The star of the show, these badass steel bars ($1.09/each) will destroy the boredom in your life. It’s like using heroin…you’ll be hooked from day one! Throw away those stupid dumbbells and toss that treadmill in the dumpster where it belongs…you’re a steel bender now, my friend. Each bar is hand cut (no, seriously) by a real human and deburred, so the ends are shiny and uniform. They are all checked and checked again for any flaws. Each bar is rated at the poundage of force required to bend it. The first one on the list is sort-of easy. The last is probably impossible to bend. Good luck.

190 LBS Bar (15/64″ x 7″) – Everyone begins here. Most men should be able to torch this bar in their first few bending sessions.

230 LBS Bar (1/4″ x 7″) – The first real “milestone” bar, this thick boy will give you a headache when you first attempt to bend it. You’ll have to introduce some technique in order to knock it down.

280 LBS Bar (17/64″ x 7″) – This bar feels similar to the previous bar but is a bit thicker and harder to bend. You should breeze through this one after a month or two.

330 LBS Bar (9/32″ x 7″) – Many guys find themselves stopped in their tracks after trying to melt this bar. It’s a real ass-kicker and will stump you for months.

390 LBS Bar (19/64″ x 7″) – Bending this bastard signifies to the world that you are the real deal. Short steel bending should now be one of the top priorities in your life. Expect it to take one to one-and-a-half years to get here.

450 LBS Bar (5/16″ x 7″) – This is a huge milestone in your bending. It’s halfway up our ladder…and will keep you occupied for many months as you build the required tendon strength to move to the next bar.

530 LBS Bar (21/64″ x 7″) – By now, your fingers will be calloused, your ego will be destroyed, and your social life will be nonexistent. Your obsession is showing. Bending this bar is huge. You now have the base level of strength to move up to the top bars.

610 LBS Bar (11/32″ x 7″) – Our own resident strongman, Zach, currently resides here. Expect a disgusting and bloody fight when bending these. It should take you three to five years to get here.

720 LBS Bar (23/64″ x 7”) – The mental game of short steel bending becomes hugely important here. Bending at this level is like being a pro athlete…you’re in the top half-percent of benders worldwide, and you need to act like it.

830 LBS Bar (3/8″ x 7″) – While no one on our leaderboard has bent it, some lunatics from across the world have. It’s essentially the current level of human achievement in the sport of short steel bending.

960 LBS Bar (25/64″ x 7″) – Who in their right mind would want to bend something like this? It’s thicker than a tent spike and looks meaner than hell.

1,110 LBS Bar (13/32″ x 7”) – This absolute unit of a bar has never been bent before. It’s almost a half inch in diameter. Are you man enough to try it? Don’t get a hernia.