First Feat of Strength for Beginners

I’m often asked by readers and viewers what is the best way to get started with Oldtime Feats of Strength, like bending and tearing things.

There’s one single feat of strength that I believe you should begin with…

First off, feats of strength require you to be able to produce tremendous pressure with the hands, so you should begin with something that checks that box.

Next, aside from being able to latch onto something hard with your hands, you also need to be able to make what you’re bending or tearing do what you want it to.

You have to be able to overcome whatever it is that you’re working on, so this introductory feat has to involve movement as well as the tension requirement

On top of all that, your first feat challenge needs to test you mentally. Often, when trying to bend or tear something, your mind gives up long before you hands do or your body does.

So you can’t just start bending paper clips or wire hangers. There’s gotta be some sort of mental challenge to it.

Finally, and I think this is something that a lot of new feat fanatics forget about, is there needs to be a low level of risk involved. This way, you don’t hurt yourself, and screw up not only your new hobby, but also all the other strength training and other strength goals you have.

For instance, it’s really easy to go overboard with steel bending, or pop something in your shoulder, because of the increased levels of strain.

As a bonus, it’s nice if the thing you’re starting off with is fairly affordable and easy to get, so you’re not blowing through paychecks and combing the edges of the internet trying to find some rare stock to work with.

So with all these factors considered, I believe the perfect feat for you to start out with is CARD TEARING.

Card Tearing teaches you not only about the application of force from your hands into the cards, but also how you can direct this force into the deck at various angles.

Once you learn this, it’s a much easier jump to bending nails, steel bars, horse shoes, etc.

Before you know it, you’re bending and tearing everything in sight!

While it may not seem so, tearing cards also requires mental fortitude, because it isn’t by any means easy, and you have to push yourself to complete the tear.

Finally, cards are available EVERYWHERE! From the local super market, to the various dollar stores, to ebay, casinos, and more – decks of cards are constantly at your fingertips.

For all these reasons, and probably more that I’m not thinking of, if you’re thinking about getting started with oldtime feats of strength, your best bet is Card Tearing, and I’ll show you everything you need to know in my ebook, the Card Tearing System

Thanks and all the best in your training.

NAPALM

P.S. If you’re not sure if you’re strong enough to start tearing cards, don’t worry – I got you covered with an extensive exercise index in my Card Tearing eBook Grab Your Copy Today!!!

Steel Bending Resources

This past week, I released my latest steel bending product, the Less is More Steel Bending Workout.

One component of the product is the accompanying Workout PDF. I wanted to do something special for those who picked up the product, and I compiled a list of the videos about bending I’ve put up on YouTube and all the articles I’ve put up about bending here on the site.

Unfortunately, I can’t get the links to all of these videos to work, so I’m posting them here, and everyone will be able to check them out.

If you haven’t picked up your copy of the Less is More Steel Bending Workout, make sure you do it fast, while the introductory price is still available.

Steel Bending Videos

Grade 8 Bolt Bent with Head Removed

7″ FBBC Stainless Bastard Bar Reverse Miss

6″ x 1/4″ Grade 8 with Head Removed (Miss)

6″ x 1/4″ Square Cold Rolled Steel – Reverse Bend – 11/6/16

Grade 8 Bolt Reverse – 11/6/16

9/32″ x 6″ Reverse Bending | Prep for Gripmas 2016

Volume Bending to Improve Top Bending Strength | Cooking With Napalm

Mason’s Hope Strongman Show 2016: Horseshoe Bend

Mason’s Hope Strongman Show 2016: Bending a Widow Maker

Masons Hope Strongman Show 2016: Breaking a Nail to Pieces

Will Sledge Hammer Levering Help My Nail Bending?

Viewer Asks “What’s Your Biggest Accomplishment?”

Nail Bending, Inch Dumbbell, and My Physique – Cooking with Napalm

Red Nail Reverse Bend & Measure Only

Red Nail Reverse Bend – Full Wrap / Bend / Measure Video

Bending Steel | Red Nail Reverse Bend Attempt – 5/16×7 Cold Rolled Steel

Nail Bending Questions & Answers – Cooking with Napalm

Strongman Feats: Bending a Hammer

Strongman Feats of Strength: Bending a 60D Nail

Strongman Feats: Jedd Johnson Bends a Horseshoe

Strongman Jedd Johnson – Bending a Drop Forged Steel Wrench

Strongman Jedd Johnson – Bending a Carpenter’s Hammer

Strongman Jedd Johnson – Bending a Horseshoe

Strongman Jedd Johnson – Bending a Frying Pan

Strongman Bending 8″ Steel Wrench

Strongman Wrench Bend

60D Nail Break Under 3 Minutes

Nail Bending – Double Overhand Technique

Napalm Bends the Red Nail

Napalm Bends the Red Nail

Napalm Gets Called Out

Steel Bending Articles

5 Tips for Bending a Wrench

Welcome to the Jungle – The Ultimate Form of Bending

The Importance of Double Compression in Bending

Balancing Steel Bending with Other Training

8 Reasons to Start Bending Horseshoes

Success Stories: Bending Your First Horseshoe

How the Strength of Steel is Determined in Steel Bending

What You Need for Horseshoe Bending

What Sets Horseshoe Bending Apart from Other Strength Feats

The Journey Into Nail Bending

Isometric Hammer Work for Bending Success

4 Ways to Improve the Kink for Reverse Bending

Nail Bending and Variation of Metals

Intro to Nail Bending

Advanced Nail Wrapping

Will Sledge Hammer Levering Help Me Bend Bigger Bars?

Red Beard Power – Adam Moyers Bends the Red Nail

Interview with the Red Dragon Slayer – Nate Brous

Feats of Strength: Nail Breaking

Horseshoe Progression List

Rick Giese Bends the Red Nail

Rolling Frying Pans and Managing Radiant Tension

Chicken Winging and Angry Texting

What is the Best Material for Wrapping Nails?

Steel Bending Workout

The latest Workout of the Month is ready to go!

Last month was a wrist and lower arm primer workout to get you ready for steel bending, call the Sledge Only Workout.

Now, with a few weeks of wrist training under your belt, it’s time to try your hands at bending, and I’ve got the workout program for you to get started the right way.

This month’s steel bending workout is called the Less is More Bending Workout.

When you click that link right above, you’ll learn EXACTLY why I called it that.

But here’s the short version: I think most benders do TOO MUCH bending, and end up setting their progress back, because of all the excess work they do.

The point of this month’s workout is to keep the volume under control, help you stay strong throughout your steel bending journey, and then you’ll be on your way to the big steel FASTER!

I can’t wait to hear your feedback on the Workout, after you go through it.

Grab your copy today here => Steel Bending Workout.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

When grip guys and strength aficionados get started in steel bending, they want to progress as quickly as possible up the various levels of steel as fast as possible. They often try many different training techniques in order to strengthen their wrists and lower arms for the many steel bending techniques that exist.

One of the time-honored traditions of steel benders is Levering Sledge Hammers, and I’m often asked by steel benders if Sledge Levering is a good option for building better bending strength.

In today’s video, I address this topic: Will Sledge Hammer Levering Help Me Bend Bigger Steel:

Does Hammer Levering Help Build Bending Strength?

This is honestly a pretty big change in my line of thinking. In fact, in both my Nail Bending eBook and Nail Bending DVD, I suggest Sledge Hammer Levering to bring up their bending.

However, I always try to learn and develop, both as a lifter and a coach. Since working with dozens of benders over the last few years, I’m convinced that Sledge Hammer Levering isn’t as necessary as I once thought.

Also, in talking with many big benders over the years, the consensus, by far is that BENDING is what you should focus on in order to get good at bending.

I still stand by the fact that Sledge Levering will help you in conditioning your wrists for bending. In fact, I suggest a minimum 4-week ramp-up period where the various wrist movement patterns are trained with gradually increasing intensity, prior to doing any bending.

I recommend Sledge Levering for beginners because it allows you to work so many beneficial ranges of motion and movement patterns that are needed with steel bending, including both non-braced and braced bending methods.

However, once you start actually bending full time, or at least making steel bending one of your primary goals in your training, I think it’s most important to focus on purposeful bending, working your way up the ladder, and continually working on perfecting your technique and force production on actual nails and bars. At that point, Sledge Work can take a back seat, and be used mainly as a recovery method between bending sessions, and for keeping things like Tennis Elbow and Golfers Elbow as far away as possible.

I hope today’s post has been helpful toward directing you down as straight and as short a path as possible to your ultimate bending goals.

If you’re interested in more Steel Bending information, please check out the resources that countless other steel slayers have tapped into. The links are below.

Nail Bending eBook: Since 2005, this digital manual has helped more people start out on the right track with their bending than any other resource on the planet. It includes pictorials of how to properly execute all the major and minor bending techniques, dozens of different exercises for building lower arm strength and preventing injuries, as well as a full 9-week lower arm conditioning program for beginner benders.

Nail Bending DVD: Released in 2011, this video picks up where the ebook left off, walking you through the process of becoming a great bender. It shows you the proper way to wrap your steel for powerful bending, and you can see bars bent right on your computer screen or TV. Grab you steel, get your wraps, and let’s do a couple bends together as you play this DVD right in your own living room or home gym.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

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Training to Bend the Red Nail?
Get the Go-to Resource for Nail Bending: The Nail Bending Ebook

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By request of the Diesel Universe, I was asked to hold a 1-Day Intensive Grip Training Seminar.

I have set this up for Thursday, March 31st, starting at 9AM in Wyalusing, PA

We’re covering the 3 main areas of Grip Training: Grippers, Pinching, and Thick Bar.

These are the foundations of developing a Mighty Grip, and you’ve gotta train them right to build your Grip right.

The goal is make sure each person there is setting Grippers correctly, and knows the ins-and-outs of Plate Pinching, Thick Bar Training, and other Open Hand methods.

We’re also gonna get into the basics of Card Tearing and Steel Bending, because these feats make up the foundation of Strongman feats.

There’s going to be a BIG EMPHASIS on hands-on training.

After all, you learn by doing, not by hearing me talk.

This is going to be an AWESOME session for a small group of 5 individuals.

However, there’s already 2 slots filled.

Which means if you want to grab 1 of the 3 available slots, you’ve gotta act fast.

Click Here to Join the Seminar

It’s gonna be a sweet, comfortable and intense 5 hours of learning on March 31st.

Get ready to learn a ton, have a bunch of fun, and get your hands chalky.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. I’m also looking to set up the cameras to capture everything on film. Gonna be awesome.

Grab Your Spot Now: Click Here to Join the Seminar

A couple weeks back, I participated in a benefit for a boy in the area to help raise money for his condition called Mason’s Hope 5K SuperHero Run/Walk.

During the show, I bent a couple of 60D Nails, and I think I struck a nerve.

No, I’m not saying I injured myself.

I think I may have re-lit a fire, deep down…

Feeling the steel bending as you pull, feeling it succumbing to your strength, peaceful destruction – it truly is an awesome feeling, and I may be addicted once again.

My first day “back at it,” I decided to test myself with one of the feats of bending strength for which I’m most well-known: Bending a Red Nail with the Reverse Technique.

At 5/16″ inches thick and 7″ long, the Red Nail is a piece of cold-rolled steel available from IronMind.

You can become a Red Nail certified bender if you successfully bend the Red Nail with the proper wraps in under 60 seconds.

Most people use what’s called the “Double Overhand” technique to certify on the Red Nail because it enables you to get a great deal of your upper body strength into the bend, and you don’t have to rely so much on grip and lower arm strength.

I didn’t bother with the Double Overhand technique.

Instead, I wanted to keep it more of a test of grip strength, so I went with the Reverse Technique.

When bending with Reverse technique in a grip contest, or when aiming for online certification lists, you have 30 seconds to acquire a 40-degree bend in the bar.

The first day I tried the bend, I didn’t take note of the time, and I quit too early, as I still had nearly 10 seconds to go.

Nevertheless, I was able to get about a 25-degree bend in about 20 seconds. You can see the video below:

Red Nail Reverse Bend Attempt 1

The second time trying this bend was a different story…

This time, I had a clock running on the wall to keep track of my time, and instead of only getting 2 hits, like my first attempt, I got 4 hits on the bar, and was able to bend it approximately 60 degrees.

Red Nail Reverse Bend Attempt 2

Yes, it’s safe to say that I’ve got a fire burning again, for steel bending.

I have no idea how far this will go.

I know I want to get my hands on more steel.

I want to wrap that steel with my suede wraps, and I want to hit it with all my power 3 or 4 times inside of 30 seconds until it buckles, folds, and succumbs to my might.

Oooohhhh, it feels so good.

If you want to feel one of the greatest feelings in the world of strength training – steel melting in your bare hands, get some light steel, get some wraps to protect your hands, and get one of my resources below that will steer you exactly where you need to go in order to be safe and successful in steel bending.

Nail Bending Ebook: The most complete steel bending reference in the world, loaded with instructional pics that show you all the major bending styles, how to wrap for high performance, and how to progress from the easiest bars around to some of the absolute hardest.

 

Nail Bending DVD: For those who like a more action-packed type of instruction, this DVD walks you through the wrap-up process, as well as each of the 3 big bending techniques: Double Overhand, Double Underhand, and my favorite, Reverse Bending, plus it shows you how to use strength training in order to bring up any weaknesses you might have in your technique.

 

All the best in your training.

Jedd

There were Superheros all over the place, this past Sunday.

From little kids with their faces painted like the Ninja Turtles, Spider Man, and even characters from Frozen…

To the athletes who participated in the 5K Run/Walk…

To the entertainers who did their thing after the event was complete.

