John Beatty Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I still play around with bending, and it's still my favorite grip thing to do. I can still knock out a Huge or Grand Bastard with minimal training DO, and I keep a bag of bending stuff at work for slow nights. I've been tossing the idea around of possibly doing a little run after the show season this year to see what I can get back to. Would love to hit another 5/16" square, but who knows? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_wigren Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Hello John, I don't know if I'm considered to be one of the oldtimers, but I'm still doing it. I've been putting more focus lately on the reverse style. I do the occational DU and DO bend just to try and maintain a decent level so that in the future when I start bending DO, I'll be able to pick up close to where I left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickr104 Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I am still going at it Most of the time it's scrolling and horse shoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Beatty Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 David- You certainly qualify. I've been away long enough to be out of touch. About the only contact I've had is advising Jerry on the FBBC stuff. Was just over at his place the other day & I realized I missed having a rack full of steel to play with. He was cutting some bender's bags & I thought of sweating my butt off in the summer cutting steel & thought it was kinda nice that I don't do it any more, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acorn Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 I don't bend much anymore. It seems to affect my recovery too much on the other things I'm more focused on as I get older. - Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Not bending anymore John but it's really cool to see that you're still able and doing it once in a while. I miss the old days when we were pushing each other hard toward bigger bends. Sounds like you're still a very strong bender with no practice though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Beatty Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 Kind of a shame to lose some of the old monsters. I started taking a bag of stuff to leave in my locker at work, so I could bend a few things when we had no cases going to get ready for show season. I started messing around about 3 months ago. got a Magnificent Bastard to 90 degrees a month ago, just couldn't finish. missed a few weeks after that due to busy nights, but bent a Huge wed. planning to cut some other goodies up & keep playing. shows start a week from sat, so bending regularly after that. I miss it, too, Ben! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturalstrength Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) I am probably not an old timer, but after about 5 years of SERIOUS training and bending(particularly braced), I have decided to hang up the gloves. Like many before me, injuries have caused me to second guess my passion of steel bending for the greater good of my body and future health(ie: bilateral AC joint sprain, bilateral thumb strain and lateral carpometacarpal sprain, left medial meniscal tear, sprained oblique muscles, severely strained spinal erectors, quadriceps tear, and also the famous red nail barehand bend that went through my palm). No good bending a 15" piece of 5/8" steel or a 15" adjustable wrench if I am immobile for 2 weeks afterwards. I will definitely miss it but my health and family come first. Good luck to all the current benders and train safely!! Edited June 1, 2012 by naturalstrength Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rinderle Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Not sure I'm an oldtimer but I'm a bit like Aaron. Still bending every once in awhile but it takes too much out of me and away from my other strength pursuits. I'll probably return to it eventually, but I have to admit that my body feels a ton better since I stopped. 3 years of bending hard stock took its toll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forever Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Damn wow, I've never done serious bending before really in my life but it seems to really by your guys accounts...take it's toll on other pursuits wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickr104 Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I never did the volume that some do and I think I am much better off for it. It hasn't beat me up m uch at all. Its kind of like anything you do push too much too long you get hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Hey John, long time no talk. I'm still bending here and there but not pursuing the records anymore. It was sorta a relief in a weird sort of way when Carl broke my braced bending records. Biggest thing with me is that I'm working massive overtime at the night shift at my job now. Only thing I've noticed is "rusty", is my flexibility with bending 7 inch stuff unbraced. As for braced, I believe I could still hang in there pretty good. Not long ago, I bent a 7/16 by 8 inch grade 2 bolt at work so my braced bending is still pretty good. I think they calibrated at 735 pounds compared to 550 to 570 for the tougher FBBC 80ds of old. Biggest thing I've lost is the "toughness" of some of the contact areas. I bruise a little easier now on my thighs compared to when I bent all the time. Scrolled a pretzel at work a week or 2 ago, and usually knock down a couple spikes here and there. I think I hit a 3/4 by 48 inch bar not long ago as well. Basically, I bend a few things at work on my break. My 12 year old boy did a bending strength show at his school talent show a month or so ago and that was cool. I'm kinda like Carl though, when I was chasing records in the braced bending, I sometimes pushed myself to crazy limits and now I question the wisdom of that. Kinda bend for fun now. Later, Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I still play around with bending, and it's still my favorite grip thing to do. I can still knock out a Huge or Grand Bastard with minimal training DO, and I keep a bag of bending stuff at work for slow nights. I've been tossing the idea around of possibly doing a little run after the show season this year to see what I can get back to. Would love to hit another 5/16" square, but who knows? I am old, but not an oldtimer in bending. I missed the GB hey days, but I'd love to see you make another run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yummy Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I am probably not an old timer, but after about 5 years of SERIOUS training and bending(particularly braced), I have decided to hang up the gloves. Like many before me, injuries have caused me to second guess my passion of steel bending for the greater good of my body and future health(ie: bilateral AC joint sprain, bilateral thumb strain and lateral carpometacarpal sprain, left medial meniscal tear, sprained oblique muscles, severely strained spinal erectors, quadriceps tear, and also the famous red nail barehand bend that went through my palm). No good bending a 15" piece of 5/8" steel or a 15" adjustable wrench if I am immobile for 2 weeks afterwards. I will definitely miss it but my health and family come first. Good luck to all the current benders and train safely!! WOW How long did that take to heal from? By the list of injuries you might as well have been hit by a car and you probaly would have fewer problems. What kind of volume were you doing in your prime days though? Like how many days a week woudl you bend along with how many pices you would go through? