My Quest to Bend the RED Nail

First of all, the Goal of bending the RED nail is something that I have broken down into a number of sub-goals, to be accomplished over time, that would all culminate with the bending of the RED.  It's foolish to just say "I'm going to bend the RED" and then take off full-steam.  That technique leads to burn out, and injury.  What follows is my training plan to bend the RED.      First of all, I realized I identified what it takes for a normal 200lb guy to bend this nail. #1.  A solid hand strength base. #2.  Above average wrist strength. #3.  A strong upper body. #1.  I realized that I'd need much stronger hands to bend the RED, and only time would help me here, so my goal was to work on all aspects of hand strength, especially the wide pinch, grippers, and finger-tip strength.  My training revolved around daily block weight training, near daily hangboard training, and daily #3 close, which looked something like this (monday - friday): 0900hrs:   Close #3 x2 1100hrs:   Warm up with block weights, up to 40lb hex 1330hrs:   Max on block weights.  Close #3 again. 1400hrs:   Quick Hangboard work out.  1700hrs:   Attempt to lift The Blob until fatigued and a hangboard warm-down.     With this routine, I figured I'd hit all the key areas of my hand: muscle strength, tendon strength, and thumb strength, leaving no weak link in my hand.  Pinch, thumb, finger tip, open and close hand positions. #2.  Wrist strength is the key to nail bending, so I started a long term wrist strength program.  It would start with mastering the 12lb sledge, move on to the 16lb sledge, and then end up with the 20lb sledge.  When I could play with a 20 with out being quickly fatigued, I know I'd be ready to bend the RED.      For me, I play with the 10 and 12lb sledge all day at work, and then work the 16 at night, using all the different movements.      Part two of this, would be to start plate curls and more wrist work, but as of DEC 03, I'm waiting until MAR 04 before I switch my training over to zeroing in on the RED.  #3.  You can't bend big steel with out a solid muscle base.  Well, you could, but weights help a lot.  Here, I'm working the bench, the dip, bent-over-row and pull-up to improve my strength in my shoulders and elbows, trying to focus on movements that keep my hands near the position I'd use for bending.     Also, I've found that the Hindu-Push-up is an incredible exercise, as it hits all of the shoulder stabalizers and leaves me feeling strong and solid.  A good exercise I'l be doing for life.      Finally, I've been doing isometrics with a 4' rod.  Pushing and pulling against this piece of wood has left me with a type of deep muscle soreness that weights have never given me.  Besides, it works the wrist and hand too.      The last and most obvious step is to bend more steel.  Near daily, I bend 60D's until my wrists are sore, and bend a Grade-5 when I'm motivated.  I'm not pushing forward quite yet (as of DEC 03), as I want to improve my strength and tendon base, refine my technique, and keep my focus on total body strength and general hand/wrist strength.      JB said "nothing improves nail bending like bending more nails", but I do have other goals and am not quite ready to commit to an all out assault on the RED.  But soon.     Get Certified, lift The Blob, Bend the RED.  They will all happen with in the next year.  That's a fact.  After that, Close the BB-Elite and work on 2x45 plate pinch, but those are long-term goals.

Here's my DEC 03 bend of the RED.  A pretty normal bend over the last six months, even though I'd have to state that I've never attacked a RED fresh and ready to kill.  I can feel it bend, but then there's a twinge in my left forearm, and I stop.  It's just a matter of time now.

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