It was a day to celebrate the inspiration we get from one awesome little boy and his family.

Sunday, August 23rd, was the 2nd Annual Mason’s Hope 5k Run/Walk.

And I had the honor to be a part of it for the second year, perform classic oldetime strongman feats of strength.

Above, I’m blowing up a hot water bottle until it bursts…

The whole day of activities is dedicated to Mason Barto, a boy from Towanda, PA, who has CDG (Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation) and it keeps him from living the kind of life most youngsters enjoy.

However, despite the challenges he faces, physically, Mason and his family continue to be bright faces in the community and an inspiration for countless people.

I know that when I came home later on and did my August of Arms workout, thinking of Mason made me focus in and take things a little bit further than my body wanted to.

It truly is my privilege to be a part of this great day each year.

Below, you’ll see the video of the entire show I did, and after I finished up, local singer, Aaron Kelly, who was on season 9 of American Idol, gave a little concert as well.

A great day indeed. I hope you enjoy the videos.

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Intro and Warm-up Bend – Bending a Horseshoe

A nod to Pat Povilaitis, “The Human Vise,” and first person I ever saw do this feat.

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Bending a 60D with Aaron Kelly in my Arms

A nod to Dennis Rogers, Grandmaster Strongman, who made this feat famous.

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Bending a Nail on the Bed of Nails

I invited Mason up to help me out with this one.

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Kid Lifting with the Strongman Bench

The kids always have a lot of fun with this one. I got the idea from Strongman John Beatty, who was once on America’s Got Talent and performs strongman shows all over the country.

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Breaking a Chain with Arm Strength

I wanted to do something cool involving Arm strength, so I decided to break a chain. Looking back, I wish I would have gone for a double chain break, because the single ended up being too light.

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Ripping a Phone Book in Half

This was a Pittsburgh phone book, so I made a couple sports jokes before ripping this book in two.

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Bending / Breaking a Hammer

This was a Pittsburgh steel hammer, so I worked the Pittsburgh sports joke in one more time. Somehow, the handle broke on this instead of the neck bending like it usually does, so it didn’t look as good as it usually does.

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Bursting a Hot Water Bottle with Lung Power

The hardest challenge of the shoe, I always feel like I might pass out doing this one.

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Dousing the Flaming Hammer

This is one of my signature feats, I guess, since I light it on fire and talk about my original interest in becoming a pro wrestler called Napalm Jedd. I also use it to salute Slim “The Hammer-Man” Farman, one of if not THE oldest living performing strongman.

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Performing feats of strength is a fun and reward form of training, and I’d love to share my knowledge with you, via any of my various resources. Please check some of them out below and let me know if you have any questions as far as what can be the best fit for you.

       

All the best in your training.

Jedd

One of the coolest feats of strength, in my opinion, is bending an adjustable steel wrench.

Nothing says “strong hands” and “brute strength,” like bending a perfectly good tool that someone could have easily used to work on their car, their house, or an appliance.

I got a wild hair to bend something the other day, so I grabbed a wrench and gave it a whirl, and was successful.

I thought I would share 5 things you might not know about bending steel wrenches.

1. Wearing Pants Makes a HUGE Difference

As demanding as wrench bending is, it may seem like you’d want to wear loose, non-restrictive clothing so you can get the most out of your body as possible, but not with braced-style bending. The denim material of your jeans gives you a much better grip than, say, mesh shorts or sweat pants. This is important for both safety reasons, and for the sake of efficiency, because with jeans, the wrench doesn’t slide all over the place, and jeans don’t shift on you or stretch like shorts and sweats do. Heavy twilled cargo shorts are also a nice option for bending wrenches and other braced feats.

2. Braced Bending is FULL BODY Bending

Bending a wrench over your thigh, like I do it, is called Braced Bending. This bracing is done on purpose. Other forms of bending, of the non-braced varieties, disallow or limit the amount of contact the object can have with the body. But not Braced Bending. With this form of bending, you kink the steel or wrench over your thigh, sweep it down as far as possible between your legs and then crush it down like a champ with chest strength. Because of this bracing, you end up in many different positions that non-braced bending does not put you in, so you actually have to be a bit more athletic and mobile for braced-style bending feats.

3. Be Prepared for Some Pain

Braced Bending is HARD. It hurts to press something like a wrench into your thigh. You have to break through mental barriers, just as much as physical barriers when you are bending wrenches. If your mental governor is on, then you won’t be successful with braced-style bending feats. You have to be able to shut that thing off and drive into the bar or wrench without hesitation or distraction. The reward is worth it though, because once you feel the steel buckle under your strength, you get hit with extra adrenaline to take the bend even further.

4. Get Your Wraps Tight

The biggest mistake people make, aside from trying to bend wrenches without knowing proper technique, is not having your wraps tight. It doesn’t matter whether you are using towels, cordura, or suede/leather, you’ve got to get them tight. If they are loose, the will move around when bending the wrench, and you will lose a degree of strength. You need all the strength you can generate, and don’t want to waste ANY effort. Get your wraps tight as possible, so you can drive into it MUCH harder and with more ferocity.

5. You BETTER HAVE a Strong Core

Believe it or not, even though bending wrenches is considered a feat of grip strength, there’s much more involved that just that. Above all, is you need to have a strong core. You don’t necessarily need a rock-hard set of washboard abs, but rather you need to be able to execute some powerful pressure into the wrench in order to get the bend started and keep it going for that matter.

How to Bend a Wrench

Here is the video of my wrench bend. I kink it over the thigh, which is a very common method for getting the kink started, I sweep it between the legs, and then finish the crush-down up high, like when bending a nail or bolt.

It feels great to bend a wrench. Definitely a cool feat to be able to do.

They also make cool pen holders, which is what this one is going to be used for!

If you would like to learn how to bend wrenches, as well as perform many other braced bending feats of strength, then you need to pick up the Braced Bending DVD.

For this weekend, the Braced Bending DVD is $10 off, so don’t delay in picking it up.

Braced Bending Hard Copy

You’re gonna love braced bending,

Jedd

Want a Cool Piece of Hand Bent Steel Artwork,
but DON’T Want to Have to Bend It Yourself?
No Problem. I’ll Do it For You:

This weekend, we traveled to Johnson City, NY, and Fitness Headquarters.

This would be the locale for yet another Diesel Bender to certify on the Red Nail.

The Red Nail, is not actually a “nail,” but a piece of round stock measuring 5/16″ in diameter and 7″ in length.

In the past Eli Thomas certified on the Red Nail at Fitness HQ (2005) and I did it in 2007 as well.

This time, it was Luke Raymond’s turn.

Here’s the video:

Luke Raymond Slays the Red Dragon

If you’ve been following along, you know that Luke took to bending pretty well. The first time he tried bending, he wiped out a 60D with suede wraps.

The 60D has been considered the benchmark feat of bending strength for quite some time. If you could bend on, you earned the respect of others as someone with potential.

To say that Luke has potential is an understatement. We can only guess what he will be capable of.

If you want to try bending, make sure you get the ebook that has helped several hundred people get their bending career going in the right direction. The Diesel Crew Nail Bending eBook.

No other resource in the world covers the information you need to know as a new bender like this eBook does.

Grab it today, and who knows…maybe we’ll see your name up in lights as a Certified Red Nail Bender sometime in the not-so-distant future.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Few things make me happier than seeing my students reach their goals.

I know how much work they have put in, the sacrifices they have made, and the battles they have fought.

Today, one of my members at The Grip Authority, Adam Moyers, appears on the IronMind website for his official Red Nail certification.

Here is a picture below. Adam is the one with the Red Hillbilly Jim Beard (blue shirt). My friend, Sean Dockery was his witness, as the feat went down in Columbus this past Saturday night.

What is the Red Nail?

If you aren’t familiar with the Red Nail, it is the primary steel bending certification that is out there.

The Red Nail is actually a cold-rolled steel bar 7″ long and 5/16″ in diameter.

So, it’s not really a nail, as in something you would use in carpentry, but it is still given that name.

In case you are not altogether familiar with steel bending terminology, think of a steel bar about the length of a pencil, but about as thick as a Sharpie marker.

The Red Nail – The Primary Bending Feat

Bending a Red Nail is quite an accomplishment.

When I first started bending back in 2002, there was only 1 person certified for bending a Red Nail.

He did it in 1995 and nobody else did it until 2003!

Since then, on average, only about 6 to 10 guys get certified each year for bending these bars.

So, you can tell, it is quite a legitimate feat of strength.

Red Nail Bending Rules

There are a few rules for the official Red Nail bend.

First, you can only wrap the bar to protect your hands with the cordura wraps that IronMind sells.

These wraps, called IMP’s or IronMind Pads, offer great protection for your skin so you don’t drive a bar through your skin, so that’s great.

However, they do very little in the way of padding.

Using something like suede leather pads the bend and reduces the sting.

Believe me, you EARN your Red Nail bend when you go with IMP’s.

Next, you have to take the bar from perfectly straight to a U-shape with less than 2″ of space between the bar ends in less than 60 seconds.

That means, you have to be explosive in the bend. If you take your good old time bending it, you might miss the 60-second cut-off, and have to try to bend another one.

You also have to perform your bend before a witness of IronMind’s choosing.

IronMind will assign you a witness, and then you must contact them to line-up the specifics of your certification attempt.

Of course, the bar also has to be an official Red Nail from IronMind. They send 3 of them to your witness for the official attempts.

Red Nail Bending Technique

Naturally, just like any other sport or execution of strength, there are rules for how you bend it.

For the Red Nail bend, no bracing is permitted. Do so, and you get disqualified.

So, you have to know the ins and outs of proper bending technique.

That’s where I come in.

Instructional Bending Resources

Before 2005, there was very little information on bending. I decided to fix this by publishing my Nail Bending eBook in December of that year.

This eBook covers everything you need to know to bend the Red Nail and other challenging bars, nails and bolts.

Of course, some people learn better from video than still-shots like are in my eBook. So, by popular demand, I put together another resource called the Nail Bending DVD in 2010.

I would estimate that over 50% of the people who have certified on the Red Nail did so after studying at least one of my resources on bending.

Naturally, having the how-to information in front of you isn’t going to guarantee an instant Red Nail certification.

You still have to hone your technique.

You still have to develop your strength.

You still have to put the work in.

But, one thing is for sure, all other things being equal, those who utilize at least one of these resources will have a much easier time of accomplishing their goal, than the person who just tries to figure everything out on their own.

So, if the thought of bending steel interests you…

If you’ve ever wanted to try feats of strength…

Or if you want to see your name up in lights, like Adam Moyers, John Manna, Trevor Lainge, Adam Glass, Carl Donati, and many of the other benders who have tackled this elite feat of strength, your best bet is to get my products.

Nail Bending eBook

Nail Bending DVD

I look forward to seeing your name on the Red Nail Roster sometime soon down the line.

Happy bending,

Jedd

In November, Bud Jeffries and I met up for about 6 hours of some of the most intense training I have ever done.

We started a little after 11 AM and by 6PM, we had shot several hours of footage on one of the most challenging, and yet still most addicting forms of steel bending there is – Steel Scrolling.

As I got the gym ready to film and bend, I played some Pandora Radio on one of my favorite channels – Guns n’ Roses.

For once, a steady stream of songs from the band I actually wanted to listen to got played, and right before Bud arrived, Pandora kicked out the absolute classic Guns n’ Roses hit, “Welcome to the Jungle.”

And while Bud Jeffries was here, the one thing that kept going through my head was…

“Welcome to the Jungle, We’ve Got Fun and Games,” the first two lines in the song.

At first thought, that’s a strange comparison – a Jungle and Fun & Games…

If you think of the literal words, you have to wonder how a deep, dark jungle could ever be considered fun and games at all…

Of course, figuratively, the song is describing the vices you can be exposed to, which can be so thrilling while you experience them, yet they also pose the risk of all-out addiction, some of them, you are hooked for life, the first time you try them.

Ironic, how that describes Steel Bending perfectly as well.

Now, obviously there’s very little risk of being bitten by a poisonous spider or snake, when bending steel like there is in a jungle…

But getting “bitten” by the bending bug and feeling the cold hard steel bar buckling from your strength…

That can be as intoxicating as any drug or drink you can possibly be given.

The pump you feel in your arms and shoulders as you craft a straight bar into a crazy design with no tools and no heat – just your strength.

And the glory you feel when your battle with the bar ends and you stand victorious.

Bending nails into U’s.

Twisting Horseshoes into S’s.

These kinds of “Fun and Games” make you tougher both mentally and physically.

But they leave you wanting more.

And for people like you, me, and Bud, the only sensible next step is Scrolling.

Scrolling Steel is the ULTIMATE form of Bending.

The ultimate Feat of Strength.

And if you want to find out why, then grab this free video:

Why Scrolling Steel is the ULTIMATE Form of Bending.

Welcome to the Jungle – Click the Link Above

Jedd Johnson & Bud Jeffries

I am really getting pumped up.

The project that Bud Jeffries and I have been working on for a while now, our DVD on Scrolling Steel, is almost complete!

I have a pile of them in stock. They look awesome!

Now, we are down to the last few behind-the-scenes things and we will be ready to put this thing out for you all.

Don’t miss this. Grab it right when it comes out so you can get it at the best price possible.

Sign up for the update list today, so you get notification RIGHT when it is available.

Thanks and all the best.

Jedd

Check out this pictorial of “Iron Tamer” Dave Whitley’s Red Nail Certification from over the weekend.