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rinderle Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 It's not so much the volume per bending session, it's the difficulty of the steel and how often you train. I know my issues started when I got up to the extremely hard stock. By that point you can't really do a ton of volume. 1 or 2 bends destroy you for that session. I bent in some style every day. When preparing for last year's Beast in the East contest it was sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. It's when you are really pushing the body past what it should be doing that things started taking a toll on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I remember at one point I'd actually dream about bending at night!!! I'll always remember at one point it was awesome chatting about steel and bending with Eric, Ben and a slew of others. David's braced bending list was my final obsession I believe. Seems like last time the fire was lit under me was the infamous "watch challenge". Man, this is making me want to go bend something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Beatty Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Good to hear from you, too, Tim. I never did the massive volume that a lot of the big benders did. Which, like Nick said, probably saved me. When I got the 5/16 x 7" square at the last BBB, I was bending three times a week & would do pretty minimal volume. Usually a workout went like this, 5/16 grade 2 or sometimes a Bastard to warm up, then a Grand Bastard, then something hard - the crazy hex I used to have for FBBC, or an Edgin. That was really it. I tried more volume & it never seemed to do any more for me. I trained for the last BBB for about 3 months & only consistently for the last 30 days. I had never attempted the 5/16 square before the BBB the day I got it. I think that was after I'd done a 6" Edgin, or a 6.5". I did have some nerve issues after that day, some numbness for about a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturalstrength Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I am probably not an old timer, but after about 5 years of SERIOUS training and bending(particularly braced), I have decided to hang up the gloves. Like many before me, injuries have caused me to second guess my passion of steel bending for the greater good of my body and future health(ie: bilateral AC joint sprain, bilateral thumb strain and lateral carpometacarpal sprain, left medial meniscal tear, sprained oblique muscles, severely strained spinal erectors, quadriceps tear, and also the famous red nail barehand bend that went through my palm). No good bending a 15" piece of 5/8" steel or a 15" adjustable wrench if I am immobile for 2 weeks afterwards. I will definitely miss it but my health and family come first. Good luck to all the current benders and train safely!! WOW How long did that take to heal from? By the list of injuries you might as well have been hit by a car and you probaly would have fewer problems. What kind of volume were you doing in your prime days though? Like how many days a week woudl you bend along with how many pices you would go through? LOL!! Without getting into too much detail, the bottom line is that at the level and intensity I was pursuing my braced bending, I am surprised I got this far and achieved so much. The big problem with steel bending, and particularly braced bending, is that it has a very uncanny way to zero in on your weaknesses and exploit them. With me, it seemed like one injury led to the next. I was pushing the envelope in a way never done before, and it was only a matter of time before I collapsed. At one point, I was kinking 7/8" steel bars. I was barehanding horseshoes and steel bars that many thought were impossible. I am not saying this to brag, but when you are bending these calibre bars, wrenches, etc on a sometimes twice daily for 5-6 days a week, on top of a hardcore 4-5 times a week weightlifting regimen, eventually the proverbial shit will hit the fan. I love steel bending, and do miss it. I may bend on occasion, but for now I am pursuing some other passions, particularly music. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Carl, I can truly relate. I think I was just a couple years before you and thankfully I can say I never had any real lasting injuries but I remember feverishly pursuing the next bar or wrench. I can remember the first time I bent a 1/2 inch by 8 inch bar I believe it took about an hour of hitting it and hitting it until I almost passed out. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansweeney Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Hey John! Not sure if I'm considered an Oldtimer or not. I was off for quite a while, but recently moved to Dallas and have been bending here and there. I actually ordered stock from FBBC and wondered why I didn't get a reply from you. I'm just doing reverse and nothing crazy, but the reverse bending always seemed to translate over to Jiu Jitsu quite well as long as I didn't push too much volume. Great to see posts from Ben, Tim, Nick, Carl and Mike! Hope all of you are doing well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Beatty Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 Hey John! Not sure if I'm considered an Oldtimer or not. I was off for quite a while, but recently moved to Dallas and have been bending here and there. I actually ordered stock from FBBC and wondered why I didn't get a reply from you. I'm just doing reverse and nothing crazy, but the reverse bending always seemed to translate over to Jiu Jitsu quite well as long as I didn't push too much volume. Great to see posts from Ben, Tim, Nick, Carl and Mike! Hope all of you are doing well! Dan-I sold FBBC to Jerry (the guy that welded all of the FBBC stuff for the lasy 7 years I owned FBBC), he's been the man for quite a while now. I just had too many shows to do. It was kind of quit all the side jobs or quit my wife. She's a LOT prettier than you guys. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booyah!!! Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I still bend. After having to lay off for over a year, because of a benching injury, I just bent a 80d 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acorn Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I started bending again just a little bit recently. Long way from where I was. Bent a tough 70d and a Bastard in the last couple sessions and getting some movement on a 7x1/4 FBBC square reverse. - Aaron 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alawadhi Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Both Booyah and Acorn are world class benders strong is a small word to describe them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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