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. 
Jedd’s delivered another terrific article on steel bending, how it balances the power you develop in other ways. Well worth reading. Of course, this is in promotion for his new DVD – Nail Bending: How to Melt Steel with Your Bare Hands. If nail bending sounds like a good idea to you (despite others calling you crazy) I would highly recommend it.
Hi, my name is Jedd Johnson, and I bend steel with my hands.
That’s right, I take steel bars, wrap them in suede to prevent a cut to my hands, and bend them into a U-shape.
“Why the hell would he want to do that?” you might ask…
I’ll tell you straight up…
Because it makes me feel like a friggin’ animal.
It makes me feel like I am a 800-lb rain forest gorilla that can destroy anything put in front of me.
And I like that feeling…
Maybe that description is too wild, and you can’t identify with it, so let me describe it a little differently…
A PR Bend is like adding 50 lbs to your deadlift, and holding it there while you scream before dropping it back to the platform like a bomb from an airplane.
Completing a bend you never were able to do before is like hitting 100 snatches in 5 minutes for the first time ever, and letting out a warrior cry because it took so much hard work and determination to get there.
Much like the landmark feats described above, I love taking a perfectly good nail or bolt and making it completely useless.
Some people think this is ignorant, but they don’t realize that BENDING IS THE PERFECT COMPLIMENT to movements such as the kettlebell snatch and the deadlift…
Now, you’re probably thinking: What!?!? How in the world could bending steel compliment my snatch and deadlift work?
The answer is the principle of Antagonistic Balance.
“Antagonistic” means opposite, against, contra-indicative.
Think of a Broadway Play. The agonist is the main character and the antagonist is the character that plays opposite him or her. Many times these two are enemies, or their views are somehow contra-indicative of one another – they are opposites; they disagree.
So what is Antagonsitic Balance, then?
Well, your body works the best, improves its performance, and is at its healthiest when the antagonistic muscle groups in the joints and opposing sides of the body are within a reasonable balance.
Think of the shoulder. If you do too much bench pressing and not enough rowing, pull-ups, retractions and other opposite movement patterns, you can really do harm to your shoulders, messing up the posture, pinching off nerves, and thus ruining progress on the bench.
You’ve heard of this before probably a hundred times and you are well aware of it in your training, right?
And you know, if you do too much pushing and not enough pulling, you could be setting yourself up for a serious fall down the line.
Now, where does this come into play with respect to the relationship between steel bending, the kettlebell snatch and the powerlifting deadlift…?
To fully understand this, let’s look at the movement patterns of these movements individually.
KETTLEBELL SNATCH
The Kettlebell Snatch is marked by Extension throughout the body.
The athlete starts in a flexed position with the knees, and hips bent. The bell is swung back through the legs, loading the hamstrings.
The momentum of the bell is reversed with controlled violence and then extension begins throughout the body. The hips and knees extend to give momentum to the bell. The spine is lengthened.
And finally, the arm punches itself into a straight, extended position.
DEADLIFT
The Deadlift is very similar.
The lifter starts out in a crouching position, grasping the bar as it sits on the floor.
From there, the lifter pulls the weight up along the body, extending the knees and the hips.
Once the bar is pulled to its highest point, the lifter further extends himself, pulling the shoulders back into a position of pride.
COMMON THREADS
Upon analyzing both of these movements, the action that is repeated time and again is extension: extension in the knees, hips, shoulders and arms.
So, what is the natural antagonistic balancing action for the movement pattern of Extension?
There has to be some kind of contra-indicative movement pattern that essentially will negate these two big lifts, right?
The answer is Flexion.
To repeat, we are looking for an antagonistic, or opposite movement pattern, and we already said that KB work and Deadlifts involve a lot of force into extension, so the natural antagonistic movement pattern would be flexion.
BUT WAIT – I thought that, just like the ghost busters crossing the streams, having your “body in flexion” was bad!?!?
Sure, sitting at your desk all day in flexion is BAD. In can have a huge toll on your body over the years, so let’s try to avoid that…
How about Crunches?
SCREW THAT! BORING!!!
There has to be some other exhilarating strength training practice that involves flexion, while also requiring the same level of dedication, the same level of discipline, and the same level of technical precision in order to succeed that the Kettlebell Snatch and the Deadlift require. But what is it???
The answer – STEEL BENDING.
Don’t believe me? Let’s look at steel bending, now, and the movement patterns involved.
STEEL BENDING
The athlete starts out by grasping the nail high up under the chin with the spine, hips, and knees extended.
From there he takes a small step forward, initiates pressure into the steel and begins to lean forward into flexion.
As the steel heats up under the pressure, he feels it begin to move and puts on one last pulse of flexion as he “crushes the can,” compressing his abdomen down and further bending the nail.
