What is the layman’s definition of short steel bending?

The most fun strength training workout you’ve never heard of. Scare the hell out of bystanders and build some disgustingly strong grip strength by grabbing a steel bar and bending it until it’s a useless hunk of nothing.

What is the nerdy definition of short steel bending?

It is the act of bending a bar-like steel object (that varies in length) into a tight “V” shape using only your two hands. Use of the legs, torso, or any wall is prohibited. The ends of the bars must be two inches or less apart in order to be considered a legitimate bend. Ugh, how clinical, right?

What are the physical benefits to me?

Thickens your wrists and builds your forearms into a grotesque mass of veins and ligaments. It will take your grip strength to the next level, and shaking hands with strangers will be something you’ll begin to look forward to. Your gym lifts (if you have any) will benefit greatly from this newfound “raw” type of strength. The other benefits are numerous and varied (they are talked about in depth in our intro-to-bending booklet).

What are the psychological benefits to me?

The main one is a massively increased confidence. We don’t really know how to describe it. But it’s sort of like the feeling you get when you walk into a room full of people…and you know something they don’t. You’ll just have to experience it for yourself.

Why should I bend steel as opposed to say…performing fingertip pushups or dumbbell wrist curls?

You are welcome to do those exercises! No hate over here, baby. It’s just…steel bending is so goddamn primal and will awaken the animal inside of you. That’s not hyperbole. It builds a strange inner confidence.

Will I actually be able to bend these bars at first?

Damn right you will. The progression system was built with the beginner in mind – no prior bending experience necessary. The first bar in our ladder should be easy enough for the average man to bend.

Will the steel snap or break suddenly?

Absolutely not. The steel alloy we use is designed to bend in a safe manner. It will never snap in half unless bent back and forth intentionally many, many times.

How is the steel strength measured? Is it accurate?

All the bars are rated by the poundage of force required to bend them. This was figured out with a top-secret process (shh!) and is very accurate.

How many bars are in your short steel bending progression?

There are twelve bars in total. They start out pretty easy but get much harder as you go up. As a matter of fact, the second one is quite a doozy.

How long will it take me roughly to reach the next bar if I work out consistently and with a game plan?

You can assume an average of five months per bar. Obviously, the easier bars will take less time. The harder ones could stump you for a year or more.

Is there a timeline for how long it should take me to be able to bend the top bars?

Based on our years of experiences in the trenches, if you work your ass off and commit to becoming a top-level steel bender, then it should take you around five years or three thousand bars bent. That’s a big “if.” A great deal of inner strength will be needed to even be able to touch those top bars.

How do I protect my hands?

You wrap the ends of the bars with tough but flexible materials such as suede leather or mil-spec nylon. There is a small art form to this wrapping, and you must learn to do it correctly. Both types of hand wrap are sold here.

Can the steel be bent more than once?

Yes and no. They are designed to be bent once. That is what the main gist of the workout is. But, to get a bit more mileage out of your steel, you can perform something called snapping. That is when you bend the bar back and forth over and over and over until it snaps in the middle. It’s a brutal workout.

What do I do with the bent steel?

Go buy a five-gallon bucket from your local hardware store and toss them in there. Recycle or chuck when full.

This seems a bit wasteful. Why do you promote this?

Enough with the silly moralizing. Many people buy coffee every morning and throw out the paper cups when they are finished drinking. Aluminum beer cans litter the street after a frat party, and no one bats an eye. We bet you even throw out all your glass bottles into the trash instead of recycling them. That’s all that needs to be said.

Where and how do I start?

Pick up our 45-page short steel bending introductory eBook. It will give you a good first taste of what steel bending is all about. You can then decide if it’s right for you and move on to our world-famous beginner’s kit.

What bending workout regimen should I follow?

We highly recommend bending at least once per week…preferably two. You want to keep the reps low. Think around six bars per bending session…three or four warmup bends followed by two or three tough bends. Try not to overcomplicate things. A more detailed plan of attack is included in our intro book.

How do I treat short steel bending? Is it an ancillary exercise or should it have its own “day” so to speak?

Treat it like any other CNS-heavy workout (deadlifts, squats, hill sprints, etc.). It’s nasty and will fry your nervous system if done too frequently. Give bending its own day in your lifting routine.

Will it have a negative effect on my current lifting program?

No, we don’t think so. Just keep it separate from your other lifts and allow some time for recovery. Should do the trick.

How long have you been in business for? Do your current customers give you positive reviews?

The Short Steel Bending Company, Inc. has been in business since January 2021. We have tons of great reviews and have never gotten a negative one (LOL, promise).

Do you offer money-back guarantees or refunds of any sort?

Yes and no. If we screw up an order (give you the wrong type of bars, wrong number of bars, etc.) we’ll obviously refund you the difference or ship the missing bars as quickly as we can. On the other hand, if you buy a ton of steel out of the blue one day and then demand a refund for no reason after it’s delivered, then we will not honor it. Don’t be a jackass. We try our hardest to be fair and we expect the same treatment in return. Use your common sense and bring up any you may have issues to the owner respectfully. By the way, we have NEVER had to issue a refund to someone who didn’t enjoy steel bending or even thought they were scammed. We’ve been around since the beginning of 2021! The few who tried it and found it really wasn’t for them, told us to keep their money because they figured it was still a good value even if they wouldn’t try it again. That speaks volumes, doesn’t it? See our policies page for more information.

Do you have any more last-minute tips or pointers for me related to short steel bending?

Take it SLOW. Technique is EVERYTHING. Wrap your bars TIGHT. Give your hands and wrists some time to adjust to this awesome exercise.