Bar bending

Last updated

Bar bending or iron bending is a display of physical strength derived from early circus strongman performers, which was used in a sporting context in strength competitions such as the World's Strongest Man. [1] It requires the strongmen to grip long iron rods from their edges, use their arm and grip strength, and bend until the two ends come closer to each other. [2]

Early influence to strongman competitions

From eighteenth century through the age of vaudeville strongmen of nineteenth century [3] until around mid twentieth century, traditional strongmen like Thomas Topham, Louis 'Apollon' Uni, Warren Lincoln Travis, Hermann Görner, [4] Joe 'Mighty Atom' Greenstein, [5] Zishe Breitbart, Arthur Saxon, John B. Gagnon and Joe Rollino [6] experimented with different techniques and variations on how to bend the iron in the most impressive ways. [2]

When bar bending was featured at the inaugural World's Strongest Man competition in 1977, with Lou Ferrigno winning the event while Franco Columbu emerging second, it became a fan favourite event. [7] Its popularity led bar bending to be continued for six more years until 1983. [8] One of the most notorious moments of strongman occurred during 1981 World's Strongest Man competition when Bill Kazmaier and Geoff Capes injured themselves [9] while attempting to bend the final iron bar of the event to declare the event winner. [10] Grip strength specialists like Richard Sorin, John Brookfield, David Horne and Greg Matonick continued to experiment with more variations and along with strength advocates like Randall J. Strossen diversified the gamut of bar bending. [11] [3] In 2013, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson established a new Guinness World Record by bending 4 × iron rods (each with a 5⁄8 inch (1.6 cm) diameter) in only 30 seconds. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World's Strongest Man</span> Strongman competition

The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of December each year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year. The current event sponsor is SBD Apparel. Previous sponsors include Tachi Palace, Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker.com.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deadlift</span> Weight training exercise

The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. A primal test of brute physical strength, it is one of the three powerlifting movements along with the squat and bench press, as well as a quintessential lift in strongman. Widely regarded as the king of all exercises, the all-time world record deadlift stands at 501 kg (1,105 lb), achieved by Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.

Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their high intense and gruelling nature, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limits. The winners are selected based on a relative scoring system, where participants gather points for each individual event. An athlete who engages in the sport of strongman is also called a 'strongman'. They are often regarded as some of the strongest men of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Žydrūnas Savickas</span> Lithuanian strongman (born 1975)

Žydrūnas Savickas is a Lithuanian retired strongman and powerlifter. Due to his 84 international wins in strongman including four World's Strongest Man titles, eight Arnold Strongman Classic titles, two IFSA Strongman World Championships, and over 70 world records, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of all time.

Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the record for most wins with 6 titles. Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson holds 5 titles, Geoff Capes, Riku Kiri, Žydrūnas Savickas each hold 3 titles & Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Jamie Reeves, Manfred Hoeberl, Jouko Ahola, Luke Stoltman each hold 2 titles. As of 2010, the Europe's Strongest Man contest has become a part of the Giants Live season of annual grand prix events. The contest serves as a qualifying event for the World's Strongest Man contest, with the top 3 placings qualifying for that year's WSM contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Felix</span> British strength athlete

Mark Felix is a Grenadian-English strongman competitor and regular entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition. He has competed at a record 18 World's Strongest Man contests, reaching the finals three times. He is the winner of the 2015 Ultimate Strongman Masters World Championships, 2016 WSF World Cup India and has won several international grip contests, including the Rolling Thunder World Championships in 2008 and 2009, as well as the Vice Grip Viking Challenge in 2011 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Strongman Classic</span> International strongman competition

The Arnold Strongman Classic is an annual competition featuring strength athletes from all over the world, determining who is the Strongest Man in the World. Created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Lorimer and Terry Todd, it is an offshoot of the Arnold Sports Festival which takes place annually in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strongman Champions League</span> Strongman competition

The Strongman Champions League is a Strongman competition circuit, with several Grand Prix events throughout the year and the Strongman Champions League overall champion title going to the overall winner at the end of the season. Competitors include legends in the sport, including Žydrūnas Savickas, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Aivars Šmaukstelis, Krzysztof Radzikowski, Ervin Katona, Dainis Zageris, Mateusz Kieliszkowski, Oleksii Novikov, Mikhail Koklyaev, Matjaz Belsak, J.F. Caron, Vytautas Lalas, Kelvin de Ruiter, Laurence Shahlaei, Travis Ortmayer, Andrus Murumets, Pavlo Kordiyaka, Tom Stoltman, Rauno Heinla, Terry Hollands, Eddie Hall, Nick Best, Dennis Kohlruss and Martin Wildauer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giants Live</span> Tournament