Hit after hit on the nail, he does the same thing, flexing his body, until the ends of the nail are within two inches.
Flexion.
Being stuck in it at an office desk or behind the wheel of a car all the time is a bad thing. It makes you tight in the hip flexors, it can weaken the glutes and it can hurt your posture.
However, performing flexion in order to translate the power from your core and torso into your hands and to make the steel tap out to your strength is a good thing.
And not only does it help balance out all of the other training you do all the time, it makes you feel like you are a monster with green skin that can smash through concrete walls.
I’ll warn you right now, though…
As fun as it is, Nail Bending isn’t easy.
If it were easy, everybody would do it. The hard is what makes it great.
If you want to learn how to bend nails the right way, I’ll show you.
Check out my killer DVD, Nail Bending: How to Melt Steel with Your Bare Hands.
All the best in your training, my friends. Now go get your SAVAGE on!
Nail Bending: How to Melt Steel with Your Bare Hands <= Click that link right away!
Jedd
Jedd Johnson is a certified Red Nail Bender, a CSCS, RKC and Captain of Crush. He is a World Record Holder in the Two Hands Pinch, AND he likes to bend sh*t.
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength by on Dec 3rd, 2010. Comment.
This is a guest post by Jedd Johnson of the Diesel Crew. Jedd competes in Grip Contests, loves Feats of Grip Strength, and has written several Grip training resources, including his Nail Bending eBook and Card Tearing eBook which I highly recommend. If you bend steel you’ll want to pay attention to this article.
Does this sound familiar?
You can’t wait to destroy that new PR bend…
You set it down on your wraps and roll it up in a hustle…
You pull it up into position as quick as you can…
You plunge down onto it to get it started…
BOOM! You smash yourself right in the face.
It happens all the time. In the haste to try to get a bend started, you put your wraps on too loose and just as you get the steel to start kinking, one of the wraps slip and your entire torso recoils as you try to stop your hand that flies off the wrap, only to punch yourself in the jaw or lip.
This self-inflicted pain is a direct result of bending wraps that are put on too loose. When the wraps are loose they slide around and it becomes very hard to predict what will happen as the bend develops.
Unfortunately the hazards of loose wraps don’t just stop at the risk of giving yourself a knuckle sandwich. Poorly wrapped steel can also lead to an injury. When wraps slip and you lose your grip on the bend, you can have a number of things go wrong, including jamming a finger, twisting a wrist, or even pulling something in your chest or shoulder.
Getting a tight wrap is key to high bending performance and risk management, so here’s a few methods you can use to get a good tight wrap.
TIGHT WRAPPING METHODS
The most important thing to understand when getting a tight wrap is that you need tension on both sides of the wrap. You will be putting tension on one side as you wrap the material over the end of the nail. You also need some sort of tension on the opposite end of the wrap. Here’s a few ways to do this.
Foot Method
Place the wrap flat on the floor and put the end of the steel right on the very edge of the wrap. From here, take a position similar to a hip flexor stretch and place your lead foot on the front end of the wrap. This will keep the wrap tight while you wrap the steel.
Weight Method
If you do not have the flexibility to get into that position comfortably for that wrapping technique, then you can try this. Take a weight plate or a block weight and set it on the end of the wrap. From there, start wrapping the nail, making sure to pull tight every time you complete a half turn on the steel.
Partner Method
Optimally, you want to have a partner help you wrap the nail. With a partner, he or she can respond to your wrap and pull at the right angle accordingly. This is the best way to get a really tight wrap, especially if your partner understands how important it is to have the wrap as tight as possible.
OTHER KEY POINTS
Here are just a few other points to make a practice when wrapping your steel for serious bending.
Wrap Shape
If you are doing the wrapping correctly, your wraps should begin to lose their perfect rectangular shape after only a few bends. They should become more of a long trapezoid shape because on edge of the wraps will elongate somewhat. This shows you are pulling the wrap tight on each roll of the steel.
Chalk in the Wraps
You can get the wrap to conform better to the shape of what you are bending better by adding some chalk into the last few inches of the wrap material. This helps fill the gaps of air that accumulate, especially if you are bending a bolt or a nail with a head on it.
Chalk the Hands and Between the Fingers
When squeezing on the ends of the nail, the hand skin has a tendency to become moist from perspiration. This moisture can cause your hands to lose their grip on the nail, regardless of what bending technique you use. For this reason, it is a good idea to chalk you hands well. I suggest putting a bit more chalk on the hands when bending that when gripping plates. I also suggest adding chalking between the fingers to keep that area dry as well.
