Short Steel Bending Official Rules (Est. 2025)
The rules below shall be followed to the letter. Only official SSB steel (our “poundage” bars) is to be used. If a bend takes longer than sixty seconds, it is an automatic “fail.” We reward power, with its emphasis on force and speed, rather than an overall strength and endurance combo with its lax rules on time.
This isn’t a marathon here, people. It’s a violent sprint to the finish. How much force can you generate in the shortest amount of time? That’s what we’re here to find out!
(1) Pre-wrap your chosen steel bar (single or double wraps of SSB suede or nylon ONLY) and hold it in a “ready position” at about chest-height.
(2) With a timer handy, try to bend the steel bar as fast as you can in the approved SSB manner. The use of your body (except extreme upper chest and neck area) as leverage is not allowed.
(3) Once you believe the ends of the bars are two inches from each other after the bend, stop the “clock” and record your time. Make sure it’s under sixty seconds.
(4) Take the bar out of the wraps and place it on a table. Measure the ends of the bar and make sure they are two inches from each other.
(5) If it’s a legit bend, email Zach our resident steel bending expert at steelbenderstrongman@gmail.com or text him at 352-973-3768. Tell him what bar you bent and if it was done in under sixty seconds. He’ll put you on our Board right away.
(6) We work on the honor system at SSB. Since you will be working closely with Zach, he will know your progress and can sniff out BS bends from a mile away!
(7) Once you bend a certain bar, it’s assumed you are able to bend any of the “lesser” bars in our progression system. You will be automatically added to the lower-level bars.
Short Steel Bending Leaderboards
190 LBS BAR (15/64″ x 7″)
Breck Roberts (Tucson, AZ)
Steven Myer (Raleigh, NC)
Steve Altmann (Worcester, MA)
Christian Carter (Placerville, CA)
Zachary Gleason (Palm Bay, FL)
Garrett Edwards (Nederland, TX)
Nate Powell (Rock Hill, SC)
Austin Akervik (Lakeville, MN)
Matthew Barnes (Galax, VA)
Cody Manning (Williamstown, KY)
Garrett Coutoure (Culleoka, TN)
Greg Orosz (Silt, CO)
Michael Polnik (New Philadelphia, OH)
Connor Forward (Twin Lake, MI)
Erik Inman (Lodi, CA)
Shawn Davis (Cookeville, TN)
James Foster (Columbia, MO)
Isaiah Halsey (New York, NY)
Clayton Seymour (Reynoldsburg, OH)
Jeffrey Coe (Lincolnton, NC)
Corie Fickes (Saint Gabriel, LA)
Darren Rueb (Vernon, CT)
Paolo Alonzo (San Diego, CA)
Brian Stines (Logansport, IN)
Eric Westhoven (Toledo, OH)
Todd Bolen (Independence, LA)
Amanda Sheehan (Humble, TX)
Brian Sanchez (Dawsonville, GA)
Erik Rohloff (Hortonville, WI)
Sonja Schofield (Albuquerque, NM)
Paul Mocarksi (Justin, TX)
Jessica Niebuhr (Chambersburg, PA)
Alex Grice (Thomasville, NC)
230 LBS BAR (1/4″ x 7″)
Breck Roberts (Tucson, AZ)
Steven Myer (Raleigh, NC)
Steve Altmann (Worcester, MA)
Zachary Gleason (Palm Bay, FL)
Garrett Edwards (Nederland, TX)
Nate Powell (Rock Hill, SC)
Austin Akervik (Lakeville, MN)
Matthew Barnes (Galax, VA)
Cody Manning (Williamstown, KY)
Garrett Coutoure (Culleoka, TN)
Greg Orosz (Silt, CO)
Michael Polnik (New Philadelphia, OH)
Connor Forward (Twin Lake, MI)
Erik Inman (Lodi, CA)
Shawn Davis (Cookeville, TN)
Isaiah Halsey (New York, NY)
Jeffrey Coe (Lincolnton, NC)
Corie Fickes (Saint Gabriel, LA)
James Foster (Columbia, MO)
Darren Rueb (Vernon, CT)
Brian Stines (Logansport, IN)
Clayton Seymour (Reynoldsburg, OH)
Paolo Alonzo (San Diego, CA)
Eric Westhoven (Toledo, OH)
Todd Bolen (Independence, LA)
Brian Sanchez (Dawsonville, GA)
Erik Rohloff (Hortonville, WI)
Amanda Sheehan (Humble, TX)
Paul Mocarksi (Justin, TX)
280 LBS BAR (17/64″ x 7″)
Breck Roberts (Tucson, AZ)
Steven Myer (Raleigh, NC)
Steve Altmann (Worcester, MA)
Zachary Gleason (Palm Bay, FL)
Garrett Edwards (Nederland, TX)
Nate Powell (Rock Hill, SC)
Matthew Barnes (Galax, VA)
Garrett Coutoure (Culleoka, TN)
Shawn Davis (Cookeville, TN)
Austin Akervik (Lakeville, MN)
Greg Orosz (Silt, CO)
Michael Polnik (New Philadelphia, OH)
Connor Forward (Twin Lake, MI)
Brian Stines (Logansport, IN)
Corie Fickes (Saint Gabriel, LA)
Todd Bolen (Independence, LA)
Jeffrey Coe (Lincolnton, NC)
Paolo Alonzo (San Diego, CA)
Amanda Sheehan (Humble, TX)
Paul Mocarksi (Justin, TX)
Eric Westhoven (Toledo, OH)
330 LBS BAR (9/32″ x 7″)
Breck Roberts (Tucson, AZ)
Steven Myer (Raleigh, NC)
Zachary Gleason (Palm Bay, FL)
Garrett Edwards (Nederland, TX)
Matthew Barnes (Galax, VA)
Garrett Coutoure (Culleoka, TN)
Shawn Davis (Cookeville, TN)
Austin Akervik (Lakeville, MN)
Greg Orosz (Silt, CO)
Brian Stines (Logansport, IN)
Corie Fickes (Saint Gabriel, LA)
Connor Forward (Twin Lake, MI)
Jeffrey Coe (Lincolnton, NC)
Eric Westhoven (Toledo, OH)
390 LBS BAR (19/64″ x 7″)
Zachary Gleason (Palm Bay, FL)
Breck Roberts (Tucson, AZ)
Garrett Edwards (Nederland, TX)
Shawn Davis (Cookeville, TN)
Brian Stines (Logansport, IN)
450 LBS BAR (5/16″ x 7″)
Zachary Gleason (Palm Bay, FL)
Garrett Edwards (Nederland, TX)
Shawn Davis (Cookeville, TN)
Breck Roberts (Tucson, AZ)
Brian Stines (Logansport, IN)
530 LBS BAR (21/64″ x 7″)
Zachary Gleason (Palm Bay, FL)
Breck Roberts (Tucson, AZ)
Shawn Davis (Cookeville, TN)
Brian Stines (Logansport, IN)
610 LBS BAR (11/32″ x 7″)
Zachary Gleason (Palm Bay, FL)
Brian Stines (Logansport, IN)