Diesel Crew - Muscle Building, Athletic Development, Strength Training, Grip Strength

Strength and Conditioning for Elite Athletic Performance - Free Articles, Videos for Coaches, Fitness Professionals, Personal Trainers, Athletic Trainers, Physical Therapists for All Sports

As Seen On
  • Home
  • Media
    • Video
    • Articles
    • Galleries
    • Interviews
    • GS Radio
    • Contact
  • Products
    • eBooks
    • Manuals
    • DVDs
    • Services
  • Team Diesel
    • Napalm’s Blog
    • Smiitty’s Blog
    • Spray Series
    • Testmonials
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Contact
  • Forum
  • Home
  • Media
    • Video
    • Articles
    • Galleries
    • Interviews
    • GS Radio
    • Contact
  • Products
    • eBooks
    • Manuals
    • DVDs
    • Services
  • Team Diesel
    • Napalm’s Blog
    • Smiitty’s Blog
    • Spray Series
    • Testmonials
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Contact
  • Forum

5 Important Lessons for New Steel Benders by Chris Smith

I’m still pretty new to the nail bending game. Before I started nail bending, I would watch loads of videos of other people bending pieces of steel, and was filled at first with disbelief and eventually fascination. That’s how it works. It draws you in. That’s why people refer to it as the addiction. There is something mystifying about taking a perfectly good piece of steel and demolishing it with your bare hands. Once you bend your first nail, there is no turning back…

There is a lot to learn when getting started though. You can’t (and shouldn’t) just pick up any piece of steel you can find and try to bend it. As a beginner, there are lots of things you need to know. The differences between pieces of steel, what to start with, how to progress and how to correctly bend are just a few of the things you need to know before even picking up your first nail. If you have never been in a gym before, you wouldn’t just walk in and try to bang out deadlifts would you? Steel bending is no different. You need to know proper intensity (what stock to use), frequency (you can’t just do hard bends every day), and technique, among other things. Here are a few of the most important things I’ve learned as a beginner in steel bending.

Get in touch with people who know what they are doing

When I first decided I wanted to learn to bend nails and steel, I had no idea where to start. Not only did I not know how to bend, I didn’t know what to bend, or where to get it! So I found as many people as I could who were already experienced steel benders. Their advice proved invaluable to me as a beginner, and still does. Without the help of people who are already bending, it’s going to be very hard, almost impossible, to get started yourself.

Learn Everything You Can

As I’ve mentioned, there is a lot of information about steel bending that you need to know before you get started. At times, the sheer amount of things to know can be overwhelming. If you aren’t purchasing a kit with a specifically laid out progression, figuring out where to start and how to progress can be difficult. Learning the differences between different types of stock, nails and bolts is key. The length, shape and manufacturing process all affect the difficulty of a bend. There are also different techniques to learn and master. Learning these things makes contact people who are already involved in steel bending that much more important.

Proper Wraps Make a Difference

A good pair of wraps can be the difference between your nail bend being a test of strength or a test of pain tolerance. Do yourself a favor and invest in a good pair of wraps from a reputable company, or find out how to make your own from someone with experience. Some of the most popular choices are leather and cordura. Keep in mind that if you want to become certified for completing certain nail bends some companies require you to use certain wraps. It’s best to gather a few different kinds and let your hands adapt to using the different materials.

Take It Slow

After you do your first bend, it’s very tempting to start bending nails and steel all the time, every day. Resist the urge! As I said, treat bending like you would any other form of training. Be smart and avoid overtraining and the injuries that walk hand-in-hand with it. It’s been said that a difficult bend taxes your body in the same way as a maximum effort lift. If you find that you are experiencing pain in your joints after bending, you’re probably doing too much, too fast. Don’t be afraid to take a few days off. Your strength will not suffer, and will most likely increase.

correct-bending-technique

Technique is Everything

Just like any lift, proper technique is crucial to steel bending. When you are starting out, take extra time to learn good technique and learn it well. Even when you feel that you have learned good technique, consistently refine it. It is very easy to let your technique get sloppy as you move up to harder steel, especially if you have gotten used to bending easier pieces of stock. This is a problem I personally had. I got too comfortable bending steel that wasn’t that challenging and let my form get sloppy because of it. When I tried to move on to a more difficult piece, it wouldn’t budge. Once I took the time to really sit back and carefully reevaluate my technique, I realized that I had gotten sloppy and made the necessary corrections. As soon as I did, I was able to crush a few pieces of stock that I wasn’t able to do before. Pay attention and don’t be afraid to critique yourself. If possible, have someone who is experienced critique your form for you.

There you have it. Five things that I, as a beginner bender, have learned that have helped me immensely. Hopefully this has helped some fellow beginners, or motivated some interested individuals to get involved.

Chris Smith is the owner and head trainer of Train Better Fitness, a performance training company based in New York City offering training services to people of all fitness backgrounds. He is a certified personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine, martial artist and overall fitness fanatic.

Articles You Might Also Like:

  • Intro to Nail Bending
  • Nail Bending and Variation of Metals
  • Holy Cow – 188 Pages
  • The TRUTH About the Iron Tamer
  • Dan Cenidoza Bends the Red Nail

Tags: feat of strength, feats of strength, grip feats, grip strength, hand strength, how bend bolts, how to bend nails, how to bend nails bolts and steel, how to bend steel, how to wrap nails for bending, how to wrap steel for bending, wrisat strength

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 1:15 am and is filed under feats of strength bending, how to improve grip strength, old strongman feats of strength. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

About Jedd Johnson

5 Responses to “5 Important Lessons for New Steel Benders by Chris Smith”

  1. Shane Says:
    November 3rd, 2009 at 7:35 am

    Good write up man.

