1711 replies to this topic

[droc]

So that's not impressive? Anyone can do that?

I agree that if someone can do it with pure hand strength, well that's even more impressive. But even using the leverage techniques shown here, I'd say that there are very few people capable of bending that bar.

DROC

[Cuchulain]

No, to me the leverage and weight tech, is not impressive. it is like watching someone doing alternate curls with 200 lbs using a proper technique and another person swinging the same weights to make the curl.

see, Hammerman is impressive because only his hands are on the hammmers working them. Stainless Steel has a stain against him( in my book) because he was using his leg muscles and hands to bend the penny just a little. I seen either on Ripley's or that's incredible of a guy who tore quarters in half using his index fingers and thumbs. I tried to find a clipping of it on the internet to post here but I can not find it but that is impressive to me. Doug, with the T-fal pan rolling it in his hand with his hand was impressive

[Konorg]

Look Cuchulain as long as theres no fakery i.e. tampering with the bars and chains and stuff it shouldn't matter if they put the bar on their
brain pan,or wrap the the chain round their pinky toe

[Konorg]

Oh yeh guys if you can get a short bar about the length of the old hollow pipe style E-Z-Curl bar,that'll fit the cast iron standard weights they sell at walmart9the hole is the same size as the old cement weights),heres a leverage bar exercsie you can do;

hold the bar like a sword with no weight on it and do a couple of sets of sword type movements,then when that gets east add 2 1/2 pounds to the bar the goal is to work up to 20 pounds on the bar with two hands.

then of course keep doing the 2 handed sword techniques,but also do 1 handed sword techniques with no weight on the bar and follow the same procress and build up to 20 pounds with one handed,so that you are doing 20 pounds both ways

[droc]

Fair enough CuChulain, I can't do it, so it's impressive to me. Less impressive than if he did it just with his hands, but still impressive.

DROC

[Cuchulain]

Look Cuchulain as long as theres no fakery i.e. tampering with the bars and chains and stuff it shouldn't matter if they put the bar on their
brain pan,or wrap the the chain round their pinky toe

In that case. here is my 3' section of 5/8 cold rolled. I used my knee to start the bend. still felt like cheating to me. The ring on my finger is a size 14 and a half

[droc]

Nice!

DROC

[Konorg]

yeh that is impressive,ya know guys this is "The Thread that will not Die", I bet in the 23rd century aboard the USS Enterprise Ncc-1701,
Kirk is having to listen to Spock and McCoy argure this thread.

McCoy:

Blast it you green Blooded hobgoblin,Conan was stronger then any 12 men.


Spoke:

Really Doctor you must learm to curb your passions or they will be your undoing when a broadsword smashes your skull!

Kirk:

gentlemen gentlemen I asked you here for your advice not to debate if he was stronger.

Edited by Konorg, 24 May 2012 - 01:14 AM.

[Cuchulain]

yeh that is impressive,ya know guys this is "The Thread that will not Die", I bet in the 23rd century aboard the USS Enterprise Ncc-1701,
Kirk is having to listen to Spock and McCoy argure this thread.

McCoy:

Blast it you green Blooded hobgoblin,Conan was stronger then any 12 men.


Spoke:

Really Doctor you must learm to curb your passions or they will be your undoing when a broadsword smashes your skull!

Kirk:

gentlemen gentlemen I asked you here for your advice not to debate if he was stronger.

speaking of which, I was talking with my wife over this subject and I just wanted you all to know that she agrees with you horde of barbarians about the whole cheating thing, THANKS ;P

[Ironhand]

speaking of which, I was talking with my wife over this subject and I just wanted you all to know that she agrees with you horde of barbarians about the whole cheating thing, THANKS ;P

What? Have we barbarians come to some sort of agreement? I thought it was still up in the air?

[Cuchulain]

speaking of which, I was talking with my wife over this subject and I just wanted you all to know that she agrees with you horde of barbarians about the whole cheating thing, THANKS ;P

What? Have we barbarians come to some sort of agreement? I thought it was still up in the air?

OK then, let me just say, she didn't agree with me. she feels that as long as nothing is hidden then bending metal is bending metal

[droc]

speaking of which, I was talking with my wife over this subject and I just wanted you all to know that she agrees with you horde of barbarians about the whole cheating thing, THANKS ;P

What? Have we barbarians come to some sort of agreement? I thought it was still up in the air?

