I am happily married to a beautiful woman in both body and spirit! We have a wonderful kid that keeps us young beyond our years! I also have an identical twin brother and an older brother. I work full-time as an Information Technology manager in an office.
I started crushing grippers and bending steel at the nimble age of about 46 - it was around December of 2000.
MY HAND GRIPPER HISTORY
Initially, I got Ironmind's hand grippers (COC Trainer, COC #1, COC #2, COC #3, and COC #4) and my training partner got the BeefBuilder (BB Beginner, BB Advanced, BB Master, and BB Elite) hand grippers. I could close my COC #1 out of the bag with my dominate hand. It took a couple weeks of training for my weaker hand to be able to close the COC #1. These days, after closing a BeefBuilder Master hand gripper (330 in.-lb.) with my dominate hand, I am working on being able to close it every time I pick it up. After I can regularly close the BB Master, I will tackle the Ironmind COC #3 hand gripper (429 in.-lb.). Once I can regularly close the COC #3, I plan to become certified by Ironmind. I am considering getting a PDA SOS III hand gripper in the 380 in-lb. neighborhood to work with to narrow the 100 in.-lb. chasm that separates the BB Master and the COC #3 that I am training with.
MY NAIL BENDING HISTORY
Initially, when I tried to a "nail" from Ironmind's Bag of Nails (it was the weakest one in the bag) - a White. I tried to bend it like one bends a plastic straw and failed miserably. After learning a better technique, (arms in front of my chest, palms down, with thumbs under the nail) and I was able to U-Shape it. Next , I tried a Green "nail" and I was also able to U-Shape that, too - but I don't like short pieces of steel because my hands are big.
After experiencing some mild tendonitis, I've begun experimenting with different bending styles. I have had some success with bending over my hand and I continue to perfect this style. I've tried the underhand technique and recently, this technique clicked for me and I'm bending bending thicker steel - so, I'll probably stay with this style a while to see how far it takes me.
It's a great thrill to pick up a thick piece of steel and bend it with your hands!
