First of all, welcome! You’ve just stumbled upon the coolest grip strength exercise of all time. That’s not hyperbole, either. Say “goodbye” to stale workouts – every new bending session is unique and will kick your ass like never before.

Please take a few minutes out of your day to complete the following tasks in this order:

(1) Read the F.A.Q. page to get a feel for what short steel bending is all about. It will answer a ton of questions you might have, and some you didn’t even think of!

(2) Read the About Us page, and then give the Bending Videos a gander, too. Those two pages will give you a good summary of what The Short Steel Bending Company, Inc. (TSSBCI) is all about and how it started, plus what perfect bending technique looks like.

(3) Most importantly, take a good look at our Company Reviews page. It will give you a damn good idea of what our current customers think of our customer service and product line. We understand that reputation means everything – and we take it very seriously.

(4) Ok…you’ve made it this far. That’s a good sign. In order to see if short steel bending is right for you, place the beginner’s kit below into your cart. Start small and start cheap. We ship same-day via UPS.

STEEL BENDING BEGINNER’S KIT ($29)

(5) Once your package arrives, read the how-to book from cover to cover, then attempt to roll the hand wraps for the first time. It will look awful initially, but with practice, the hand wrapping will become second-nature. Now, bend the bars and HAVE FUN!

(6) Once all of your initial steel has been bent, come back here and reload. Climb up that ladder and build a grip strength of epic proportions. When you bend any of our Milestone Bars (within our rule parameters), text Matt the owner at 302-690-7039 and he will put you on the leaderboard!

CORDURA HAND WRAPS

SUEDE HAND WRAPS

Do you like your hands? Want to see them in one piece, and not tattered to pieces? If you are sane, take our advice and get some hand wraps. They wrap the ends of the steel bars in a protective “coating” of nylon (Cordura) or suede. The mil-spec nylon wraps are quite strong and durable, while the suede is very comfy. Either will work! Some benders even combine the two to give their hands the ultimate cushion.

“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” – as corny as that old cliché is, it’s definitely true in regards to steel bending. The large amount of effort you will put forth (and sweat you will drip!) in the coming months/years will pay dividends later. These dividends will be in the form of an elite grip strength and a mental toughness to match even Zeus himself. YOUR journey begins here. These bars are the easiest we offer, but will certainly be an eye-opener. The average gym-goer will find these frustrating at first – but, don’t puss out! Hold the line and keep pushing.

Well, nice work. You’ve made it past the first level of beginner’s bars – now it’s time to buckle down and get to work. By now, you probably have a sort-of decent level of bending technique, and the hand wrapping skills of a novice. You’re right on track! Keep refining your skills – this is a good level to practice at. These bars will give you an “oh shit” moment when you first hold them. They are girthy (hehe) and menacing. Assume one to three months of legitimate training to get through this level.

Welcome to the insiders’ club, baby! This is a special level. Bending (consistently) any of these bars means you have FINALLY reached a key milestone in the steel bending game. You now have the mind-muscle connection needed to reach the upper levels – it’s now a matter of time and effort…do you have what it takes? We assume your bending technique and hand wrapping skills are now up to snuff. Also, as a fun fact, your body and hands are now conditioned enough to be able to bend other steel items – frying pans, bolts, rebar sticks, horseshoes, and spikes. The world is your oyster!

This level is a strange no-mans-land of steel bending. Your workouts become much more mental – as opposed to physical. This wonderfully brutal exercise will begin to take its toll on your body. No more will you happily bend HARD two or three times per week…you will be lucky managing only one tough session! The skin on your fingers and palms will turn to leather. Your wrists will ache with growing pains. Most who try to grind it out through this level will get demoralized and quit the steel bending game forever. The tenacious ten percent (give or take) who stick it out? They are destined for steel bending greatness.

Good Lord…you’ve made it! You battled through the meat grinder of the previous level, and now you can rest on your laurels – for a short while. Only about five percent of all benders reach this. These bars are just plain tough. No way around it. You definitely have the skills to knock ’em down, but do you have the will power? Expect some nasty fights. On a happier note – you now have the strength to crush apples and unopened soda cans with your bare hands. How sick is that?

“Tax the rich! Down with the one percent!” – that sounds like something a Bernie-voter would say. Well, we hope they don’t get this far up the ladder…because a one-percenter is exactly what you’ll be if you can crush any of these bars (that would be some funny cognitive dissonance). By now, you have been training consistently for two or three years, and bending has become a part of who you are. You cannot pick up a fork or spoon without daydreaming of what it would look like ripped in half. You’re a certifiable maniac. Expect a year or so of very thoughtful and intense workouts to power through this level. You are OH SO CLOSE to being in the top half-percent of steel benders worldwide.

Holy shit! You’ve made it! Even just barely getting the first bar bent on this list will land you in the top half-percent of benders. Your wrists and forearms probably look like a mass of steel cables, and your hands/fingers will have thickened to the point where you might not need gloves anymore for various construction tasks. No one will want to shake your hand (for fear of you crushing it), and no one will want to start any kind of altercation with you whatsoever. Your massive mitts will speak for themselves. Congratulations, from all of us here at TSSBCI. You’ve earned it.