When someone asks what your hobbies are and you reply with bending steel.. The look you get can often be both confused and amazed.
Steel bending requires a combination of strength, endurance and determination.
Why Steel Bending?
Snapping / bending steel not only looks awesome but also has a plethora of benefits. First of all it strengthens your lower arms- wrists, hands, forearms.
The majority of people who regularly go to a gym will not regularly train ‘lower arms’. The difference a stronger grip will make to your overall strength and training is monumental. Not to mention you’re going to end up with forearms like popeye.
These days the only action your hands tend to get is pencil pushing or hammering a keyboard all day. The key to strengthening your hands is building nerve force. Nerve force is something that we have been researching a lot.
It seems to be the secret to explosive, powerful strength, which is exactly what you need for steel bending.
The Steel Bending Starter Pack
Our steel bending starter pack has contains hand picked products we feel will benefit you most when starting out.
It can often look like there is no particular technique involved to bending.
All you do is..
- Wrap
- Bend
- Snap
Right?....
Wrong. Even wrapping steel takes lots of practice, the key to having great bends / snaps is having TIGHT wraps. As well as a bone crushing grip.
After you've mastered the wrapping then we get into the bending. This starts to look into things like, hand position, bracing and utilizing your legs.
It can get complicated but hopefully our products, with the addition of our ‘How To Wrap’ guide will help kick start your bending journey.
What's Inside
- 2 x GOG 1 Star Steel
- 2 x GOG 2 Star Steel
- 10 x 6" x 6mm Nails
- 2 x GOG 3 Star Steel
- 2 x GOG 3.5 Star Steel
- 1 x Pair Suede Wraps
- 1 x How To Wrap Guide
2 x GOG 1 Star Steel
These are currently our easiest steel bars and are the perfect place for beginners to get a feel for bending.
At 4mm diameter most people should be able to bend these pretty comfortably and take a minute or so to snap.
We would recommend having a go at this as your first bend / snap.
2 x GOG 2 Star Steel
A small step up from the 1 star. Our 2 star steel needs a little more work to snap and will be tougher on the initial bend.
We have found most people can bend these on their first attempt but may struggle to snap them under around 90 seconds.
10 x 6” x 6mm Nails
One of our most popular additions to the bend boxes are these nails. Perfect for building up explosive strength and cardiovascular endurance.
They provide quite a good test of strength for most gym goers and will take around 2 minutes for inexperienced people to snap.
The best snappers around will be tearing one of these apart in around 15 - 20 seconds.
We feel these are the perfect piece for you to practice bending and snapping.
2 x GOG 3 Star Steel
Now we’re talking. These will be your bread and butter.
Slightly longer than the 6” Nails but made from tougher steel they prove a sterner resistance when snapping.
The initial bend can be quite intimidating if you don't give it full throttle! They certainly look a lot meaner than the 1 / 2 star bars.
We would recommend giving this a go after you have crushed a few of the 6” nails.
2 x GOG 3.5 Star Steel
Moving into tougher territory here. The 3.5 star steel is where your strength will be tested. The initial bend is pretty tough and it will require quite a lot of work to snap.
Don't forget, if you manage to bend this, keep hold of it and have a go snapping it another day!
Suede Leather Wraps
Our current batch of wraps are between 1.3mm - 1.6mm thickness and provide very good protection when bending / snapping steel.
Protecting your hands from the piercing end of nails, or the end of the bars. These are a must for every steel bender.
It’s good to have one pair for your practice bends and one ‘fresher’ pair when you're going for timed snaps / bends.
Supplied as a pair with elastic bands.
How To Wrap Guide
What would a steel starter pack be without a how to wrap guide?
One of the main questions we get is about wrapping. It can be tough at first learning how to get a tight fit on the bars.
You need a tight wrap to stop movement when bending / snapping as you will be wasting power and effort as well as increasing the time it takes.
We have included some of the best and easiest ways to wrap, including images!
This guide will automatically be available after you purchase the pack in PDF format. Alternatively you can check out the details below!
Bending Wraps
Unless your hands are made from leather, you’re going to need to get a pair of wraps. These are used for wrapping around the ends of your short steel. Mainly to protect your hands from being impaled by the end of the steel. Depending on the bend and force required there are a few different types and ways you can wrap your steel.
Some of the most popular types of wraps are:
Suede Leather
Great for most types of steel bending, provide great protection and feel pretty comfortable. They can be wrapped tightly to ensure there won’t be and slips.
Cordura
Most popularly, the IronMind wraps are made from cordura. They provide a medium/low protection, not as thick as the suede material but still do the job.
They allow you to really feel the steel and earn the bend. To get certified on the red / gold nail you're going to need a pair of these.
How To Wrap
There are a few key pointers you need to adhere to to ensure you get a good wrap.
Chalk It Up
Chalk up the inside of the wrap, this will grip onto the steel and minimize any slipping and the chances of the wrap coming loose or sliding off.
Wrap It Tight
This is a big one, wrap it tight. Loose wraps just don’t work effectively, you are going to waste unnecessary energy and lessen your chances of getting a solid bend / snap.
You need to keep tension on both sides of the wrap when rolling it in.
There are a couple of ways you can ensure a tight wrap on your steel which you can check out below.
Use Your Feet
With the wrap on the floor stand on the far end of the wrap and pull it tight, lay the steel on the other end and wrap up towards your foot. This will ensure a tight wrap.
Use Some Weight
Take a weight plate or kettlebell, you’re basically going to want to use a weight instead of your foot. Place the weight on the far end of the wrap. Pull it tight and start wrapping from the end closest to you.
Use A Friend
This is a nice easy way to get a tight wrap. Get your friend to pull one end tight while you start wrapping from the other end.
That's a wrap! The above 'How To Wrap' guide will be available as a PDF download when you purchase our steel bending starter pack.
As always if you have any questions please let us know in the comments!
