signed up for the remaining nine calls, what are you waiting for? Make sure to sign up here.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Uncategorized by on Jul 29th, 2010. Comment.
Grip training is important for everyone, not just strongman and grip athletes (and for obviously reasons its extra important for them.)
You can do just the basics. For many people, swinging a thick handled kettlebell is going to give them more hand strength then they’ve ever had in life.
But the hands are amazing in what they can do. There are so many exercises available for each and every area of the body, and for the hands I’d say there are three times as many. This is because of all the functions the hands can do.
Hand strength is more than just closing grippers
Looking at the hands from a physiological stand point. You also have wrist flexion and extension, radial and ulnar deviation. The fingers flex, extend, adduct and abduct.
Are you training all these movements?
Luckily you don’t need to isolate each movement pattern, as in all effective training, when integrated you get better results as that is how we’re suppose to move.
However, many trainees do neglect some part. A common example is working that crushing and support grip (the flexion of the fingers) but never going in the opposite manner (extending the fingers) under resistance.
When you work everything, you’ll enjoy greater strength and health. This is because you are bringing up the weak links in your chain that allow the stronger links to get even stronger.
If you’ve been doing grip training for awhile then this may be familiar to you. If not, I may have lost you back near the start, but that’s okay.
Do you want to know more?
One of the top trainers out there, especially when it comes to grip is Jedd Johnson. He has written THE books on Bending Nails and Card Tearing. Highly recommended if you want to get started in those feats.
And recently he re-opened the site The Grip Authority as an inexpensive membership.
If you are working on your feats of strength or competing in grip contests you need to check this out. There’s been detailed videos on phonebook tearing, anvil lifting, the rolling thunder and more. Just a couple weeks ago he released videos on horseshoe bending. The accessory exercises alone were worth the price of admission.
I tried one out the other day and absolutely loved it. He guarantees that you have never seen this one before and he’s right. It’s unique and it works very well.
For the average person you’ll learn more about grip then you possibly need (like all the different gripper certifications). But there is tons you will use. Each month he gives you workouts you can do or learn from to make your own.
With The Grip Authority you’ll become an expert in grip training fast.
But be prepared when you sign up as there are several hours of video up. You’ll may have to set aside some time to watch it all.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength by on May 28th, 2010. 1 Comment.
David asked a follow up question regarding his Convict Conditioning routine. “Two questions: I forgot to ask, how would you add grip, neck, & calf work in there too; and can you give a more in depth outline of circuit training – how you would plan it?”
In today’s post I’ll cover hand strength training. For grip work I would train the hands two or three times per week. You could probably even get away with one session a week and still make good gains. Pick one to three exercises each time and go after it. These are the main types of hand strength but these are the main ones. Depending on your goals you may need other exercises.
Wrist levering – This can include wrist rollers, sledgehammer leveraging, dumbbell wrist curls, etc. Even handstands are good.
Crushing grip – This is usually done with steel spring grippers but can be trained in other ways.
Working the pinch grip with a block weight
Pinch grip – Pinching plates is the easiest form, block weights are great too, and then you can do feats like card and phonebook tearing.
Support grip – This is any type of holding. Kettlebell swings certainly work this. Farmer’s walk is probably one of the best exercises.
And many exercises cross over in different area. Bending nails works the wrists and your crushing and support grip. Plate curls will work your wrists and pinch at the same time. If you’re short on time I’d advise doing exercises that give you more bang for your buck.
Also for better hand health you should look at doing exercises like finger extensions especially if you go heavy into working the grip.
You don’t need to do heavy volume. Just one to a few sets is all you really need for your hand strength training.
In the next couple posts I’ll cover neck training and circuit training.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Hand Strength by on Feb 9th, 2010. 1 Comment.
A little while ago I bent my first ever legitimate 60-penny nail. I did this in the reverse grip meaning my hands were facing opposite directions. Since then I have bent one in the double overhand position which I am working more on.
Bending steel has been something that has interested me for a while. What originally got me into it was reading Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein: The Mighty Atom
Once you get into bending you will probably be visiting your local hardware store to buy different lengths and qualities of steel to prepare your own. The Bag of Nails also comes with a hand pad (necessary so that you don’t damage your hands) but I prefer strips of leather instead.
Just saw a red nail get bent for the first time ever. While assisting at the RKC in Minnesota a couple weeks ago, one night we had some fun up in the hospitality suite. We bent steel, tore cards and phonebooks in half. Brett Jones took care of the red nail. It was very impressive. He also gave us some tips on bending and other feats. Very helpful and a great guy.
Why should you consider bending nails? Bending steel requires whole body tension. It will teach you how to use your entire body in one concentrated effort. People may think that it as a grip feat but that is only a piece of the puzzle.
It will also build your mind powers. This feat is really all about mind over matter. You will never bend a piece of steel you don’t believe you can. Wrapping your mind around the feat is as important as building the strength to be able to do it.
For example, the first time I ever bent a yellow nail (which is a hefty step up from the green) is right after my friend told me he had bent one. Now that it was ‘possible’ I finished off my first one. It took me about 15 minutes with a long break in the middle but I did it. This kind of thing happens very often which is a good reason to train with other people at least some of the time.
Another reason bending steel is great is because it is satisfying and fun. Perhaps I am weird like that, but knowing that you can demolish a piece of iron is very gratifying. Besides it is quite amazing to your average person and thus a great party trick.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength by on Sep 20th, 2007. 1 Comment.