Notice how Dave starts high and then swings the arm into position for the bend.

The video shows there is NO WASTED MOTION as he begins the initial kink. There is no shaking of the hands, no energy leak, if you will. The force is all concentrated into the nail. That is the first compression – INWARDS on the nail or bar being bent.

The second compression takes place in the lower body and core. This allows you to continue the kink even further.

You can get stuck in “No Man’s Land” when you don’t kink the bar far enough. The bar freezes there as you try to re-group and get the bend going again, but often, that is where it stays.

This second compression allows for a longer kink, moving you past “No Man’s Land” and deeper into the sweep where you can exert more force.

I never knew about any of this, of course, back in 2004 through 2008 when I was doing more bending. In fact, I never learned it until 2010 when Pavel had me do a bending demo at the RKC Certification weekend. He saw what I was doing, mainly standing straight up while bending. This is something you may do too. If you’re just bending 60D’s all day, then that might work for you, but when you are crossing up into unventured territory in 7-inch long, 5/16-inches thick Cold Rolled Steel territory, otherwise known as the Red Nail, standing mainly straight up is only going to get you so far.

Pavel coached me to drop with the legs and core, and not just lean forward but to actually sink down and compress the core, and I couldn’t believe the difference.

I’ve told Dave a few times already, but one more won’t hurt – “Nice work, brotherrrr!”

If you want to learn more about this Double Compression technique to increase your DO Bending, be sure to grab my Nail Bending DVD. I cover it in there, along with many other technical enhancements you will pick up.

Many small things like this can equate to BIG improvements in your bending. Just like any physical endeavor, technique is SO IMPORTANT.

You must build your house on a strong foundation, otherwise, you might find your kitchen in a sink hole one day.

The same can be said regarding Nail Bending. Your strong foundation is your sound technique, and if you don’t have strong technique, then you are leaving bending power on the table.

All the best in your bending.

Jedd

For more than a year, I have been trying off and on to bend a wrench. I must have tried about 10 different wrenches! I was beginning to wonder if I would ever be able to pull off this feat. I was getting pretty frustrated!!!

My constant efforts to bend a Wrench and then looking at it and seeing it was straighter than before I tried bending it reminded me that when we put together our Braced Bending DVD, I made sure that my partner, Mike Rinderle, covered the sections showing how to bend the wrenches, because I couldn’t even wobble them, let alone bend them into a U shape like he could.

This past week, I decided I was going to give it another shot. It had been several months since I tried, but I was feeling good and decided to give it a whirl.

I was pumped when i gave it the initial effort and felt it give a bit. I continued to give it all I had and little by little I was progressing in the bend.

Unfortunately, I only had 6 minutes left on my camera, and at one point, probably abut 8 minutes into the bend, I noticed the little red light was off.

So, I went through and deleted a couple minutes of other stuff off the camera and finished the bend.

Since the “officialness” of the video was gone once the camera went off, I went ahead and did some editing of the video to make it a bit shorter.

Also, the first thing you’re going to see is me showing the bent wrench. Something pretty cool happened that I wasn’t aware of, although it is possible that it happens every time you bend a wrench like this.

You’ll see what I mean when you start the video.

Lessons Learned from Wrench bending

I learned a few things from bending this wrench that I want to pass on to all of you in case wrench bending is something you are going to try.

1) Get Your Wraps Tight

I should have already known this from my years of nail bending, but I failed to remember it. All I did was wrap the suede around the ends of the wrench and go. As a result, they were shifting on me during the bend. Had I tightened them like a “Motorcycle Throttle” like Mike Rinderle says, and if I’d put some rubber bands on there, I think it would have been easier.

2) Keep the Steel Hot

When you bend something, the steel heats up and it gets a bit easier to bend. But if you mess around and take too much time between shots on the wrench or if you take too much time catching your breath, the steel cools down and it makes your job tougher. The problem with the poor wrap-job contributed to my slowness in working through the wrench.

3) This Stuff is Hard

Sometimes, I think that I should just be able to blow through every feat just because I have been doing this stuff so long. Seeing other people blow through wrenches, makes me think I should just be able to easily dominate them even more. However, those other guys who make short work of braced feats can do that because they have worked their asses off to be that good. Neither you, nor I, should expect to dominate feats like this if we aren’t honing our skills. I want to get better at it, which means I need to do it more.

And if I am going to do it more, I need to get me some more Wrenches!!!

If you want to try your hand at Wrench bending or other braced strongman feats, check out our DVD on Braced Bending.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Braced Bending DVD

How to Destroy Everything in Your Path

When Will You Die: Host, Jake Porway and Jedd after doing some Frying Pan work

Set your DVR’s and VCR’s to record Nat Geo at 10 PM tomorrow night – Monday April 22.

That’s right, I am asking you to tear yourself away from the final hour of Monday Night Raw tomorrow night.

Maybe you’re wondering why…

Many of you remember from last September the Top Secret Grip Trip that I took to California.

This show is what that trip (and my second trip in December) were both for.

The Show is called “The Numbers Game” and the episode is called “When Will You Die.”

I have not seen the show, so I am not sure how it was edited all together. All I know is that I took two separate trips out there last Fall and Winter and bent about two dozen horseshoes, frying pans, nails and other pieces of steel.

Plus I ripped a whole pile of phone books and decks of cards, so they have plenty of footage to go through – HA HA!

It was a great time, I had a lot of fun, and I hope it carries over well to the show.

Also, feel free to post something on Facebook or another social network. Sometimes, with a “crazy” sport like Grip or doing Feats of Strength, it is good to get it in front of your friends’ and family’s eyes when it is on mainstream media like this, to show them that you are not the only “crazy” one out there.

Thanks everyone, for all the support, and all the best in your training.

Jedd

Recently, a friend of mine, Nathaiel Brous, was successful in certifying on the IronMind Red Nail. I thought his progress was fantastic, so I asked him if he’d be interested in an interview.

If you love steel bending, I encourage you to check this out. In addition, I encourage you set your goals firmly for tackling the Red Nail. Set your date, lay out your training, and if you need assistance getting there, let me know.

Let’s get this done together in 2013!

And now, Nathaniel Brous:

Jedd: Nathaniel, Tell Us a Bit About Your Athletic Background

I was a pretty active kid and a competitive swimmer in my youth. While I was never really into weight lifting, working construction helped keep me pretty fit into my early twenties. Unfortunately at 23yo I found myself in heart failure and was diagnosed with Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy (with atrial fibrillation) which severely curtailed my activities. This basically meant I had a weakened, enlarged heart that no longer beat normally…and they had no idea how it happened. I felt I had been cut down, at the time many consider the prime of their lives.

Jedd: That is Something I Have Never Heard of. So, What Made You Get into Grip & Bending?

I have to credit my daughter Abigail with getting me into grip. Because my heart condition had forced me to be relatively stagnant, I lived vicariously through watching physical shows like World Strongest Man and Sasuke (Japan’s premier obstacle course program). In early 2011, we were watching American Ninja Warrior and she said, “You can do that Daddy!” The reality was that I couldn’t – not even close. But, I wondered what would happen if I trained for it. And so my little odyssey began.

I began researching Ninja Warrior and learned about the value of grip. I discovered the Captains of Crush Grippers and Ironmind. These led me to learn of sites like the Gripboard (anwnate) and Diesel Crew.

All successful athletes in Sasuke are slight in build but pound for pound the toughest around. I quite casually throw that in, but don’t really have any doubts of it. It would be a nice discussion in the future. A Urushihara Yuuji or Nagano Makoto interview would be an awesome addition to the Diesel files. Few people even know the insane things these guys do with their grip. Sorry, I digress.

I began my training with a focus with weight loss. I decided to drop 50lbs to get down to my high school weight of 195. I figured from there I could reevaluate. By the way, I’m 6′ 4″ so I wasn’t exactly obese at 245. It took about 6 months to shed the weight and while I felt ok – people were very worried about me. I actually appeared gaunt and sickly…but didn’t even realize it until I started seeing pictures of myself. I question the sanity of the people who created those BMI charts…

Anyway, as I trained, I found that my heart really was holding me back. Due to my intense swimming regimen in the past, I was keenly aware of how my body responded to exercise. Don’t get me wrong, I was making progress and improving, but I knew I was never going to become successful in Ninja Warrior because I couldn’t train as hard as was necessary to become competitive. However, since I had already “gotten off the couch”, I was happy enough to shift gears and my training entirely to “Grip Sport”. Over a period of a year, I built my weight back up, but it was a different (more muscle based) weight.

I can’t tell you how pleased I have been with training Grip. It is something you can get into for little financial cost and make solid gains…regardless of your age, weight or background. I had such a blast at my first event, World’s Strongest Hands 2012 (Wyalusing, PA location)…I didn’t mind getting my butt kicked in the events. I came home with a renewed sense of motivation and purpose. Over time, I have met a great network of people who are extremely supportive and helpful.

(Note from Jedd – Here is Some Footage of Nate at World’s Strongest Hands 2012 on the Wrist Developer)

One of those people, John “Wojo” Wojciechowski was kind enough to invite me to a grip training session at his place. Afterwards, he taught me how to reverse bend a nail. I managed to reverse IM Blue and put a kink in a G5 my first time out. I would say that after my first bend, I was hooked.

Jedd: What Made You Decide to Certify on the Red?

That night when I came home very pumped up about bending. I spoke with my wife Maureen about possibly going for the Red nail. She had been pretty supportive of all my grip work and in quite the Rocky-esque fashion…said “Go for it!” I decided then that I would bend on the “down low” and then do a “double cert.” like Hannes Kainzj. With her blessing, I immediately ordered a bunch of Blues, Reds, and IM Pads. There is a wealth of bending knowledge on the internet, but I would have to credit Jedd’s ebook for setting me on the correct and safe course. I think it should be standard issue for anyone just getting into bending. As it turned out, a pinky issue has really slowed my gripper progress. Just before Christmas, I decided to Cert. the Red by itself and kind of “get on board” if you will.

Jedd: As you Progressed Through the Levels of Bending, Was it Pretty Easy Progress for You, or Were There Struggles? And How Did You Get Through Them?

I was fairly lucky to start where I did with bending, but no matter where you start, there will always be your first wall. For me, that wall was the G8. I struggled with that bar week after week and had almost no visible results. It was quite disheartening. I figured (correctly) that I was missing something pretty basic…but really didn’t know what it was.

I finally decided to slap double IMP’s on the G8 and see what happened. I melted that sucker down to like 80deg (finished it later). This was the beginning of what I’ve named “Reduced Padding Progression.” I certainly didn’t invent the idea, but I may have coined “RPP” as an expression.

It’s a very similar idea to people who progress in grippers. Ideally, you have like 100 rated grippers that you can slowly move up the ranks with. But reality dictates that we don’t have the money, time or luck to collect such a comprehensive collection, so we make do with other means (Vulcan’s, forced closes etc.). In the same vein, an ideal bending situation would mean acquiring slightly harder steel (baby steps) that progresses you from one piece to the next.

RPP provides an alternative route to that. I cut down a pair of IMP’s to 2/3 and 1/3 total length and then a single pad in half. So then I had the opportunity to bend the same piece of steel in 2’s, 1 2/3s, 1 1/2, 1 1/3 and 1’s. While it’s true that bending in doubles and singles are very different beasts…there is not a tremendous difference in technique between any one of these steps from the one before or after it. And…all of them work the same muscles to some extent…particularly the sweep and crush. You could literally take this idea to the extreme and cut the pads down to any fraction that you thought would help.

I took this idea and ran with it. It turned out, I wasn’t bending the G8 because it was “uncomfortable” to hit it hard in the kink. I never (a long time anyway) would have realized this, if I hadn’t de-mystified the G8 by bending it in doubles. A week later I managed the G8 in singles. Right then, I immediately tried and succeeded in bending a Red in doubles.

Over a few weeks, I gradually worked my way down to singles and eventually without bands. I didn’t immediately stop using bigger pads…I took it slow. After a bunch of bends in doubles, 1 2/3 became my “big” pads and this went on until at the very end I was doing the majority of my bends in singles. The hands need time to condition to the stress, and I’m of the opinion that this allowed me to continue training when I otherwise would have bailed. My cert. day actually saw me bend my 100th Red nail.

Jedd: What Would You Recommend to Others Who Might be Interested in Bending Steel and Certifying on the Red Nail

If someone is interested in getting into bending, the first thing I’d recommend would be to learn as much as you can. Again, I must pimp Jedd’s book. It’s really required reading for the beginning nail bender and will save a ton of time, money and possibly doctor’s bills (bending steel carries it’s own risks)

Next, make use of the internet… Youtube, Gripboard, Benders Battlefield. There are a lot of good people out there, more than willing to lend a hand. All you have to do is reach out. Thirdly, don’t skimp on padding. It’s super cheap and (in my opinion) can to get you from point A. to point B.

Since I’ve got the pulpit…there are two more important things I’d like to impart. One I would like to borrow from the poker world. Leaning. When you “lean” on your opponent, you keep pressure on him and generally, the longer you do it, the more of an advantage you gain…until you have all his chips.

There will be times you will want to be more aggressive…there are time you’ll be less aggressive. It won’t be linear, and it won’t be stagnant, it’ll be like an ever-changing and ever-flowing river. But it will always be moving forward. Basically I advise that you “Lean” on your goals. Find out what it is that you want, how you are going to approach it…then start leaning. Any time you can adjust your strategy to exploit something, do so. Whether that be incorporating a new technique, or adding a workout, or subtracting a workout…keep the pressure on your goal. It will have no choice but to fall to your will.

