Chains

[Toby]

Stoked to pick up some chains on Saturday. I got (it turns out) 40kg of chain and rigging. 4x1m lengths of 16mm galvanised regular link and 2x2m of 13mm galv. reg. link. Also got a couple of shackles and grab hooks to rig it up on the bar with. The guys at the shop were great. At first I told them I wanted 2x1m of 13mm and they went and cut it. Then I thought that wouldn't be enough for squatting so I asked for longer. Even though they'll never be able to sell the 1m lengths, they didn't charge me for them and then only charged me the 2x1m price because they'd already written up the invoice. I also got charged for one shackle and a couple of pairs of safety glasses for free from the bargain bin. Anyway, if ever anyone from Perth reads this thread and is interested in chains, go to Sling-Rig in Welshpool. All in all they gave me $39 discount - the rest cost me $133. The other thing they had were some nice-looking safety harnesses for either $110 or $180. The $180 one had a nice big D ring in the upper-mid back. I thought it would be good for dragging sleds or tyres at the beach. Much cheaper than the Ironmind one, but not as good. Plus the ring up so high would load the back more. I suspect the Ironmind one would have the ring closer to the waist. When the guy asked why I wanted these weird chain lengths and harnesses and I told him, he thought I was going in a Strongest Man comp. Skinny-ass me, lol.

On a bad note, I got some galv pipe from another shop to make my Heavy Hammer II. 700mm of 50mm pipe. The guy there told me the minimum I could buy was 1/2 a length == 3.25m so I had to pay $39 for my tiny bit of pipe. I left the rest there so they'll probably be able to sell it twice. There went my discount. The pipe makes an excellent HHII, though. Only thing I had to do with it was grind the corners off a bit to remove burrs and make a nice rounded edge == more inside-friendly. I put my Bulldog collars on and struggle to lift it without weights on so it might be a while before I build up to putting plates on it.

The chains I took out this morning for the 2nd week of my PTP cycle. I put the full load on for bench + 70kg for 6 reps. No problem at all. Much easier than the 110kg it turned out to be. At the bottom I lose about 1' of 4x16mm and 2x13mm chain off the weight. I'll do the math some other time. But then I went for squat. I put 125kg + full chains on. I struggled and ended up doing 1/2 squats (1 of them was full powerlift-style). Turned out that that was 165kg, which would've been a PR. Squatting I lose not quite 3' of 16mm chain off I think (the 13mm is higher and stays off the ground for squat). Maybe closer to 2'. The 16mm is just over 5kg/m. The 13mm is around 3kg/m. Add in shackles and grab hooks for 20kg per side.

[IronFist]

Kg? Yeah, I almost understood your post. :p

As for the extra pipe, since you paid for it could you have just taken it and made two HH's? Then you could have worked both arms at the same time, or sold one on eBay or something.

Chains sound awesome. I'd like to try them someday, but I'm nowhere near needing them for my workouts yet.

[Toby]

I was gunna Imperialise it for you, but I thought you needed the mental workout :p. 20kg is one 44lb plate. 1kg == 2.2lb. Or you can do like me and use this. (http://www.google.com/search?q=1kg+in+lb)

I could've kept the pipe, but I've got enough left over bits of **** lying around the house. My wife is always getting me to clean up. I would struggle to lift 2 HH's at the same time, so I didn't need it for that. Think of using two COC's at the same time :eek:.

I didn't need the chains for my workout either, but I've definitely plateau'd in bench and squat & DL I've gone down a bit for a while. I'm sort of trying to cut weight a bit, so I'm a lot weaker than I was. I can't get my PR's in any lift at the moment. I thought I'd do chains for fun more than anything. I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad to be doing this at home. I'd hate to think what a pain in the arse it'd be to carry the chains to a gym.

Anyway, here's a translation for slackers like you, Iron :mad: :

Originally posted by Toby
Stoked to pick up some chains on Saturday. I got (it turns out) 88lb of chain and rigging. 4x3.3' lengths of 5/8" galvanised regular link and 2x6.6' of 1/2" galv. reg. link. Also got a couple of shackles and grab hooks to rig it up on the bar with. The guys at the shop were great. At first I told them I wanted 2x3.3' of 1/2" and they went and cut it. Then I thought that wouldn't be enough for squatting so I asked for longer. Even though they'll never be able to sell the 3.3' lengths, they didn't charge me for them and then only charged me the 2x3.3' price because they'd already written up the invoice. I also got charged for one shackle and a couple of pairs of safety glasses for free from the bargain bin. Anyway, if ever anyone from Perth reads this thread and is interested in chains, go to Sling-Rig in Welshpool. All in all they gave me $39 discount - the rest cost me $133. The other thing they had were some nice-looking safety harnesses for either $110 or $180. The $180 one had a nice big D ring in the upper-mid back. I thought it would be good for dragging sleds or tyres at the beach. Much cheaper than the Ironmind one, but not as good. Plus the ring up so high would load the back more. I suspect the Ironmind one would have the ring closer to the waist. When the guy asked why I wanted these weird chain lengths and harnesses and I told him, he thought I was going in a Strongest Man comp. Skinny-ass me, lol.

On a bad note, I got some galv pipe from another shop to make my Heavy Hammer II. 2.3' of 1/2" pipe. The guy there told me the minimum I could buy was 1/2 a length == 10.66' so I had to pay $39 for my tiny bit of pipe. I left the rest there so they'll probably be able to sell it twice. There went my discount. The pipe makes an excellent HHII, though. Only thing I had to do with it was grind the corners off a bit to remove burrs and make a nice rounded edge == more inside-friendly. I put my Bulldog collars on and struggle to lift it without weights on so it might be a while before I build up to putting plates on it.

The chains I took out this morning for the 2nd week of my PTP cycle. I put the full load on for bench + 154lb for 6 reps. No problem at all. Much easier than the 242lb it turned out to be. At the bottom I lose about 1' of 4x5/8" and 2x1/2" chain off the weight. I'll do the math some other time. But then I went for squat. I put 275lb + full chains on. I struggled and ended up doing 1/2 squats (1 of them was full powerlift-style). Turned out that that was 364lb, which would've been a PR. Squatting I lose not quite 3' of 5/8" chain off I think (the 1/2" is higher and stays off the ground for squat). Maybe closer to 2'. The 5/8" is just over 3.3lb/ft. The 1/2" is around 2.2lb/ft. Add in shackles and grab hooks for 44lb per side.

P.S. all dollars are in Australian pesos.

[Toby]

BTW, people (Ford): where do you hang your chains? I can think of pros and cons for both places (outside the weights and inside the weights). I ended up inside, but it was clanking against my power rack. