Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 4: Steel Selection
• Method 2 of 4: Wrapping the Steel
• Method 3 of 4: Grabbing the Rod
• Method 4 of 4: Bending the Steel
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

On radio and television, Superman is credited with the ability to "bend steel with his bare hands." Although the Man of Steel bent and twisted steel beams like plasticine, it is not necessary to be born on Krypton to be able to bend a large nail or small metal bar with his bare hands. All that is needed for this is training, careful planning, a few essential items and a mastery of the appropriate technique. This article explains how to do this.

Steps

Method 1 of 4: Steel Selection

1. 1 Choose the correct steel grade. Most steel bars are supplied hot or cold rolled; Cold rolled material has a shinier surface and is more difficult to bend compared to hot rolled material. Stainless steel is even stronger. The stronger the steel, the more its bend resembles the letter "V"; softer steel bends more uniformly and bends like a "U".
2. 2 Choose a rod length that is convenient for you. Many strong men who bend steel prefer to work with rods that are 12.5 to 17.5 cm (5-7 inches) long. One common trick is bending a 15 cm (6 in) nail. The shorter the rod, the more difficult it is to bend it due to the smaller bending arm (leverage); however, some prefer 15cm (6 ") rods over 17.5cm (7") for tradition.
   • You can purchase steel bars of a suitable length for you in the online store or the nearest hardware store; you can also buy longer rods and cut them into pieces of the required length. A bolt cutter about 60 cm (24 inches) long can be used to cut the steel bar. Be sure to wear safety glasses to protect your eyes from flying sparks and small chips. After cutting, clean the ends of the rod to make them smooth.
3. 3 Choose a suitable thickness. The thicker the rod, the more difficult it is to bend it. Twice the diameter requires four times the force to bend; to bend a 9.6 mm (3/8 in.) bar, you will need to apply a force four times bOmore than for 4.8 mm (3/16 in.) bar.
4. 4 Choose a rod with a round cross-section. The more the section of the bar approaches the round, the easier it is to bend it. A bar with a hexagonal section bends more easily than with a square one; the easiest way is to bend a rod with a perfectly circular cross-section.

Method 2 of 4: Wrapping the Steel

1. 1 Find the right material for wrapping. Before bending the steel rod, for ease of grip, it is necessary to wrap it in something; it will also protect your palms from possible damage. The following can serve as a wrapping material:
   • Leather. This is the densest material you can use to wrap steel.Leather is also best suited for increasing the leverage effect.
   • Cordura. It is a synthetic coarse canvas, dense nylon often used by professionals for gripping. In terms of strength and tear resistance, it is comparable to leather, but inferior to it in creating an additional bending arm (leverage effect). This fabric is initially tough, but softens with use, absorbing oil and moisture from your skin.
   • Thick fabric. It is the traditional and most affordable and cheapest material for wrapping a steel rod. However, ordinary dense fabric is significantly inferior in strength and durability to both leather and Cordura.
2. 2 Roll up the wrapping material or cut it into strips. If you are using leather, cut into strips 30 cm (12 ") long and 10 cm (4") wide. If you are using cordura or heavyweight fabric, roll them into strips of the same size.
3. 3 Sprinkle the strips with chalk. The chalk will prevent the material from slipping on the metal.
4. 4 Wrap a strip of your material around each end of the bar, leaving a gap between the strips. Wrap the strips around the rod as tightly as possible to prevent slippage; for greater security, you can fix the strips with a rubber band. Leaving a gap between the strips will prevent them from overlapping each other when bending the bar, which can interfere with you.

Method 3 of 4: Grabbing the Rod

1. 1 Choose an effective grip. You can grab the shaft using one of four methods: double on top, double on bottom, palms down, and reverse grip. Each method has its own technique.
   • With a double grip from above, you hold the rod close to your body, almost under the chin, squeezing it with your palms from above. This method allows the arm muscles to develop the maximum force to bend the rod, therefore it is optimal when bending thick rods.
   • With a double grip from below, the rod is also held close to the body, but this time it is positioned approximately against the center of the sternum. You bend the bar upward using the little fingers as the fulcrum; the main muscle strength is generated by the triceps and upper back muscles.
   • When gripping with the palms down, you hold the bar in the same way as in the double grip from above, but at the same time pull it further away from the body, bending your arms slightly or even fully extending them in front of you. Since the shaft is further away from your body, the thumbs act as anchor points more effectively than the double grip from above; in doing so, you will need all the strength of the muscles in these fingers.
   • With a reverse grip, you also bring the bar away from the body, but perpendicular to the chest, rather than parallel, as in the case of a grip with the palms down. With your hand farthest from the body, you grip the rod from above, and with your closest hand, from below. The far hand provides bOmost of the bending force, and the thumb and forefinger of the near hand act as a fulcrum.

Method 4 of 4: Bending the Steel

1. 1 Squeeze the shaft firmly. If you are using a double overhead grip or palm down grip, your thumbs should rest against the nail or shaft through the wrap, and your index, middle, and ring fingers should wrap tightly around the shaft. With a double grip from below, the little fingers grip the rod the most, and the index, middle and ring fingers grip it a little less tightly.
2. 2 Click on the rod. Press the support pins into the steel as you begin to bend the ends of the rod towards each other. The muscle forces in your hands will be transmitted through the wrists, concentrating in the index fingers with a double top or palms down, in the index finger of the far hand with a reverse grip, or in the palms with a double bottom grip. Your job is to bend the rod at least 45 degrees.
3. 3 Bend the rod 90 degrees. Maintain the bending force with the supporting fingers without weakening the muscles of the arms; bend the bar until your supporting fingers touch.
   • If you are using a double overhand grip, you can continue to bend the bar without changing your hand position. When gripping with the palms down or reverse gripping, you will need to change the grip to a double on top as the rod bends.
   • Ideally, of course, it would be to bend the rod in one continuous and smooth motion. If you are not strong enough to do this, try bending the bar with all your strength in a series of rapid, successive movements. Do not take long breaks between attempts, otherwise the metal will cool down and become more difficult to bend.
4. 4 Join the ends of the rod together. Bend the bar until you can weave the fingers of both hands together; this puts the ends of the rod about 5 cm (2 inches) apart. Then, using crossed palms and forearms like a nutcracker, complete the curl.
   • If the fabric wrapped around it gets in the way as you bend the bar, move it to the side. When the ends of the rod come close, you can grasp them with one hand, put the other on it, and thus continue to squeeze the rod.
   • After the rod has already bent 90 degrees, further bending should be carried out without delay so that the steel does not have time to cool down.

Tips

• Regular, properly performed steel flexion workouts will not only strengthen your wrists and arm muscles, but will also increase the strength of your entire body.
• You can store your bent nails, rods, and rods on the trophy board.
• If you have a lot of difficulty bending steel at first, start your workouts with aluminum or brass, which are softer than steel. The aluminum rods are bent into a wide "U" shape.

Warnings

• Do not try to bend the steel bar without first wrapping it in protective material. Although Superman bent steel with his bare hands, in addition to superhuman strength, he also possessed invulnerability. The ends of the rod can damage your skin, and the surface of the rod can damage the nerve endings in your hands. This is why weightlifters and other weightlifters wrap their wrists before approaching the apparatus.

What do you need

• Metal bar 12.5 to 17.5 cm (5-7 inches) long
• Protective wrap material (leather, cordura or heavyweight fabric)
• Powder chalk
• Bolt cutter 60 cm (24 inches) long
• File