The last thing is just a thought to keep in mind. You don’t get stronger by working out…you get stronger by recovering. Try and stay in tune with your body…call audibles if you have to. We don’t recover based on a chart or our peers, we recover at our own rate…a rate that changes as we age. Know your body and figure out what kind of rest it requires…then allow it to get stronger.

“The most productive and the most difficult thing about grip training is waiting until your body is ready to train again.” – me

Nathaniel’s Red Nail Certification (First 40 Seconds)

Jedd: Nate, thanks for the interview and for sharing that awesome wrapping progression with my readers. That is the first time I have heard anyone lay it out in that way. Very nice work and I wish you well in your pursuit of the Gold Nail. Please keep us posted!

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Jedd: Diesels, if you are looking for guidance to get you to your Steel Bending goals, look no further than the resources below for all the information you need on conditioning, wrapping, technique, and progressing…

Nail Bending eBook | Nail Bending DVD

Free Report on Oldtime Strongman Feats = > Sign up for it Here

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IMPORTANT: My buddy, Iron Tamer Dave Whitley, is doing a benefit to help one of his good friends who was in a car accident: Bending for Burt. He is taking donations. If you would like to help, please check this out.

 

Chances are if you are going to try out steel bending, you are already doing some other form of training. While you want to bend steel and become a good steel bender, you also want to maintain the gains and results you have worked so hard for already.

That is exactly what Ty Byrum is doing – trying to find a way to work bending into his current program without upsetting it too much. Ty wrote in and wanted to know about the best way to add steel bending and other similar feats of strength training into his current training layout.

Here is what Ty is already doing at this time:

     “I bought your bending ebook and
     horseshoe bending video recently and
     I am wanting to know how frequently
     I can train those things. I’m currently
     doing the RKC ladder program Tues and
     Sat, Thursday I squat heavy and do some
     strongman things (farmers walk, sandbag
     loading/ walk, and rope climbing. I do
     gripper/sledgehammer training on Monday
     Wednesday Friday. I just wanted your idea
     on when bending might be optimal and
     when I might need to back off.
     Any info would be appreciative. Thanks-Ty”

Steel Bending is a rewarding form of training that can compliment and support many other types of training as well, IF IT IS IMPLEMENTED CORRECTLY.

As you can tell, Ty is already a busy man who takes his training seriously, so he wants to get the most out of each aspect (Kettlebells, Strongman, Ropes, Bending).

Let’s take a look at some of the important variables to consider when adding nail bending and other forms of steel bending into your program. Mainly, when I help people place bending in their weekly routine, I look at three variables: (1) The type of bending they will be doing, (2) Current types and styles of training they are already doing, and (3) Their own personal recovery abilities.

The Type of Bending

The type of bending you are doing can make a huge difference in when you will be able to do it, how much, and how long you will take to recover.

For instance, if you are doing nail bending, that does not use nearly the amount of muscle mass and energy as horseshoe bending, for example.

I truly feel that Horseshoe Bending is one of the most athletic forms of bending, because it requires you to produce strength in many more positions than say Reverse Bending a Nail or Double Overhand Bending a steel bar.

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Reverse Bending the Red Nail

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In general, any type of non-braced bending will be “easier” on your body than braced bending, because you are not pressing steel against a part of your body.

Also, with Non-Braced styles of Bending, for the most part you stay standing up, while with braced bending, you must bend forward much more, in order to kink the bar or shoe against the thigh.

With non-braced bending, you are using your hands, wrists, arms, shoulders and torso to create the kink and work through the sweep.

As a result, Braced Bending wipes out your core much more because the lats, abdominals, lower back and glutes are stressed much more heavily.

So, as you can see, the type of bending plays a huge roll in deciding when to properly place it in your training week.

Now, let’s look at the next factor to use for deciding how often you can bend.

What You Are Already Doing in Your Training

This factor is very important in determining how much bending you can add into your training program, as well as how often you can add it in there.

For instance, if you are already training two hours per session and you are training 4 to 5 days per week, then chances are you are already producing a great deal of volume in your training.

It really doesn’t matter what kind of training you do, if you are putting in 6.5 to 8 training hours per week, you are doing a lot of Volume.

In Ty’s case, we know he focuses on body training Tues (RKC Ladder), Thurs (Squats/Strongman/Rope Climbs), and Sat (RKC Ladder again).

We also know that on Mon/Wed/Fri, Ty works on his grippers and sledgehammers.

The thing that jumps out at me, right away, is to stay away from Thursdays. That looks to be the most intense day of training, with Squats, Strongman Training and Rope Climbs. Adding in something strenuous like bending on that day is a recipe for CNS burnout, lack of results, and potential injury.

While there is something to be said about multi-joint training either before or paired with grip work and bending, Ty just has too much going on that day right now.

On Tuesdays & Saturdays, Ty is doing what he calls an RKC Ladder (Kettlebell Work). He doesn’t specify exactly what that it is, but I think it is safe to assume that he is doing presses and maybe even some snatches, along with swings and maybe even Turkish Get-ups. That sounds like a pretty good day for some bending!

The reason I say this is because Kettlebell work is great for getting the shoulders ready to do other work, and bending is one type of training that seems to benefit from Kettlebell work, because it is done overhead.

Bench Pressing, however, which is a horizontal push, wears out the pecs and makes it very hard to produce the force needed to bend steel.

One of his Kettlebell days, maybe Saturday, might be a good day to add in some bending…

However, also notice that Ty is doing three days of pretty much the same work: Grippers & Sledgehammer Training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

BINGO!

We have just found the best days to add in some bending. Most people do not need 3 days of Grippers
to see progress, and most people do not need 3 days of Sledgehammer work. So my suggestion is to completely wipe out one of those days and make it the primary bending day.

So, looking at the schedule one more time, Ty’s training week looks like this:

     Monday: Grippers / Sledge
     Tuesday: Kettlebells
     Wednesday: Grippers / Sledge
     Thursday: (Squats/Strongman/Rope Climbs),
     Friday: Grippers / Sledge
     Saturday: Kettlebells
     Sunday: Dude finally gets a day off – LOL!

In looking at this schedule, my suggestion is for Ty to place his main Bending day on Wednesdays, and there are many reasons why.

1. Monday stays Gripper day. He can do Grippers hard on Monday and have several days over the course of the week to recover a bit and then hit them hard again on Friday.

2. Tuesday won’t work as a bending day because he is going to start bending on Wednesday.

3. I am willing to bet the Thursday sessions kicks his ass. We already said it would be too much to add bending on that day, and I bet he might feel like toast the next day as well, so both Thursday and Friday are out.

4. Friday remains a day of Grip, a fantastic day to do so because for most people the work week is over and you can relax and enjoy some Grippin’.

5. Saturday is another Kettlebell day. Like I said, overhead training does not affect bending too much, but it does some. I would not make either Kettlebell day the primary day of bending where Ty sets his goals on dominating steel.

So, that pretty much leaves with Wednesday. Wednesday is still very early in the training week, especially considering that at this point he will only have had one body training day and a grip day. He should have plenty left in the tank and not feel too beat up at this point.

Also, after he gets used to bending, he won’t feel too many effects of the bending on his big strongman day either. Maybe the first couple of weeks he will see a drop in his farmer walk hold times, but that will go away soon.

A couple of other things…

• 1. If he so desired, Ty could also add in a second day of bending that is lighter on either one of his Sledge days (Friday) or on his second Kettlebell days (Saturday).

  This would not be necessary for a couple of weeks. It would mainly be used to work on form and technique, and not as a PR day by any means.

• 2. Ty might want to re-consider all the extra sledgehammer work now that he is bending. Sledgehammer training is mainly useful as a way to get conditioned for bending – injury prevention, if you will. It doesn’t do much for bringing up your bending. Bending improves bending. So, Ty might want to gradually phase out the Sledgehammer training for the most part.

Recovery Abilities

The next main factor we will discuss is your personal ability to recover from your training.

This is the X-factor that makes it so hard for me to tell people how often to bend – how much time do they need in order to recover enough to hit it hard the next time.

It would be great if you could bend steel every day but most people can’t do that or they will end up with tendonitis or tennis elbow, or some other over-use injury that will hold them back.

Everybody has a natural “recovery ability.” For some, it might be 2 or 3 days and they are ready to slay dragons.

For others, they might need a little longer and can only hit the steel at a high level once per week.

The trick is figuring all of this out without having an injury.

Since I wrote my Nail Bending eBook, I have always suggested that people who have never done any grip training or steel bending before to do at least a 3 to 6 week ramp-up of just basic forearm training.

For instance, in my ebook, I talk about the 6 main functions of the wrist and forearm (FERUPS: Flexion, Extension, Radial Deviation, Ulnar Deviation, Pronation, Supination).

And I lay out an approach over several weeks where you focus in on each of these movement patterns in order to condition the muscles and connective tissues to direct training stress.

Gradually over the course of this training layout, you work the lower arms more intensely and more often. During this period, you can get a very good idea of how long it takes you to recover from an intense session. Also, as this program progresses, we gradually work Bending into the program and begin doing the direct forearm work less. Eventually, all you are doing is bending and you have a very good idea of what your recovery abilities are.

This is one way I have helped new benders get started on the right foot. They build the solid foundation first, and then the gains come quicker.

I encourage you to give yourself the time you need and work up slowly when you start bending.

Of course, there are many other things you can do to optimize your recovery, all of which are outlined in the ebook.

Applying This Process To Your Scenario

This is the process you can use for yourself when you want to find the best day(s) to bend for you. Think about the following:

• What Type of Bending Will I Be Doing: In general Braced Bending is harder on the overall body that Non-Braced.
• What Type of Training Am I Already Doing: The training you are doing and want to keep doing can dictate where Bending will be placed.
• How Well Do I Recover: This is a relative issue for all benders and must be considered on an individual basis. Not everyone can bend multiple days a week, nor does everyone need to.

For most people who have a full training schedule, one serious bending day is enough. A second day can be used for technical improvements, but multiple days per week are excess in most cases and truly not needed.

Most people that do a great deal of bending each week have either been doing it for a very, very long time and have worked up to it, they don’t do very much per session, or they are complete freaks.

So please do not think that you have to bend 3 or 4 days per week in order to progress.

If you want more information on getting started bending the right way, you need the Nail Bending eBook.

Remember, it’s all about YOUR SUCCESS. Nothing pleases me more than people who have read my ebook getting rectified for bending the Red Nail, and shooting right past me in the rankings.

I like it when my students surpass their teacher!

All the best with your bending.

Jedd

P.S. Check out the Strongman Show my buddy, Iron Tamer Dave Whitley is doing to benefit one of his good friends who was in a car accident: Bending for Burt. He is taking donations. If you would like to help, please check this out.

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Don’t Waste Your Time Fumbling Through Bending Techniques. That’s Busch League!
Use the Techniques That Have Helped Hundreds of Other Benders Learn Their Craft Right.

Get the Nail Bending eBook. Click the Image Above. Start Bending in the Big Leagues.

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Expectations for Horseshoe Bending

Written by Mike “Beast in the East” Rinderle

Jedd and I have been getting a lot of questions recently about what are good goal shoes for 6 months, 1 years, and top end. The easy way out would be to tell you it is different for everybody and just say do your best, but we don’t take the easy way out.

So here is a good breakdown for someone with a decent base of strength putting in 2 to 3 sessions a week working on shoes and always striving to refine their horseshoe bending technique:

Starter shoes

St. Croix (SC) UltraLites or in some cases SC Lite Rims if you have more natural strength. Diamond Classic (DC) 0’s and 1’s are right in the middle of those but know that they vary a lot!

6-Month Goal Shoe

By now you should have your technique dialed in and most people with even a reasonable amount of strength will be bending the SC Lite Rims 0-3. Those with above average strength or who have really dedicated themselves will be bending SC LITE Plain #3s and possibly the Kerckhart SSP 8 X 22 #3.

1 Year Goal Shoe

If you have put in serious time and effort and have reasonable strength you should now be bending what many call the Red Nail of horseshoes, the SSP 8 X 22 #3. This shoe is possible for most people to bend, but only if you put in the work. People with advanced strength may very well be bending something as hard as the SC Regular Plain #3. Only 5 people have bent this shoe under cert conditions on the Benders Battlefield, but it is attainable.

Upper Limit Shoe

This one really is going to vary greatly. It will depend on your strength level, if you can remain injury free, how much you weigh, and how much time you put in. Most people that bend horseshoes don’t progress past the SC Lite Rims. Those that put in the extra time usually get to the SC Lite Plain #3 or SSP 8 X 22 #3. There are a few out there that take it to the next level and bend the Regular Plain #3 or harder.

The current upper, upper end is the St. Croix EZ Plus #3. We had to add it and other shoes to the list in order to accommodate two time World’s Strongest Man finalist Jason Bergmann. It is significantly harder than the Anvil Brand Draft Keg #6. Jason has also bent the ridiculously hard AB5 in doubles.

So what is your upper limit? Only you know for sure, but if you put the work in the sky is the limit.

Mike Rinderle
Hardest shoe certed: Kerckhaert SSP 10mm X 22mm #4 (tied with Wigren for 2nd)
Hardest shoe to 180 in any wraps / no time limit: Anvil Brand 3/8″ X 1″ Draft Keg #6
Hardest shoe opened up past 90 degrees: Anvil Brand 3/8″ X 1″ Draft Keg #5
Hardest shoe using IMPs for wraps: St. Croix Forge Plain Regular #3

P.S. Need to see a listing of where the most common types of horseshoes rank? Go here: Horseshoe Ranking List.

