Newbie Bender, How Much Grip Strength Is Required?

[Mun]

Hi all, ive only bin doing grip work for about a month now and was wondering if its possible to start on weaker pieces of steel, i have read in old posts that a good place to start is with a 3' or 4' bar that is 3/16" and then by cutting it to lengths of 6 and 1/2", then 6" is the way to go. How much strength is required to bend this piece of steel? is this too difficult for a newbie? if so what could i work on to prepare myself for bending this piece of steel, thanks a lot, all opinions are encouraged!

[timstruse]

Hi all, ive only bin doing grip work for about a month now and was wondering if its possible to start on weaker pieces of steel, i have read in old posts that a good place to start is with a 3' or 4' bar that is 3/16" and then by cutting it to lengths of 6 and 1/2", then 6" is the way to go. How much strength is required to bend this piece of steel? is this too difficult for a newbie? if so what could i work on to prepare myself for bending this piece of steel, thanks a lot, all opinions are encouraged!

Check out this bending progression for general questions about the difficulty of steel:

http://az-grip.com/calibration.php

6"x3/16" is basically an advanced coat hanger. You may be able to bend it merely by staring at it very intently. I've not met anyone who could not bend this piece on their first try. My wife bent it on her first try. My skinny 75 year old father in law bent it his first try. If you don't bend it on your first try I think you should withdraw in shame from Gripboard (kidding)

[Sher]

Hi all, ive only bin doing grip work for about a month now and was wondering if its possible to start on weaker pieces of steel, i have read in old posts that a good place to start is with a 3' or 4' bar that is 3/16" and then by cutting it to lengths of 6 and 1/2", then 6" is the way to go. How much strength is required to bend this piece of steel? is this too difficult for a newbie? if so what could i work on to prepare myself for bending this piece of steel, thanks a lot, all opinions are encouraged!

Check out this bending progression for general questions about the difficulty of steel:

http://az-grip.com/calibration.php

6"x3/16" is basically an advanced coat hanger. You may be able to bend it merely by staring at it very intently. I've not met anyone who could not bend this piece on their first try. My wife bent it on her first try. My skinny 75 year old father in law bent it his first try. If you don't bend it on your first try I think you should withdraw in shame from Gripboard (kidding)

I could swear (almost) I saw Eric do that staring thing once... Funny, Tim.

Just a side note (and from a non-bender too, alas!), but I wouldn't worry as much about getting something too tough as too easy. I personally would be more likely to feel that any extra stock that was cake to bend was a waste, but, if I didn't bend my first choice right away, I'd still have that same stock to return to after I backed down a bit. Good luck!

[Guest Bullitt]

60D nails are a good way to get started. They are cheap as heck at the big box hardware stores and not horribly difficult. They do vary a lot though. Some are really easy, while you can get a mutant that is very tough.

[Mun]

LOL Tim good one and thanks for the chart thats most useful. Also Xengym you make a great point thank you. Bullit im going to head to the local hardware store tommorow and ill give those 60penny nails a try and see how it goes.

[climber511]

Don't worry about doing "easy" stock. I think bending is something that most of us do entirely wrong. In every other area of our strength training - we "train" - doing repetitions and advancing slowly in a progressive fashion. In bending we "test" entirely too often and almost every bender ends up hurt at some point or another - often with a career ending injury. My advice is do lots of bends that are somewhat easy to moderate FOR YOU and totally disregard what other people use as bending stock. If that is 3/16" steel, then fine. Your overall strength level may allow you to start at 60d and if so, that's great - but don't worry about it. Use steel you can bend and don't start doing isos etc until you have prepared your body for them.

[Scott Styles]

The amount and type of grip strength required really depends on the style and wrap you choose. They'll also impact stock that is too easy or hard.

Most guys doing double overhand with leather wraps will find 3/16" round too weak to learn proper form. Start double underhand with some rags and 3/16" could be nice to dial in what you are doing.

[Martin Gaisser]

When I very first started bending I used to like to take smaller peices of steel alot easier that I could bend and bend z's, triangles and different shapes and also take something a little harder and bend it down then pull it out and chrush it back down eventually breaking it. I found that this strengthend my fingers and wrist up alot and didn't put a ton of pressure on me. Good luck with the bending.

[AP]

Just have fun with it at first, some 1/4" stock some 3/16" some coathanger if you need it. If you can find a reasonably strong spring you can practice "bending" that in half instead of steel.

[Mun]

The amount and type of grip strength required really depends on the style and wrap you choose. They'll also impact stock that is too easy or hard.

Most guys doing double overhand with leather wraps will find 3/16" round too weak to learn proper form. Start double underhand with some rags and 3/16" could be nice to dial in what you are doing.

Thanks for tip Scott! btw love your site gripfaq.com its what really helped me get into the game and has taught me a lot.