OK then, let me just say, she didn't agree with me. she feels that as long as nothing is hidden then bending metal is bending metal

A wise woman

DROC

[Konorg]

speaking of which, I was talking with my wife over this subject and I just wanted you all to know that she agrees with you horde of barbarians about the whole cheating thing, THANKS ;P

What? Have we barbarians come to some sort of agreement? I thought it was still up in the air?

OK then, let me just say, she didn't agree with me. she feels that as long as nothing is hidden then bending metal is bending metal

A wise woman

DROC

I second that!

[Arthyron]

Sounds like that horseshow bend is a matter of hand strength, which you friend hadn't cultivated? Or is it a matter of technique?

It's not just hand strength, it takes strength of the entire upper body. You need strong hands obviously, but you also need a strong core in order to give your arms and shoulders a strong platform from which to do their work (the way you push against the bench when doing a bench press) and of course strong arms and shoulders and pectorals.

The most important part of all, though, is the belief that you can do it and the willpower to fight through the pain. Most metal bending feats are extremely painful, they will take you to your pain threshhold and if you do not pass it, if you do not send your mind to another state, you will not likely be able to get the metal to move, or at least not very far. I know that sounds kooky, but it's the truth. Those sorts of feats of strength are just as much about a strong will as they are about a strong body.

As for my friend's hands, he regularly did deadlifts hundreds of pounds heavier than I could and could close the same hand-grippers (Captains of Crush #2's, almost #2.5's), so his hands weren't much weaker than mine if at all.

Yeah Slim is a beast. I learned of him from Irontamer Dave Whitney.

I have moved up from the 16kg kb to the 24kg kb. Now to get to the 32kg kb..

Ah, cool. I've never met Dave myself, but we have a lot of mutual acquaintances and friends. I've kinda been out of the strongman circles for a while, like I said.

this guys bar bending isn't really raw strength as he uses his head to start the bend, then uses his legs so he can use his weight and strength. then uses his arm to start another bend then uses the floor so he could use his weight again.

I agree that when one talks about bending bars using strength and power. it is how long the bar is and the thickness. what it is made of also counts but the technique in how one accomplished the bend means a lot. one end in one hand and the other end in the other, use no other body part or foreign object and then it is done with strength.

letting what one is bending touch anything other than the hands he is bending it with is cheating in my book.

Arthyron, I have never bent a horseshoe but then again, I have never known a horse that can wear a bent horse shoe but if you can do it with just your hands then I am impressed and a video I would love to see.

I'd really love to see you bend a bar like that without doing what you call "cheating." What Zass is doing there is called "scrolling," where you take a longer piece of steel and bend it in to various shapes. Some strongmen turn this in to a form of art, making things like wine racks from a solid piece of steel, like Chris here: http://www.handbentdesigns.com/ It's nearly impossible to make some of the kinds of bends you need to do when scrolling without using some position with mechanical advantage; and even *with* mechanical advantage, it doesn't just become "easy" or "cheating" like you say. Go and try it yourself and see if you can reproduce those results and you'll see how much "cheating" helps. The only position that's frowned upon as easier in the oldtime strongman community is "rowing" a bar across your knee (i.e. placing the bar on the front of your knee and pulling back). Putting one foot on a bar is sometimes the only way to achieve certain kinds of bends and what not. Though ultimately, scrolling is more about the cool shapes you bend the bar in to rather than the raw strength involved in the bending itself, so the "honor marks" aren't as important as the finished product when it comes to scrolling for most people. I'd recommend Erik Vining's scrolling DVD if you want to learn more about scrolling in general.

As for the horseshoe, I don't have a video of it, but in my original post, the second link down is a picture of me bending a horseshoe with Dennis Rogers in the background. The shoe I bent there was a St. Croix #2 polo.

No, to me the leverage and weight tech, is not impressive. it is like watching someone doing alternate curls with 200 lbs using a proper technique and another person swinging the same weights to make the curl.

see, Hammerman is impressive because only his hands are on the hammmers working them. Stainless Steel has a stain against him( in my book) because he was using his leg muscles and hands to bend the penny just a little. I seen either on Ripley's or that's incredible of a guy who tore quarters in half using his index fingers and thumbs. I tried to find a clipping of it on the internet to post here but I can not find it but that is impressive to me. Doug, with the T-fal pan rolling it in his hand with his hand was impressive

Like I said, if it's not "impressive" to you, then why don't you try it yourself. As for Stan, umm...you do realize he *BENT A PENNY* right? I know of no other human being capable of such a feat, and I know a lot of extremely strong people. As for the guy "tearing quarters," he was exposed as a hoaxer. He cut the quarters with a tool or machine and just did sleight of hand switching them out. The only other person who comes close to this is Greg Matonick who can bend quarters in his teeth (which I've seen in person). He can also bend a horseshoe using his teeth to brace one end as well.