P.P.S Want a copy of the DVD that has helped HUNDREDS of people learn how to bend horseshoes? Get it here: Hammering Horseshoes DVD

P.P.P.S. Want to watch Hammering Horseshoes on your Laptop/Computer/MAC or other favorite device? Go here = > Hammering Horseshoes – Digital < = Buy it TODAY. Watch it TODAY

DIESELS,

Happy Labor Day. I hope you get the chance to enjoy some nice time with your friends or family. I made sure to get up early as usual and get some work done before enjoying the beautiful day.

I also got in a session with my only personal training client, Mark. He loves training, so I never have a problem working with him. He comes in, kicks his own ass, and loves every second of the training I put him through.

I thought I would take the time to answer some questions I have gotten recently. I figured I’d start with the hardest one to answer/admit.

Q: Jedd, what ever happened to your muscle-up goal? I remember something you posted a long time ago but haven’t seen anything since.

A: The truth is, I have not trained the muscle-up in quite some time. It just got to be too big of a pain in the neck to set everything up. My old squat rack was extremely light, so I had to load all this extra weight on the other side to keep it from tipping. In one workout, I buggered up my shoulder a bit, so I avoided the movement for a while. I was still hitting the same heights once it was feeling better though, so the time off didn’t really hurt me or hinder my progress.

Then, I came to realize that if I ever did complete the muscle-up, I’d probably either crack my head open or break my neck on the ceiling. It never registered how close I was coming to the structure above, so when I was training it, I was moving the cage over to the car-portion of the garage. One thing led to another and I began bagging the training. That was late 2010, so it’s been almost two years.

What I have been continuing to do is many versions of Pull-ups. I have used many different handles, added weight, changed tempos, etc. Below is a video of me working on the Rogue Fitness Dog Bone. This thing is sick. The only thing tougher to do Pull-ups on is the Globe.

I have used the Dog Bone for my Pull-ups several times over the last few weeks. This is unlike conventional Pull-ups or Chins in many ways:

1. Open Hand Grip: You can’t help but build hand strength with this device. You can’t get a wrap around the handles because they are so large.

2. Intense Chest Compression: Your upper arms end up adducted and it brings in the pectoralis muscles in much more than regular pull-ups/chin-ups.

3. Wrist Component: Having the hands on top of the globes like in the video lights the wrists and forearms up like a Christmas tree. If your wrists are a weakness in your sport, you should try this piece out.

I could only do two reps when I first started hitting these. Now my best is 6 reps with no weight added, and I have already moved up to adding a 25-lb plate, as you’ll see in the video.

I love doing Pull-ups and Chins, and I will eventually master the Muscle-up. But for right now, I am enjoying the Rogue Equipment too much. After trying them for about a month and a half, I am perfectly comfortable recommending them. Check out their catalog here.

Someone said they heard that Rogue’s equipment was of crappy quality. I don’t see how they can think that, judging by what I have used. While it isn’t covered in chrome and is more Johnny Cash style of equipment, I don’t see any flaws with the gear and I see no weak points. Every indicator is that this stuff will last for a long time.

---

This next question was not asked directly to me. It was on the Gripboard. But, I have been asked this question many times so I thought I’d post it here as well.

Q: [I want to get better at Double Overhand Bending.] But, for now, reverse bending with the bar at or above shoulder height seems to be considerably easier than any other style. Especially with the bar in close to my shoulder.

My question – is this considered a legit form for bending or is it considered sloppy or cheating? Am I wasting time continuing to kink in this manner? Is it smarter to transition to DO sooner rather than later?

A. First off, let’s just quickly define the major bending techniques.

Double Overhand Technique

There is Double Overhand where the hands are placed at the end of the bar/bolt/nail. The hands are positioned between a pronated and neutral position, then the ends of the bar are bent down into an inverted U-shape.

Double Underhand Technique

There is Double Underhand, where the hands are placed at the ends of the bar, but now they are oriented between supination and neutral, then the bar is bent into a U-shape.

Reverse Style Bending

Finally, there is also Reverse style, where the hands are oriented in neutral and then slightly deviated, with one hand “overhand” and the other “underhand.” A completed bend is when the angle of the bar reaches 40-degress and there is usually a time limit involved.

Each of these styles have their own benefits and shortcomings. Double Over and Double Under can be used to bring more upper body strength into the execution, which generally leads to bigger bends. Reverse, however, is one that is much more “pure grip strength,” testing the wrist and forearm more intently, although not entirely.

However, if you have mobility issues and are unable to get into the positions, then you will also be unable to benefit from the two power positions. Some people, like the person who asked the question, then must find other ways to start the first part of the bend, called the kink.

One of the main guys that got me inspired to try bending back in 2002/2003 was Pat Povilaitis. He said that he used to get bends started with Reverse until his shoulders and torso loosened up enough to get into a good position for the DO Kink. So, that is what I did as well for the first few years, eventually bending a Red Nail with a Reverse Kink and then a DO finish.

So, I was in the same boat as the person who asked this question.

Is a Reverse Kink cheating or sloppy technique? No way. Actually, for most people, Reverse is much harder that DO or DU, so getting the bend started with Reverse and then transitioning to a stronger style to finish is no problem whatsoever.

During the time where you need to use both techniques in order to fully bend a nail, it is a good idea to work on figuring out what is keeping you from getting into the DO Power Position. Are your arms so big that they don’t allow you to bring the bar up high? Are your shoulders so tight that you can pull them back? Are your pecs and biceps too tight? Is your upper back weak? Are your triceps tight? Is it a fascial issue?

All of these are possible explanations why someone would have trouble getting into the DO Power Position. Addressing these issues will help you get into the position.

However, my friend, Jason Steeves, pointed out that there are limitations in the height you can bend the bar in most cases. The writer mentions bending the bar at or above shoulder height. The cut-off for most bending lists are head height. This is something to watch.

The reason there is a cut-off, I believe, is to limit the engagement of the lats in the bend. This keeps the emphasis on wrist strength. By practicing the technique and focusing intently on the lats, you can still get them involved in the bend. However, the most important point here is that if you are bending for a certain list or certification, you should practice the way you will be required to bend for that list. Some lists require the use of very small pads, limiting the amount of force that can be exerted into the ends of the bar. Others require very thin wraps, reducing padding and heightening the factor of pain tolerance.

However, in my experience, if you perform a Reverse Bend and keep the bar above your head the entire time without arching your back, the bend seems much harder. That could just be me though. I know if I paint something with my arm straight up in the air for more than ten seconds, it feels like my arm is going to die. This has been ever since the late 90’s long before I ever tried bending, strongman or any other non-conventional training methods. I am left only to blame this issue on bad genetics and playing baseball…

For more detailed Bending Technique instruction, you should check out my Nail Bending eBook. It breaks every one of thee techniques down for you, plus it covers some other lesser common bending styles.

---

This last one comes from YouTube. I put up a video about a year ago where I talk about increasing deadlift grip, and I mentioned that Fat Bar Training is not always the best way to go about it. I got the following question:

Q: So are Fat Gripz a waste of money then?

A: Fat Gripz are absolutely NOT a waste of money. They allow you to turn dozens of exercises into thick bar exercises almost instantly without buying or building axles or thick handle loadable dumbbells. Plus, I think they will survive an atomic bomb blast, so they are a safe investment.

My point in that video was this. If your grip fails when doing Deadlifts, you need to train specifically for improving your Deadlift Grip.

The Deadlift Grip (for most people) is an alternated grip on a thin bar. In most cases, the time under tension requirement for the pull overwhelms your grip endurance. For most people, this means they need to train holding more weight for longer periods of time, or you need to finish your deadlift faster so that you don’t reach your grip strength endurance threshold.

In many cases, when people train with a thicker bar, the size difference is so substantial that it trains the hands in a slightly different way. Obviously, the same muscles are being worked, but the orientation of the hands and loading are different. Going from a one-inch bar to a 2-inch or even 2.5 or 3-inch bar could end up being too big of a size difference to get good carryover back to deadlifting on a regular bar.

Aside from working with a heavier barbell to load the hands specifically, I also suggest wearing some leather work gloves while deadlifting in that video. This increases the perceived size of the bar. The bar itself doesn’t change, but the fact that the glove material sits between your fingers and the bar keeps the fingers slightly more open so the bar seems slightly larger. The same effect can be gotten by wrapping a towel over the bar and gripping it, but it slipped my mind to mention this because I was driving. You can see the video I am talking about here.

Will thick bar training improve hand strength? Absolutely. It is a great way to train for general hand strength. However, I think the best way to bring your deadlifting support strength up is by doing work of a more specific nature.

That’s all for now. I was going to answer more questions, but this post got big in a hurry, so I will make sure to answer more down the line. Feel free to leave comments with any questions you might have.

Stay tuned for future posts. Sign up for my free newsletter below.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

DIESELS,
Happy Labor Day. I hope you get the chance to enjoy some nice time with your friends or family. I made sure to get up early as usual and get some work done before enjoying the beautiful day.

I also got in a session with my only personal training client, Mark. He loves training, so I never have a problem working with him. He comes in, kicks his own ass, and loves every second of the training I put him through.
I thought I would take the time to answer some questions I have gotten recently. I figured I’d start with the hardest one to answer/admit.
Q: Jedd, what ever happened to your muscle-up goal? I remember something you posted a long time ago but haven’t seen anything since.
A: The truth is, I have not trained the muscle-up in quite some time. It just got to be too big of a pain in the neck to set everything up. My old squat rack was extremely light, so I had to load all this extra weight on the other side to keep it from tipping. In one workout, I buggered up my shoulder a bit, so I avoided the movement for a while. I was still hitting the same heights once it was feeling better though, so the time off didn’t really hurt me or hinder my progress.
Then, I came to realize that if I ever did complete the muscle-up, I’d probably either crack my head open or break my neck on the ceiling. It never registered how close I was coming to the structure above, so when I was training it, I was moving the cage over to the car-portion of the garage. One thing led to another and I began bagging the training. That was late 2010, so it’s been almost two years.
What I have been continuing to do is many versions of Pull-ups. I have used many different handles, added weight, changed tempos, etc. Below is a video of me working on the Rogue Fitness Dog Bone. This thing is sick. The only thing tougher to do Pull-ups on is the Globe.
I have used the Dog Bone for my Pull-ups several times over the last few weeks. This is unlike conventional Pull-ups or Chins in many ways:
1. Open Hand Grip: You can’t help but build hand strength with this device. You can’t get a wrap around the handles because they are so large.
2. Intense Chest Compression: Your upper arms end up adducted and it brings in the pectoralis muscles in much more than regular pull-ups/chin-ups.
3. Wrist Component: Having the hands on top of the globes like in the video lights the wrists and forearms up like a Christmas tree. If your wrists are a weakness in your sport, you should try this piece out.
I could only do two reps when I first started hitting these. Now my best is 6 reps with no weight added, and I have already moved up to adding a 25-lb plate, as you’ll see in the video.

I love doing Pull-ups and Chins, and I will eventually master the Muscle-up. But for right now, I am enjoying the Rogue Equipment too much. After trying them for about a month and a half, I am perfectly comfortable recommending them. Check out their catalog here.
Someone said they heard that Rogue’s equipment was of crappy quality. I don’t see how they can think that, judging by what I have used. While it isn’t covered in chrome and is more Johnny Cash style of equipment, I don’t see any flaws with the gear and I see no weak points. Every indicator is that this stuff will last for a long time.

---

This next question was not asked directly to me. It was on the Gripboard. But, I have been asked this question many times so I thought I’d post it here as well.
Q: [I want to get better at Double Overhand Bending.] But, for now, reverse bending with the bar at or above shoulder height seems to be considerably easier than any other style. Especially with the bar in close to my shoulder.
My question – is this considered a legit form for bending or is it considered sloppy or cheating? Am I wasting time continuing to kink in this manner? Is it smarter to transition to DO sooner rather than later?
A. First off, let’s just quickly define the major bending techniques.

Double Overhand Technique
There is Double Overhand where the hands are placed at the end of the bar/bolt/nail. The hands are positioned between a pronated and neutral position, then the ends of the bar are bent down into an inverted U-shape.

Double Underhand Technique
There is Double Underhand, where the hands are placed at the ends of the bar, but now they are oriented between supination and neutral, then the bar is bent into a U-shape.

Reverse Style Bending
Finally, there is also Reverse style, where the hands are oriented in neutral and then slightly deviated, with one hand “overhand” and the other “underhand.” A completed bend is when the angle of the bar reaches 40-degress and there is usually a time limit involved.
Each of these styles have their own benefits and shortcomings. Double Over and Double Under can be used to bring more upper body strength into the execution, which generally leads to bigger bends. Reverse, however, is one that is much more “pure grip strength,” testing the wrist and forearm more intently, although not entirely.
However, if you have mobility issues and are unable to get into the positions, then you will also be unable to benefit from the two power positions. Some people, like the person who asked the question, then must find other ways to start the first part of the bend, called the kink.