  2. L. Hutter Says:
    November 3rd, 2009 at 1:30 pm

    Nice job, dude. This should be essential reading for all beginners.

  3. Chris Smith Says:
    November 8th, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    Thanks guys. Always appreciate the feedback.

  4. Matti Says:
    May 3rd, 2011 at 10:42 am

    Good shit man!!! Diggin this stuff for real… I’m NEW to bending Nails as well since a month actually & just found out about this article TODAY, I know, late as hell but what the heck, better late then never… & Your DAMN rite about the first time when you bend a nail, that there’s NO turning back, It’s funny how I got addicted to it, I look THE MOST to bending nails in my training regime then anything else these days, makes me feel like a GODDAMN GORILLA when I DESTROY a perfectly good piece of steel barehanded… I’m happy to say that I joined the Nail bending world now forever!

  5. Klaudia Says:
    March 18th, 2023 at 3:20 pm

    I appreciate, result in I discovered exactly what I used to
    be having a look for. You’ve ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man.
    Have a great day. Bye

Leave a Reply

Diesel Crew Newsletter


Get Diesel Blog Posts Emailed to You:

  



DIESEL DIRECTORY

Find EVERY Single Post Ever Written on DieselCrew.com.

Click Here: All DieselCrew.com Entries

Search DieselCrew.com

Upcoming Events

CONTEST: Grip Hogs Day, Wyalusing PA

Click Here


Motivation & Muscle Podcast

Featured Products

DC Grip Strength
how to train to lift the blob

bend steel, bend wrenches, roll frying pans




How to Bend Horseshoes








How to Bend Horseshoes
    How to Tear Phone Books
Card Tearing Ebook
     Bending Manual
Nail Bending DVD
Euro Pinch Two Hands Pinch Yraining
Nail Bending DVD
    build grip strength hand strength forearm strength
Diesel Strength Training Products

build strength strongman training information
Advanced Kettlebell Challenges Build Strength with Kettlebells
    improve strength conditioning recovery grip strength
home made strength training equipment
how to do strongman atlas stone training
Members Only
build grip strength and learn feats of strength

Stay Connected – Jedd

Friend me on Twitter!
Subscribe to my Youtube Videos!
Friend me on Facebook!
Check Out my Images on Flickr!
Join my Network on LinkedIn!
Check out my blog!

Training Center

FREE EBOOK - AWESOME

How to Build Muscle Articles

3 Insanely Effective Upper Body Warm-ups

Ultimate Lower Body Warm-up

Ultimate Pull-up Video

How to Shoulder Rehab

How to Bench Press

How to Squat

How to Deadlift

How to Train with Odd Objects

Top 7 Tips for Building Muscle

Massive Back Training

Massive Arm Training 1

Massive Arm Training 2

Massive Arm Training 3

Advanced Activation Techniques

Speed Training for Athletes

Perfect Workout for Travelers

Popular Videos

Shoulder Rehab Protocol

Ultimate Two Minute Warm-up

No More Knee Pain - Part 1

No More Knee Pain - Part 2

Advanced Pull-up Training 1

Advanced Pull-up Training 2

Improve Pressing Power 1

Improve Pressing Power 2

Popular Articles

Celebrity Fitness - Build Muscle

How to Build Muscle

Build Muscle Now with Ladders

19 Tips for Fixing Your Squat

Fix Your Squat - Part 2

Fixing the Shoulders

The Summer Six-Pack

Keys for the Hard Gainer

Improving Your Deadlift Grip

Top 5 Core Exercises

Media

Home Team Diesel
Media Resources
Products Forum

MUSCLE BUILDING / GAIN MUSCLE MASS / HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE:
Accelerated Muscular Development | How to Build Muscle | How to Bench Press Muscle Building Anatomy | Muscle Building Nutrition - Build Muscle Mass | Sled Dragging Workouts Strength Training - Muscle Building Workouts | Strength Training Powerlifting | Strength Training Workouts How to Lose Fat - Fat Loss | Kettlebell Training | Strength Training Workouts Injury Rehab - How to Rehab an Injury

CORE WORKOUTS / CORE TRAINING / SIX PACKS ABS:
Core Training Workouts | Core Workouts for Athletes

ATHLETIC STRENGTH TRAINING / STRENGTH WORKOUTS / BUILD STRENGTH:
Athletic Strength Training Train With Odd Objects Strength Training to Improve Athletic Performance | Core Workouts for Athletes | Strongman Training for Athletes Baseball Strength and Conditioning | Improve Speed Bag Training

GRIP STRENGTH / IMPROVE GRIP STRENGTH / GRIP TRAINING FOR ATHLETES:
Bending Grip Strength | How to Tear Cards | Grip Strength Blob Lifting | How to Improve Crushing Grip Strength Improve Grip Strength | Improve Crushing Grip Strength | Grip Strength Blob Lifting | Grip Strength Competition

OLD STRONGMAN / OLD TIME STRONGMAN / STRONGMAN FEATS OF STRENGTH:
Old Strongman Feats of Strength

DAILY MOTIVATION / INSPIRATION:
Daily Inspiration - Motivation

BUILD YOUR OWN GYM:
Create Your Own Garage Gym

Copyright © 2006 – 2009 The Diesel Crew, LLC. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer

Cleantalk Pixel