So you’ve started the epic journey to crazy hand strength using tools you brought right here on Gods Of Grip.
But what about showing what you can do with those vices you now have at the end of your wrists?
This past weekend (mid-July 2019) I was asked to help out on my local gyms (Powerhouse Gym Aberaman) stand at the 70th anniversary Aberdare Motorcycle Races. Not only cos I can talk for my country but also cos I could do hand feats of hand strength.
So here’s what I did and stuff you might do once that powers been built.
Book Tearing - Explosive Hand Strength
The classic is a Yellow Pages but I made use of Argos catalogs. I managed to get a-hold of some of the slightly older issues. This gave me more room to get my hands on. I can do the smaller ones but the lack of room means they are that bit harder. Old or new they come out at 1700-pages. Thick enough at about 2 inches to be a serious challenge. It’s something people can stand close in to and, once they tear, you can throw the two halves away dramatically.
Nail Bending - Endurance
While we recently took to competitive bar snapping, as much as an endurance test as it is hand strength. Bending a 6-inch nail is still hard enough to be impressive and something that most people have around the house. If you are crazy enough you can take it up a level and bend tools, screwdriver and wrenches etc. I use a towel but others wrap them in leather. Somewhat perversely on the odd occasion the wrap has been pierced. I’ve shown blood to the crowd the visceral reaction, somewhat gladiator like, has meant a call for ‘more’!!
Pan Rolling - Strength & Technique
Special enough that Eddie Hall and the gang recently included it as a ‘Eddies challenge’ in an episode of ‘The Strongest Man in History’. The harder the pan the more of a challenge naturally. I usually buy the cheapest if only to save some money. The tighter the roll the better it is.
Bar Bending - All Round Strength
Some of you might just be old enough, and if you're not its online anyway ha ha. To remember when bar bending was even an event in the World’s Strongest Man. I spoke to David Horne about what he recommended for me to bend. I might be strong enough to bend what has been called ‘The Goliath Bar’. Four feet long, an inch and half wide and a half inch thick of bright steel. I used gloves instead of wraps and a towel over my knee to get it started. Eventually crushing it into my chest to finish. Some guys are so good at this they even scroll the flatter steel and iron into patterns. As you can imagine the bigger thicker items are very visible. I put this in as my finale in my main act.
Axe Flexation - Leverage
This is a feat of leverage. You can use a sledge-hammer in lieu of the axe but the axe looks more dangerous. I’ve also done a hammer in one hand and the axe in the other at the same time. It is, as they say, all in the wrist. With what feels like the majority of the weight at the end of a long handle the leverage makes it difficult. Practice with the blunt side of the axe and away from the head. Before making it more visual and you know you can do it safely, lower it to the face.
Now as dry as my descriptions might seem doing all of the above was FUN! You’ve got a crowd cheering you on. I had twice as many views on my Facebook videos as usual. People stopped me to talk about it in a local mini-market and my employers asked me to to a write up for our internal magazine. Yep – I got to show off and look at what happens! Even if, as I also plan on doing, all you do is put on a little show for the grand kids it’ll still be as much fun.
NB: all of the feats of hand strength mentioned above can be found with ‘‘how-to’s’’ on YouTube
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