One of the main guys that got me inspired to try bending back in 2002/2003 was Pat Povilaitis. He said that he used to get bends started with Reverse until his shoulders and torso loosened up enough to get into a good position for the DO Kink. So, that is what I did as well for the first few years, eventually bending a Red Nail with a Reverse Kink and then a DO finish.
So, I was in the same boat as the person who asked this question.
Is a Reverse Kink cheating or sloppy technique? No way. Actually, for most people, Reverse is much harder that DO or DU, so getting the bend started with Reverse and then transitioning to a stronger style to finish is no problem whatsoever.
During the time where you need to use both techniques in order to fully bend a nail, it is a good idea to work on figuring out what is keeping you from getting into the DO Power Position. Are your arms so big that they don’t allow you to bring the bar up high? Are your shoulders so tight that you can pull them back? Are your pecs and biceps too tight? Is your upper back weak? Are your triceps tight? Is it a fascial issue?
All of these are possible explanations why someone would have trouble getting into the DO Power Position. Addressing these issues will help you get into the position.
However, my friend, Jason Steeves, pointed out that there are limitations in the height you can bend the bar in most cases. The writer mentions bending the bar at or above shoulder height. The cut-off for most bending lists are head height. This is something to watch.
The reason there is a cut-off, I believe, is to limit the engagement of the lats in the bend. This keeps the emphasis on wrist strength. By practicing the technique and focusing intently on the lats, you can still get them involved in the bend. However, the most important point here is that if you are bending for a certain list or certification, you should practice the way you will be required to bend for that list. Some lists require the use of very small pads, limiting the amount of force that can be exerted into the ends of the bar. Others require very thin wraps, reducing padding and heightening the factor of pain tolerance.
However, in my experience, if you perform a Reverse Bend and keep the bar above your head the entire time without arching your back, the bend seems much harder. That could just be me though. I know if I paint something with my arm straight up in the air for more than ten seconds, it feels like my arm is going to die. This has been ever since the late 90’s long before I ever tried bending, strongman or any other non-conventional training methods. I am left only to blame this issue on bad genetics and playing baseball…
For more detailed Bending Technique instruction, you should check out my Nail Bending eBook. It breaks every one of thee techniques down for you, plus it covers some other lesser common bending styles.

---

This last one comes from YouTube. I put up a video about a year ago where I talk about increasing deadlift grip, and I mentioned that Fat Bar Training is not always the best way to go about it. I got the following question:
Q: So are Fat Gripz a waste of money then?
A: Fat Gripz are absolutely NOT a waste of money. They allow you to turn dozens of exercises into thick bar exercises almost instantly without buying or building axles or thick handle loadable dumbbells. Plus, I think they will survive an atomic bomb blast, so they are a safe investment.
My point in that video was this. If your grip fails when doing Deadlifts, you need to train specifically for improving your Deadlift Grip.
The Deadlift Grip (for most people) is an alternated grip on a thin bar. In most cases, the time under tension requirement for the pull overwhelms your grip endurance. For most people, this means they need to train holding more weight for longer periods of time, or you need to finish your deadlift faster so that you don’t reach your grip strength endurance threshold.
In many cases, when people train with a thicker bar, the size difference is so substantial that it trains the hands in a slightly different way. Obviously, the same muscles are being worked, but the orientation of the hands and loading are different. Going from a one-inch bar to a 2-inch or even 2.5 or 3-inch bar could end up being too big of a size difference to get good carryover back to deadlifting on a regular bar.
Aside from working with a heavier barbell to load the hands specifically, I also suggest wearing some leather work gloves while deadlifting in that video. This increases the perceived size of the bar. The bar itself doesn’t change, but the fact that the glove material sits between your fingers and the bar keeps the fingers slightly more open so the bar seems slightly larger. The same effect can be gotten by wrapping a towel over the bar and gripping it, but it slipped my mind to mention this because I was driving. You can see the video I am talking about here.
Will thick bar training improve hand strength? Absolutely. It is a great way to train for general hand strength. However, I think the best way to bring your deadlifting support strength up is by doing work of a more specific nature.
That’s all for now. I was going to answer more questions, but this post got big in a hurry, so I will make sure to answer more down the line. Feel free to leave comments with any questions you might have.
Stay tuned for future posts. Sign up for my free newsletter below.

All the best in your training.
Jedd

Over a year ago, my buddy Josh McIntyre and I were emailing and he suggested a name for a series to be featured here on the site called Tales from the Grip. It was to be stories of training written by all of you and posted here on the site.

The title is of course a play on words of Tales from the Crypt, which if you have never seen, was a horror story series shown on HBO, I believe, about 20 years ago and probably longer. I am probably showing my age by referencing it…LOL.

Tales from the Grip – Fayette Fair, Dunbar PA – July 2012

Today, I am going to start the series off by telling you of my experiences doing my first ever professional Strongman Performances, at the Fayette Fairgrounds, which started last night (July 26th) and will continue on until Tuesday July 31. If you are in the area of Dunbar, PA, you should come check it out.

How it Came to Be

I received an email from John Beatty well over a year ago asking if I’d ever be interested in doing Strongman Performances with him or for him. John was the owner of Fat Bastard Barbell Company for several years before recently selling it to his friend Jerry when he got to busy to keep it going. If that doesn’t ring a bell, then you may remember seeing him on TV back in 2010 on America’s Got Talent when he gave the big “In Your Face” to Piers Morgan.

Here’s the video:

John is an accomplished Strength Athlete himself. He was a professional strongman competitor from 2000 to 2010, and has also competed in many powerlifting and Grip Sport competitions, while also bending some awesome high-level steel.

After the initial emails, I didn’t hear much from John for quite some time, so I didn’t think much of it, but then, late last year, I got a call from John and he told me that he could use me for some shows coming up in the summer. I thought it sounded like an awesome and fun opportunity and I immediately told him I would love to try it.

In the months to come, I picked John’s brain about how to even set up a Strongman show. Considering my bending experience was limited to contests where you generally wrap and try to bend as big of steel as possible in 5 minutes time, the idea of putting together an entire 30-minute program seemed very daunting.

I have watched performing strongmen like John Brookfield, Dennis Rogers, Pat Povilaitis, Dave Whitley and Mike Bruce a handful of times over the years, but they mainly had performed single feats as part of other strength endeavors. John Brookfield did some of his bending feats during a larger expo in conjunction with other acts. Dennis, Pat, Mike, and David had all done their feats at Mighty Mitts between events. All of them were awesome performances, but they were shorter in duration.

However, with John’s guidance and coaching, I began to see some light at the end of the tunnel. He and I talked several times over the last 6 months and he would always share some knowledge about how to set up shows, some of the staple feats he did, and how to tie feats together to make the show run well. I soon began developing confidence in myself to be able to put a variety of feats together that would be entertaining for the crowd to watch.

Building the Equipment

About 6 months ago, John sent me the plans for some of the equipment that he uses in his shows. One was a deadlift platform that kids can sit on and then you lift them up. Another was a finger lift platform where someone lays on a board and you lift them with one finger. And the last one was a Bed of Nails.

In hindsight, the right thing to do would have been to get right on it and buy the lumber and build all of the equipment so that I could train on it and get to know it.

Unfortunately, what I did was I put it off and never built anything until last weekend. I am no carpenter. In fact, I make a poor carpenter’s assistant, so I enlisted my Dad to help me put this stuff together. I figured it would take us maybe 4 hours on a Sunday morning to build it all.

No.

It took use two hole days of serious work to build just the kiddie deadlift platform and the bed of nails. It took me 4 hours just to pound all of the nails through the plywood for the bed of nails, so that was quite a wake-up call in itself. Nevertheless, with the help of my good old Dad, the two pieces got built and I even through some deck stain on the deadlift platform. John was impressed with the craftsmanship and said that mine looks better than his! I told him I wanted to make sure everything looked good since my show was going to be a reflection on him.

The Drive Down

Finally, the day to come to the fair arrived. I figured, again, that the drive would be about 4 hours. I dropped the baby off at the babysitter and turned on the GPS in order to get an estimate of how long it would take to get down here. I nearly laid an egg when it said 5.5 hours. I still had to go get the trailer and load everything on it in addition to packing everything up in the car…amazing.

Once loaded, I got out on the road. I have never pulled a trailer behind a vehicle on a 4-lane highway. Quite interesting! I was swerving a bit at first, but eventually got used to it. PennDot has construction projects going on, on just about every highway I drove on yesterday, including a section on Route 22 where the road is one lane and the barricades seem just about wide enough to afford like a foot of space on each side of the trailer. Lots of fun driving, I can assure you. Sweat was pouring down my brow into my eyes as I drove. Awesome.

The First Shows

It felt good to drive the Jeep onto the Fairgrounds and find my location for the shows. I was placed under a pavilion, which was a good thing because it was pouring buckets last night.

For the first day of the Fair, with such bad weather, the fair was nearly empty, but we got the two shows in that were scheduled. The small crowds were great to break the ice and get things rolling.

In the first show, John handled the PA system and narrated. He and I traded back and forth doing feats.

For the second show, I manned the PA and narrated and did 6 feats while John did 4. Everything went well, including my flaming hammer torch feat. Other feats that we did included the kiddie deadlift, phone book tearing, horseshoe bending, mace swinging, kettlebell juggling, and more. A rather diverse range of feats.

More to Come

As the rest of the shows progress, I will keep you posted. But I must say, I am pumped to be doing them.

I never thought I would ever get up on a stage and perform for a crowd. I always saw myself as more of the coach person who would help others enjoy the feats of strength by safely learning to do them themselves, but after just one day, I am excited to be given the opportunity to share what I know in this new way.

I really want to say thank you to John Beatty, “The Strongman,” for giving me this opportunity. Find out more about John here: John Beatty The Strongman.

Oh, and by the way, my favorite feat so far has been bending stuff while laying on the bed of nails. Surprisingly the pain from 600 nails digging into your butt and back fizzles away when the adrenaline rushes through the body.

If you are in the area, be sure to stop by. If not, keep coming by the site as I will be adding to this post as the shows go on.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Learn Everything You Need to Know about Gripper Training

Horseshoe Bending may sound crazy, but indeed, people all over the world are doing it. From shoes made to outfit small ponies to shoes designed for larger animals such as draft shoes, tough dudes around the globe are mangling them – twisting them from their characteristic U-shape and into a flattened S, or even completely around on themselves until they resemble a heart!

Bending Horseshoes may just be one of the most beneficial types of bending. Many of the benefits are listed below.

Why Bend Horseshoes?

Now, you may be wondering why the hell someone would want to bend a horseshoe. Well, if you are a student of the art of feats of strength, then it is a natural progression from regular steel bending such as bending nails and bolts.

However, if you have a more traditional strength training or muscle building background, then you may need some more reasons to try horseshoe bending. So here’s a few right now:

Benefits of Horseshoe Bending

Conquering the Impossible:
Horseshoes are made to be durable and resist wear, so to be able to straighten them and tie them into a knot, it’s as if you are defeating the undefeatable enemy! Nothing gives you a bigger rush than finally taking down the next level of shoe, especially if you’ve missed it a couple of times already!

Excellent Core Strength Builder:
While the hands, and arms are extremely important for horseshoe bending, the level of core strength needed to bend horseshoes is unparalleled by other strength feats. You must be able to send shock-waves into the shoe with explosive core power in order to make the shoe start moving in the sweep and crush and you have to be able to maintain longer durations of straining in order to keep the legs moving. NO other feat of strength matches this level of intensity.

Horseshoes Build Horseshoes on Your Arms:
The straining and dynamic effort associated with horseshoe bending can’t be beat, even by the most rigorous of conventional bench pressing programs or the most demanding bodybuilding routines. Your triceps blow up seriously blow up from this kind of work.

Builds Character and Mental Toughness:
Horseshoe Bending takes hard work, dedication, a strong will, and a remarkable heart. You have to be able to deal with struggle and with failure, but the feeling you get when you bend that next level of shoe for the first time is indescribable. This kind of tenacity carries over to other training as well, and bending horseshoes can revolutionize the way you approach the iron in the weight room.

Incredible Grip and Wrist Strength:
It was once an accepted belief that Bending would take away from your Grip Strength, but with the increase in benders participating in horseshoe bending, we are seeing more and more often that this is untrue. Your hands and wrist have to be strong in order to bend shoes and with the force required to excel, you end up building hand strength that carries over into many other types of Grip Training. And it goes without saying that stronger hands and wrists will be mean bigger lifts in the gym.

Chicks Dig It:
Just imagine how impressive it will be to the girls in your class or the ladies in the office when you wrap up a horseshoe and bend it right before their eyes. Horseshoes bent into a heart shape are second only to chocolate as a gift on Valentine’s Day! Screw tearing a deck of cards or a phone book! Who’s impressed with ripping paper? The ladies want to see you mess up the hard stuff, brother!

Tendon Strength:
Horseshoe bending requires high tension throughout the body, and with this comes tendon strength, the kind of strength that will set you apart from others at the gym and will keep you injury-resistant in your workouts. This kind of strength can’t be produced with conventional lifting means. This is something that only comes about from battles with horseshoes.

Technique over Force Production:
This is actually reason number eight, and it is the most important reason of all. Horseshoe bending is heavily dependent on technique. In fact, some of the best horseshoe benders in the world are under 200-lbs and can’t lift much more than 300-lbs on the bench press. This is because while full body strength is important, technique is what sets the biggest horseshoe benders in the world apart from the rest of the pack. This is why horseshoe bending is one of the most skill-dependent feats that there is.

For more information on horseshoe bending, check out our DVD, Hammering Horseshoes. I worked on this with Mike “Rindo” Rinderle, the first ever US Steel Bending Champion, and crazed steel bender.

Hammering Horseshoes is by far the most detailed resource on horseshoe bending that exists today and we will show you everything you need to know to get started kinking, sweeping, crushing and hearting big horseshoes.