NOW IT’S UP TO YOU
Once the wraps are on getting the nail bent is up to you. Remember to apply proper hydraulic pressure on the ends of the nail or bolt. Pressing on the ends of the steel will help to reinforce the tight wrap you just put on by helping better concentrate force into the nail effectively.
As you get the bend started, keep in mind that as the steel warps, it heats up. While hotter steel is easier to bend, there is no need to try to rush the bend. Rushing the bend can lead to mistakes, a slipped grip, and more injuries. Plus, if your hand slips off because you are rushing, you will lose time on the bend anyway, so it is better to stay focused and under a controlled pace throughout the duration of the bend.
The techniques covered above should help you to get a good tight wrap so that when you go for your bend you can maximize the force you drive into the nail. Good luck with your bending and if you have any questions on wrapping or bending, leave a comment below.
Thanks and all the best in your training.
Jedd Johnson
Jedd Johnson is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist in Northeastern PA. He specializes in Grip Strength Training but studies all types of strength training disciplines. His website, TheGripAuthority.com is centered around building World Class Grip Strength with the goal of helping all its members accomplish their grip strength goals.
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength by on Apr 27th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Got a great question from Felipe the other day that I wanted to tackle, concerning progressions in nail bending.
First of all congratulations Logan for having such a great website your one of the strong men I follow because you have such great information and knowledge. I will be buying the advanced bridging course some time with in a month from now, your lock out was crazy bro, good stuff. I wanted to ask you a question on bending, I bought the ironmind nails level one and two, white and green and I love them. They got to easy and I ordered the yellow nails, I can’t even bend them at all there to strong. what other nails do you recommend that is harder than the green nail and easier than the yellow nail so I can bridge the gap. How should I address the situation?
Thanks Logan hope to hear from you.
The white, green, yellow, blue and red nails
However, I don’t know what they were thinking with the Bag of Nails. The jump from a white nail to a green nail is small. The same goes for the yellow to the blue. But the jump from the green to the yellow or the blue to red is HUGE.
And to be honest, I don’t think any amount of working on the green nails is really going to help you get to a yellow. You need to look outside of Ironmind to make these jumps.
There is a lot of detail that goes into this and different ways you can approach it. You can buy lengths of steel and cut them to size. Get 1/4” cold rolled steel and cut it to lengths with a pair of bolt cutters. This way you can make your own progression cutting off 1/2” at a time.
Or for where you’re at Felipe, it may be easiest to pickup 40D nails at the hardware store and work with those. But again with these, the jump from a 40D to a 60D (about the equivalent of a blue nail) is big.
For complete details on progressions with bending check out Diesel’s Nail Bending eBook. It is the definitive resource on this subject.
Actually one of my friends is looking at making a brain dead simple progression for bending, where the jumps are tiny all the way through. Going from one nail to the next is easy but there are many progressions to go from the easiest nails to past the Red nail.
Its still in development, but this is something I’d love to see made available, as I too have been stopped in making these big jumps. I know that the more progressive you can make something the easier it is.
Is this something you’d be interested in? (I’m asking everyone, including Felipe) Comment below.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength by on Apr 8th, 2010. 17 Comments.
No I’m not talking about spending 4 hours in the gym that wear you down instead of building you up. That kind of stuff will be talked about some other time.
What I am talking about is a certain kind of strength training. The kind that leaves behind a pile of destroyed, mangled, ripped and shredded stuff.
In my last post I talked about the satisfaction that I and many others get from bending steel. One of the main causes of this is that you have something tangible and material afterwards. If you break a PR in the press or squat it is great, but unless you snapped some pictures or video then it is just in your mind and your sense of accomplishment.
Bend a new piece of iron or tear a deck of cards in half and you have the results left over. Not knocking any other lifts but these few give you something to look at, after the feat is done
I don’t hang on to everything but as a habit I keep my firsts and my records. I also have a few souvenirs from other people.
One of my favorites is a phonebook torn by John Wood at a seminar I attended. If you haven’t seen his sites then be sure to check them out. A good starting place is http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/
The phonebook itself isn’t so impressive, but the manner in which he did it was. While in a wrestler’s bridge with someone standing on top of him he tore three phonebooks in succession. In this position he had to tear the books above his head, meaning without bracing. Truly a extraordinary stunt.
The first time I ever ‘performed’ I gave the remains of my feats to some young girls near the front of the stage. Twas a great feeling seeing them carry around the objects all night long.
My collection has just begun but you gotta start somewhere. If you haven’t, then what are you waiting for?
In case you’re wondering I do recycle the phonebook remains. Whether they actually can use them or not I do not know for sure.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Feats of Strength, Hand Strength, Oldtime Strongmen by on Sep 27th, 2007. Comment.