I've done the frying pan thing.

In that case. here is my 3' section of 5/8 cold rolled. I used my knee to start the bend. still felt like cheating to me. The ring on my finger is a size 14 and a half

Are you sure that's 5/8"? Even taking in to account your very thick hands (I wear a ring about that size too, compare your finger thickness & bar thickness and mine, they're comparable), that looks like 1/2" stock to me. Compare my two photos:

5/8" hot rolled stock
1/2" cold rolled stock
1/2" re-bar (it broke)

Even if it *is* 1/2" stock, it's still something not many people can do, so good work either way.

Also, if you're looking for a decent challenge in bending something with no leverage positions using pure hand/arm/wrist strength, you should pick up some 60D (sixty penny) nails. You might want to wrap them in a wash cloth or chamois or something so you don't puncture your hands, though. As I recall, they usually take on average of 350 lbs. of pressure. From the looks of things, you do a lot of work with your hands, so you might have enough natural strength to pull those off.

I'd recommend Pat Povilaitis' "reverse grip" technique (demonstrated here by Adam Glass), it's probably my favorite:

Edited by Arthyron, 25 May 2012 - 06:00 AM.

[RJMooreII]

Advice for a Conan physique: Choose your parents very, very carefully. Genetics are among the most important factors..

More seriously, a human being is made of proteins with long-chain carbon strings. A person, with the right internal energy, can bend iron and break most stones. Theoretically, if you could 'cut out' your muscular breaking you can be about as strong as a chimp of human weight (i.e., as strong as a panther). But most of us aren't willing to live the lifestyle that it involves, and who knows how much we can affect our neurological limitations. Perhaps we're trapped in being too smart and skilled.

Realistically, of course, it's almost irrelevant. A 12mm submachine gun will drop anything short of an elephant in seconds.

Edited by RJMooreII, 29 May 2012 - 02:44 AM.

[Munthasem]

Yes of course firearms changes everything but without it? Try to pass some 300 + pound ex powerlifter bouncer at the entrance into some club, persumably you're not some Bruce Lee like freak.

To quote Rocky's coach Mick, this guy will kill you to death inside of three rounds (well seconds is more likely). Plus another thing strength is fascinating. Guys like Conan weren't just plain strong. They had some endurance of the whole package. Their lives depended on it.

Imagine climbing some frozen rock or fighting some animal or dragging chopped woods into the village and running and hiding for days in some woods, swamps, mountains or steppes. It's a whole different kind of animal. In sport, strongman combined with some gymnastics such as these guys on the streets do (Hannibal, Barilla, Lord Vital etc.) would be some kind of modern equivalent. Or even better example, a military drills such as French Foreign legion, SAS, US Navy seals or similar.

Edited by Munthasem, 29 May 2012 - 11:27 AM.

[droc]

Military training is not a great example, imo.

A close friend of mine was in the French Special Forces and passed an SAS qualifying test. While he has always been strong and has good endurance and power, he's exceptional in no domain other than mental strength. Military training is designed to keep personnel fit all year round, especially special forces or other units that need to be ready at short notice. This means that while they have good overall fitness, they're rarely exceptional in any domain as they can't afford to push themselves in max strength for example, as they may not be able to take the time for recovery.

JMHO

DROC

[Kortoso]

Once, I was moving out of my apartment and I needed help from a friend. He was a bodybuilder and I thought "No problem! This guy's a fine physical specimen!" Turned out he couldn't keep up with my puny military-trained self. He had the bulk, but none of the muscle endurance and cardio fitness that I had and still do.

Military training prepares you for fighting wars. Bending horseshoes, not so much.

[MilkManX]

Well. Bodybuilding is a lot different then actually getting stronger.

Most of them just atrophy the muscles in isolated sections to make them grow.

Much different that an olympic or power lifter. Plus most of them don't do any strength endurance work either.

[droc]

Well. Bodybuilding is a lot different then actually getting stronger.

Most of them just atrophy the muscles in isolated sections to make them grow.

Much different that an olympic or power lifter. Plus most of them don't do any strength endurance work either.

Yup, many of them look strong but aren't really.

DROC