Get the Hammering Horseshoes DVD and get started bending horseshoes. Right away.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Happy Hammering Horseshoes Customers:

“I bought the hammering horseshoes dvd before I even had a shoe to bend,they give everything you need to know to get going no question about that. Well worth the money.”
David Mitti
Recreation Horseshoe Dominator

“The DVD is well worth it! I tried to bend some easy shoes before watching the DVD and didn’t do anything but bruise my leg up. After watching the DVD about halfway through, I tried the same shoe and finished it off with a lot less effort than the first try.”
Jason Bergmann
Professional Strongman Competitor

“If you are really interested in progressing on shoes, use the money you would spend to buy some easier shoes to buy Hammering Horseshoes….watch that a couple times and you will bend your DC0. All bending is technique, but it’s almost impossible to just muscle a decent shoe, you HAVE to have some technique and strength too. Don’t waste a bunch of time like I did. The info wasn’t readily available when I started bending shoes but anyone wanting to start out today should watch Hammering Horseshoes. I am in no way associated with the DVD, and I paid full price for it. It will teach you an efficient way to bend shoes for sure.”
Andy Thomas
Competitive Steel Bender

There have been many great Strongman Performers in the past, that it is impossible to point to all of them and the amazing feats of strength they accomplished.

One of the all-time greats that is still a living legend is Slim the Hammer Man Farman.

Slim Farman is called the Hammer Man because of his prowess with Sledgehammers. They are his trademark and he has done some things with Sledges that most likely will never be duplicated.

The Story of Slim the Hammer Man is a long one, but in a nutshell, he worked in stone quarries with sledgehammers from a very young age. During his youth, he would often watch the Mighty Atom perform his strength act. Eventually the two interacted during one of the shows and a simple challenge turned into a friendship that lasted years and years. The Mighty Atom took Slim under his wing and coached him to be a professional strongman performer.

The Mighty Atom has long since passed, but the Hammer Man is still alive today. I first met Slim when he traveled from his home in PA to the location of the Global Grip Challenge, 2007.

I also was in attendance when York Barbell inducted Slim into their museum, last year. I wrote about that trip and posted videos here: Slim Farman Inducted into York Barbell Museum.

Slim has also taken on a position of a mentor for many of my colleagues in the area of Strongmanism, such as Dennis Rogers, Chris Rider, and David Whitley. Although I have never had the occasion to sit and train or be coached directly by Slim, I still marvel at some of the feats he has accomplished.

Slim and many of his friends he has trained with over the years

The Slim Lever

One of the feats he is famous for has been labeled, The Slim Lever, and is sometimes contested in Grip Contests, especially in medley events. It can be done with one signle sledgehammer or with two sledgehammers that are bolted together.

I do not know the weights that Slim Farman has done with this sort of set-up, but I am sure it is way more than I have done.

Execution of the Slim Lever

1. The Sledgehammer starts out with the head positioned vertically and the handle nearly parallel with the ground.

2. A small pad can be used to cushion the knuckles. A wash towel should work perfectly.

3. From there, the hand is placed at the end of the handle and the hammer head is raised with wrist strength until the handle is vertical, then the hammer head is returned to the ground.

You can see an actual picture of Slim performing this lift, above. That hammer there looks to be a 20-lber with a pin attached that allows for even more weight to be added – SCARY!

Recently, I was training with my friend, Kyle Kintner, and I showed him this maneuver and for the first time I was able to hit 16-lbs. The video is below.

16-lb Slim Lever

I was so PUMPED about getting the 16-lber up, that I had to try the 20-lber as well, and to my surprise, I was actually about to get it up a few inches…

20-lb Slim Lever

With this feat being this close, I just HAVE to try it some more in the next few weeks. This would be a feat that would blow away anything I have ever done, and it would be something that I would be very proud of accomplishing. To be this close to it also tells me that the other limited stuff I have been doing for wrist strength has been helpful, even though it has not been a major factor in my training.

I will keep you posted. Until then, keep training hard on your goals as well.

Jedd

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Want more Sledgehammer Training Ideas?
Check out the Nail Bending eBook.
The World Renowned Nail Bending eBook is loaded with sledgehammer training methods that will build your wrist strength like no other form of training can. Click the image below.

“I bought Jedd’s E-book because I was interested in steel bending but didn’t have the knowledge to start out on my own. I had no clue about the many types of metal stock, steel bolts, nails, how to wrap…I could go on and on. This book taught me so much in one day, I was blown away. No stone was left unturned. This E-book brings a wealth of information to the table and is worth every penny and more. It has instructional pictures, terminology, techniques and exercises that no one but the Diesel Crew could possibly come up with. It is all done in a very clear and concise manner that anyone can follow. Thank you Jedd.
Frank DeLuca”

 

 

 

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Place Your Comments Below:
What are you working on? How can I help you out? Thoughts on this post?
Thanks.

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DIESELS, this kind of thing gets me PUMPED UP!

When an expert performing strongman like Mike Gillette takes a look at a product and not only gives it such a glowing review but also puts some of the instruction into action and improves his performance in some of the feats, I just want to spike a football.

When it comes down to it, Mike Rinderle and I put our DVD’s together so that you can enjoy these feats as much as we have. PERIOD.

And we like producing the kind of products that give you EVERYTHING you need to know.

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Check out the kind words from Mike “Savage Strength” Gillette:

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Again guys, another experienced strength athlete and coach relates how important it is to have the right information and technique when it comes to being a successful featist.

If you want to ROLL FRYING PANS, BEND STEEL BARS, BEND SPIKES, and DESTROY WRENCHES, then Braced Bending is for you.

We’ll show you how to prepare for a showdown with steel, the technique for vanquishing it, and the way to stay in tip-top battle form for years to come.

Pick up Braced bending today = > Braced Bending: How to Destroy Everything in Your Path.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

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Two Bent Shoes by Jason Bergmann

Bending your first horseshoe is one of the milestones you will never forget when you practice feats of strength. After all, these damn things are made to go on the feet of horses and ponies and to take a freakin’ beating.

Bending horseshoes is no joke.

I recently got an order from one of the members of the Diesel Universe, for the Hammering Horseshoes DVD. Shortly afterwards, I got an email from him as well. His name was Jason Bergmann, a Strongman Competitor who does strength demo’s for youngsters in his area, and he said he was looking to add Horseshoe Bending to his repertoire of grip strength feat.

Check out the email he sent me below:

I just ordered the Hammering Horseshoes DVD from your site. Since it will take a few days to get the DVD I really wanted to order some horseshoes as well. Since that info is in the DVD could you give me a few suggestions for beginners? I currently compete in Strongman and my brothers and I do demo’s for k-8 schools and I would like to add this in to my program along with a few other grip feats. So If I can order some shoes and get them around the same time as the DVD it would save me some time. Thanks, Jason Bergmann

Ordering horseshoes ahead of time actually seemed like a damn good idea, so I pointed him to this post, Horseshoe Progression List, and told him to check out Ken-Davis.com to pick up some shoes.

Well Jason Bergmann is a true action taker, because he jumped on the Ken-Davis site and had the shoes at his house before the DVD even got there! And I don’t wait when I send in these orders. I could see right now that this dude was serious!

Today, I got another email from Jason and this time, and this time I could tell he was excited. Check this out:

Jedd, I came home from strongman training and saw the DVD arrived today! I was going to wait to watch it and maybe try some shoes tomorrow since I had already tried to bend a few before watching the DVD (didn’t even nudge a diamond classic #2). But after watching about half the dvd on wrapping technique and learning more about the kink I gave it a go.

After giving it a few tries on the lightest shoe I had bought (St. Croix Forge polo #0), I knew something wasn’t right. Repositioned the shoe and followed the tips in the video and started to bend the shoe! I will admit that I used a towel on my leg to get it past 180 degrees and I’m sure I will have a bruise or two. After about 5 minutes I had to see if I could do it on my right side as well (torn pec on that side) and after getting everything set up right that went as well.

Without the tips and technique on your DVD it would have taken me a lot longer to figure it out if at all. I can say after bending my first shoes that it is not a trick. Getting the leverages right yes, but trick no! Thanks for putting the DVD together and putting so much information in it. Well worth the money and when I’m looking to try another feat of strength I will be checking out your other products. Thanks, Jason Bergmann

The Hammering Horseshoes DVD, Two Slain Shoes, and the Wraps Used to Slay Them

DIESELS, this kind of stuff gets me pumped up!!

I love hearing about success stories such as this one! Being a part of their success is even more awesome. That is why I put together these instructional videos – I know how cool this stuff is and I want you to experience it too.

That is also why I partnered up with my buddy, Mike Rinderle on Hammering Horseshoes and Braced Bending – he gets pumped up hearing about new benders’ success every bit as much as I do.

If you want to see what it feels like to have the crafted steel of a horseshoe bend to your will, make sure to get our DVD, Hammering Horseshoes. We’ll get you going on the right path, just like Jason Bergmann is doing now.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Ever since releasing Hammering Horseshoes last August, one of the most common questions I have received about Horseshoe Bending has been regarding the Horseshoe Progression.

These are some of the examples of questions I have gotten:

Which horseshoes are best for beginners to bend?

Are there any more shoes in my difficulty level I can bend to add to my collection?

I have hit a wall with my horseshoe bending – are there other shoes I can use to break through my plateau?

These are all perfectly valid questions, and I think today’s post is going to help a lot.

After all, when you are new at Bending Horseshoes, it’s nice to have some shoes that are on the easier side so you can work on technique on lighter shoes before progressing upwards.

And of course, once you hone your technique, you will want some reasonable jumps to make as you move up the ladder.

And, if you happen to be a gifted Horseshoe Bender and are aiming to be one of the best, then you’ll need to know which ones to choose in order to climb the mountain.

All levels of bending prowess need variety and that is what this post will give you.

Hammering Horseshoes DVD Progression List

In our DVD, Hammering Horseshoes, Mike and I laid out a nice progression of the most common shoes – the most widely available, and most often bent. We ended up with more than a dozen horseshoes for people to choose from.

However, as time has gone by, we found that people wanted even more shoes. We found that people are willing to put in the work to find some of the more rare shoes, just so that they can make smaller jumps without running into a wall on the track to Horseshoe Bending Heroism.

So, Mike and I reached out to one of the top horseshoe benders in the world, David Wigren. You see, David actually designed the progression for the current horseshoe certification list that is used by most benders on-line at Benders’ Battlefield.

One of the things David and I talked about was, why, if there are so many more shoes on the market, are they not included on the current horseshoe bending certification progression list?

This is what he had to say:

“The #1 reason why there aren’t more shoes on the cert list is to avoid unintentional overlapping. As you know steel varies, and because of that my idea was just to have a “safety” distance between each shoe, so that the easiest level 10 shoe won’t be easier than any level 9 shoe.

The 2nd reason is that not a whole lot of shoes meet the criteria. Some shoes vary a lot, so they won’t be added to the list. Clipped and healed shoes won’t be added, since it would be easy to manipulate a clipped shoe and get away with it.

I also wanted all the shoes (with one or two exceptions) to be available in most parts of the world. However I’m only that picky when it comes to the cert list. I do have a list that is more “approximated” and contains more shoes. This list contains most of the shoes I’ve bent (or partially bent) and I’ve rated them by the difficulty I experienced while bending them.

Unfortunately not all shoes are on there. But I think Rinderle could fill in with some other shoes he’s bent, and you’ll end up with a pretty good list.”

So, Mike and I put out heads together and placed a few more shoes on the list to help you guys out. What we came up with appears below.

Horseshoe Variation

Now, remember as you look at and utilize this list that shoes will vary, even within the same shoe. You may find weaker shoes in a given variety that could be easier than shoes that are ranked below them on the list. This is just the reality of the feat of strength of bending. Use this as your guideline to greatness with horseshoe bending.

Horseshoe Progression List

Beginner

1. St. Croix Forge Ultralite #2
2. St. Croix Forge Ultralite #1
3. St. Croix Forge Polo #2
4. St. Croix Forge Polo #1
5. St. Croix Forge Polo #0
6. St. Croix Forge Polo #00
7. Diamond Classic 1
8. Diamond Classic 0
9. Diamond Classic 2
10. St. Croix Forge Lite Rim 0

Novice

11. Kerckhaert sx7
12. St croix Lite rim 2
13. Nordic Delux 2
14. St croix lite rim 3
15. Nordic Delux 3
16. St croix lite rim 1
17. Werkman 3
18. Kerckhaert SSP 8×22 #3
19. St croix Lite plain #3

Advanced

20. Kerckhaert SN 8×25 #5
21. Kerckhaert SSP 8×22 #2
22. Diamond bronco PL 000
23. 5/16×7/8 healed
24. Wide sliding plate
25. Kerckhaert SSP 8×22 #1
26. st croix forge regular plain 000
27. Kerckhaert SN 8×25 #3
28. Diamond special 5
29. Kerckhaert SSP 10×22 #5
30. St. croix plain regular #3
31. SSP 8×18 #000
32. SN 8×20 #000
33. Kerckhaert SN 10×22 #3
34. Kerckhaert SSP extra 8×22 #0
35. Unmarked healed shoe 3/8×3/4
36. AB #6
37. Kerckhaert WH 10×28 #6

I hope this new Horseshoe Bending Progression List helps you all out. You now have a huge list of shoes to choose from. Take note, some of these shoes are much more common than others, and some can be nearly impossible to find.

What you should do right now is Bookmark this post, because I can assure you from time to time I will hear from more people who have bent lots of horseshoes over the years and I will add to this list from time to time.