Giants Live was created in 2009 as the official Tour that qualifies strongmen to compete in the annual World's Strongest Man contest. At each Grand Prix, up to twelve international strongmen come together and compete over six events. The top three at each contest will receive an invitation to compete at the World's Strongest Man contest for that same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefán Sölvi Pétursson</span> Icelandic strongman competitor

Stefán Sölvi Pétursson is an Icelandic strongman and a finalist of the World's Strongest Man competition, winning 4th place in the 2010 World's Strongest Man competition held in Sun City, South Africa and 9th place in the 2011 World's Strongest Man competition held in Wingate, North Carolina. He has also won Icelandic Strongman competitions multiple times including Iceland’s Strongest Man in 2009 and 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Shaw (strongman)</span> American professional strongman (born 1982)

Brian Shaw is an American retired professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all-time. He won the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 World's Strongest Man, making him one of only five men to win the World’s Strongest Man four times or more. In 2011, Shaw became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015. With 27 international competition wins, he is the fourth most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas, Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Shaw has also set more than 25 world records in deadlifting, stonelifting, keg-tossing, grip related movements and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson</span> Icelandic strongman (born 1988)

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is an Icelandic professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, the Europe's Strongest Man, and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year and holds numerous Strongman titles from multiple strength federations, including multiple world records. With 31 international competition wins, he is the third most decorated strongman in history, behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas and Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski, and in terms of pure brute strength and with over 100 world records, many strength analysts and Strongman experts regard Hafþór as "the strongest man to have ever lived".

Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and holding national strongman competitions. The sport's roots have a long and ancient history going back many centuries with the legends of Orm Storolfsson and Grettir Ásmundarson to the 19th century traditional strongmen including Snorri Björnsson, Brynjólfur Eggertsson and Gunnar Salómonsson; before the televisation of modern strongman competitions in the late 1970s.

Mike Burke is an American strongman and a grip strength specialist from Aurora, Colorado. Before becoming a strength athlete, he worked as a construction worker.

Edward Stephen Hall is a British media personality and a retired strongman. He is best known for his world-record setting 500 kg (1,102 lb) deadlift in 2016. He is also known for winning 2017 World's Strongest Man competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mikhail Shivlyakov</span> Russian marine and strongman

Mikhail Vasilyevich Shivlyakov is a Russian professional strongman and former Russian Marine

Listed below are the progressions of 7 deadlift world records across powerlifting, strongman and armlifting, and ultimately, the all-time progression across all strength sports.

The 2018 World's Ultimate Strongman was the inaugural strongman competition organized by the strength federation 'World's Ultimate Strongman' with the participation of the 12 top strongmen of the world, determining who is the strongest. The competition took place at the Bab Al Shams arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on October 26 and held six brutal events within a single day.

World's Strongest Viking was an annual international Strongman competition organized by Strongman Champions League and held for eight consecutive years from 2014 to 2021 with participation of top strongman athletes in the world. It was held under perilous weather conditions in winter, testing the athletes to their limits.

References

  1. ↑ "How I Learned to Bend Steel". thedailybeast.com. 2015-08-09. Archived from the original on 2023-07-09. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  2. 1 2 Chris Schoeck, Bending Steel (2013) (20 April 2013). "A documentary by Dave Carroll and Ryan Scafuro". Tribeca Film Festival.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 "BENDING SHORT STEEL BARS, BOLTS AND NAILS by David Horne". www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com. 3 October 2006. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Goerner the Mighty, Edgar Mueller, Vulcan Publishing, Leeds, 1951
  5. ↑ "Mighty Joe Old". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC: 68. 3 June 1974. ISSN   0028-7369.
  6. ↑ Fernandez, Manny; Schmidt, Michael S. (January 11, 2010). "At a Mighty 104, Gone While Still Going Strong". New York Times . Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  7. ↑ "1977 World's Strongest Man". Strongman Archives. 17 May 1977. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "1983 World's Strongest Man". Strongman Archives. 19 May 1983. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Twelve of the WORST Strongman Injuries - 12:51 Bar bending". Big Loz Official. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "1981 World's Strongest Man". Strongman Archives. 10 May 1981. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "2005 World Steel Bending Championships". Randall J. Strossen for IronMind Enterprises, Inc. 18 June 2004. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  12. ↑ "Hafthor Julius Bjornsson sets World Record bending cast iron". YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.