Of course, just because you know which shoes are easy and which ones are hard, don’t be surprised if you can’t bend one of the easier shoes. Horseshoe Bending is extremely dependent upon technique. You can be strong as a son of a bitch and still get your ass handed to you by a shoe that is residing way over on the lighter side of the spectrum.

So, when you go on-line or to the local Farrier supply shop to order your shoes, add the Hammering Horseshoes DVD to your shopping list as well so you can learn the right techniques for horseshoe bending. Pick it up below:

All the best with your horseshoe bending,

Jedd

P.S. HUGE thanks to David Wigren and Mike Rinderle for helping me put this together for everybody!

Hello DIESELS!

There’s nothing that bothers me more than when I buy something and it doesn’t meet my expectations.

To give you an idea of what I mean, I recently picked up one of those lights with the flexible bodies that you can hook around stuff and direct light where you want it.

Yeah, too bad when you hang it upside down, the light portion literally falls off the body part.

GARBAGE!

It is experiences like this one that have forged my approach to designing information products. My goal is always to exceed your expectations.

When you buy one of my DVD’s or eBooks, I want you to finish going through it and not only learn exactly what you wanted to when you picked up my DVD, but also many other things that will help you in your training.

To illustrate this, check out the feedback we recently received from Carlos Rodriguez about the Braced Bending DVD:

“I received the Braced dvd this past weekend. Jedd I was literally blown away by the dvd. I admire the fact that Mike and yourself take a no B.S. approach to giving instruction and demonstration. There is no fluff, no corny
soundtrack , and rock solid advice!!! Great job and congrats on a really awesome product Jedd.

There are a couple of things that I was doing wrong with my bending, but I believe the Braced dvd has helped me tremendously. Also the pics of Carl Ansara are pretty impressive, the Bazooka Joe tee was very cool. He is one strong dude.”

Thanks for the compliments, Carlos, and I am glad the DVD is helping you so much.

My partner on the Braced Bending DVD, Mike Rinderle, has the same approach I do – to provide you with the absolute best information about Feats of Strength.

We take a great deal of time planning our products and we even add things in as we go along to enhance them throughout the process, such as close-ups, voice-overs, slow-motion replays, and more.

We even added a a presentation that Carl Ansara, one of the best braced benders in the world, put together for us for the Bonus Section.

If you want the best information on Feats of Strength, you’ve come to the right place. Check out everything we cover in this DVD:

This is the cool collectible Chapter Card
that comes with your Braced Bending DVD.

Go get it here: Braced Bending DVD.

All the best in your bending.

Jedd

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK!

Since Mike Rinderle and I released the Hammering Horseshoes DVD, we have continued to receive outstanding feedback, and Mike and I really appreciate it when you all write in to us. We truly tried to put out a video that would break away all the chains that could keep someone from performing this awesome feat of strength.

We recently received this note from David Mitti through Facebook:

Hey Mike, Just bent my first horseshoe, a St. Croix Ultra Lite #2 the other day. A LOT harder than it looks, but I got it past 180. It was an awesome feeling. Just wanted to say thanks for all the info provided on the Hammering Horseshoes DVD. I now have the bug…LOL. Thanks again, David M. Peace – Out

Thanks a lot for the note, David – keep on slaying the shoes.

Occasionally, we not only get an email from the customers, but we also get a video – very cool!

This is performing strongman and missionary evangelist, Peter Mehl, bending his first horseshoe. Peter related to us that he had always wanted to include horseshoe bending in his act, but was unsure of how to go about doing it.

As you can see, Peter now has very good technique for horseshoe bending, to go along with his already present strength, so he was able to knock out his first shoe no problem.

From Peter’s YouTube video description:

Peter Mehl Bends a Horseshoe past [180] degrees and then attempts to bend it into a shape of a heart. Peter is a Missionary Evangelist in Ukraine and Moldova where he oversees more than 150 crusades each year. In many of them he does feats of strength youth outreaches. He also has a team of Ukrainians he has raised up to do the same feats.

Peter, keep up the good work with the feats, and much respect for the work you are doing overseas – very awesome.

If you would like to get started bending horseshoes, now is the time. All you need to do is pick up our DVD and we will tell you everything you need to know!

Grab it today at this link: Hammering Horseshoes DVD

All the best in your training,

Jedd

The Strength of Steel and Bending Stock

Over the years, lots of people have asked me questions about the strength of steel and bending stock. Because steel bending can be so obsessive, and the need to constantly bend more stuff can overtake an individual so intensely, it can be easy to understand why so many people are hungry for this knowledge.

Common Questions about Bending Stock Strength

Here are some of the types of questions I get most often:

“How Strong is my Steel?”
People will be bending a certain nail, bolt or piece of stock and want to know if it is a good bend or not. This is understandable, because people like to know where they stand.

“What nail/bolt/stock should I go to next if I am bending THIS and want to bend THAT?”
Most people want to ultimately be able to bend a certain bar, whether it is the Red Nail or some other high level bend like the Bastard from Fat Bastard Barbell or the Battle Bar from Benders Battlefield. Along the road to this goal it’s nice to know which bends to attempt along the way.

“How far am I from the Red Nail if I am bending this or that…”
Sometimes people are seeing progress by cutting what they can bend down to shorter lengths, or they have been moving up to harder graded bolts or slightly thicker stock, but they still want to know how far away they are from their goal.

And there are many, many more questions I receive about the strength of bending stock.

Comparing Strengths of Various Pieces of Bending Stock

There is a system that is used to rate the strength level of bars. This has proven to be quite useful in getting an idea of where different bars lie in relationship to one another, and it even works well for a variety of different stock, including Round Steel, Graded Bolts, Drill Rod, and even square and hex steel.

This system was innovated by Eric Milfeld and later Mike Krahling. These are just the guys that I am most aware of in the United States who are doing it. There may indeed be many more who are doing this.

This process involves special attachments that are put onto the bending stock being rated, followed by using the steel to pull against weight until it bends to the desired angle. Once the stock bends to that angle, it is assigned its strength level.

This process is often labeled “calibration,” although there has also been debate about whether that is the proper term. Perhaps a better term to describe it would be simply “rating the stock.”

Regardless of what you call this process, it has proven to be a fairly reliable method for a solid comparison tool, as well as something to base your progressions and purchases upon.

In the video below, Mike Krahling demonstrates the process of rating the strength of a steel bar.

Now, what you see here is just one bar being rated, but over the years, many bars have been rated and also logged for comparison at the AZ Grip website. You can see the strength comparison chart here: Steel Bending Progressions.

Now, there are limits to this process, and that needs to be understood from the beginning.

For instance, steel varies and it can vary quite a bit. Just because you bought a Red Nail back in 2004 does not mean that a Red Nail that you buy right now will rate out at the exact same number. New stock might have been selected to be used at some point. (Of course, the Red Nail is still a Beast to bend, so no disrespect to IronMind.)

Variance of Steel Strength

As I point out in this post, Strength Variations of Steel, it is possible to see strength variance within the same piece of steel. Remember that steel is created in long lengths and then cut down in order to bend in shorter lengths. There can be quite a bit of variation within one of those virgin bars pulled out at the factory. So in that regard, you have to understand that just because you buy a 7-inch by 5/16-inch length of Cold Rolled Steel, it does not guarantee that you are ready to certify on the Red Nail, even though the Red Nail, too, is 7 X 5/16 CRS.

Variance in Steel Strength & Differences by Length

Also, you have to remember that you must take the readings of bars of different lengths very carefully. For instance, if you look at that chart, it lists the Red Nail, 7 X 5/16 in length and diameter, at 420-lbs in order to bend. Also, that chart lists a Linear “S” Grade 5 Bolt 6 X 1/4 in length and diameter at 425. An assumption that has often been made is that if one can bend that Linear “S” Grade 5 Bolt, then they surely must be able to bend the Red Nail, which is rated at 5-lbs lighter.

Unfortunately, this assumption is completely wrong, because the Grade 5 bolt is only 6 inches long, meaning there is less leverage available to produce a bend using the testing device. In reality, if the Grade 5 in question were 7-inches long, it would feel like bending a coat-hanger.

Comparing Different Bars

So, as you utilize the chart, make sure that you remember that comparisons should be made between different pieces of stock of the same length only. Also remember that the way the calibrating set-up bends the bar is not completely the same as the way the bar bends when you bend it, so just because a piece of stock rates higher than another piece of stock using the device, does not necessarily mean it will feel harder to bend when you try it.

Solid Resource

Even with this handful of limitations, the “Steel Progression Chart” is a very good resource for you in your bending training. It has been an extremely helpful tool for both new benders looking for ways to progress in their bending, as well as seasoned veterans who are looking for stepping stones to their ultimate bending goal.

In fact, I reference this chart quite often with my coaching clients who are looking for progressions in their steel bending programs. And now, it is a tool you can place in your toolbox to reference whenever you need it.

All the best in your bending,

Jedd

The Braced Bending DVD is now available world-wide: Destroy Everything in Your Path.

I have had lots of questions from people wanting to know exactly what braced bending is and what is covered in the Braced Bending DVD, so I wanted to answer some of those questions right now.

Here is some information about the practice of Braced Bending and our DVD.

Braced Bending Information

There is a lot that is involved in Braced Bending. Below is a list of common questions about Braced Bending. The list of questions and answers about Braced Bending below is really just scratching the surface. Our DVD goes into much more detail than this and covers much more information as it gets into the instructional portions and technique demonstration within the DVD.

What is Braced Bending

Braced Bending is the act of bending steel, tools, or other odd objects through the use of your hands and the rest of your body, except your feet (the feet are used for what is called Scrolling).

In this DVD, we show you the basics of Braced Bending, as well as many specific Braced Bending techniques. This DVD is packed with instruction, running nearly 2 hours of solid information, and no fluff or filler.

What Feats are Included in Braced Bending?

Braced Bending includes but is not limited to bending all of the following types of objects:

• Short Bars: These are steel bars that usually 14-inches or shorter.
• Mid-length Bars: These are steel bars that are usually 14 to 30-inches in length.
• Long Bars: These are bars that are 30-inches or longer.
• Wrenches: There are a LOT of different kinds of wrenches available to bend, combination wrenches, tappet wrenches, and adjustable wrenches, just to name a few.
• Hammers: Framing hammers are the most commonly bent style of hammer, and many types are bendable.
• Spikes: There are many types of spikes out on the market, especially if you include bolts into this category, along with nails. Their difficulty can vary quite a bit depending on the manufacturer and other variables.

What are the Basics of Braced Bending?

• Wraps: The ends of the bars, tools, and other objects that are bent can often be very rough and possible cut you, so they are often wrapped as a means of protecting the skin. These are generally made out of suede, cordura, or towels.
• Gloves: For some feats, such as Hammer bending, it can be almost impossible to wrap the object with wraps. In these cases it is more common to wear gloves in order to protect the hands.
• Pads: Since these feats require you to press the object against a part of your body, padding is often used. Beginners will often use additional padding until the areas of the body toughen up.
• Materials to Bend: As you can see there are many things you can bend, once you know how. Being able to bend a variety of objects of varying lengths and thicknesses will make you a more well-rounded bending machine.
• Knowledge / Technique: Obviously brute strength will only get you so far. Knowing the proper techniques for Braced Bending makes an incredible difference in your bending success. That is especially where our Braced Bending DVD comes in.

On top of covering all of the above information in complete detail, Mike and I also take you through the proper Warm-up Techniques, Strength Training Movements, and other measures you can take to be a great bender, while remaining injury free.

Mike and I also have a little something special planned for those who pick up the DVD before January 26th, so make sure to check this out right now: How to Do Braced Bending.

Make sure your order your copy of Braced Bending today in order to take advantage of the special bonus offer and start your bending journey on the right foot!

All the best in your training,

Jedd

When I was a kid, maybe 8 years old, I was caught in a tornado.

It was one of the scariest moments of my life and to this day I still have nightmares about it.

You see, my family and I were fishing in a pond in our small boat. It was something we did quite routinely in the summer-time.

I remember the fish were biting, the sun was out, and it was an awesome day.

But then, all of a sudden, it was like the fish just shut down. The sun moved behind the clouds, and the breeze quit blowing.

It was really quiet, a strange and eery quiet – more like an absence of sound, where your ears start pumping as if they are desperately searching for something to hear…

Then, CRACK! There was an immense thunder-clap followed by a crack of thunder and instantly the rain started coming down.

My dad rushed us back to shore and we sprinted to our truck where we waited the storm out. I still remember the tornado shaking the truck.

Even as scary as the storm was, the thing that I remember most is that strange calmness that came about – the Calm Before the Storm, so they call it.

Well, right now is the Calm Before the Storm, because very soon the Tornado of craziness that is the Braced Bending DVD will come out.

I’ve worked very hard on this DVD to make it a winner for you.

I’ve edited and re-edited the video. I’ve added voice-overs, and put in slow-motion replays so that you can get the absolute best look at these amazing feats being done, so that you too can perform them.

Yes, this is the Calm Before the Storm, and just as that Tornado tore through the countryside shaking cars, ripping down branches, and knocking over old barns leaving a path of destruction behind it, when you get this DVD, you will be able to cut your own swath of damage as well.

After all, this DVD is called Braced Bending: How to Destroy EVERYTHING in Your Path.

As I put the final touches on everything that needs to be done, it is the Calm Before the Storm.

And the Tornado is this DVD.

More to come later. Keep your eyes open for more storm warnings from me, because this a storm you HAVE to see.

Jedd

P.S. No DVD anywhere will show you the detail that Mike and I do. There is nothing that compares to it. Believe me – I’ve seen them all.

(Coming Soon)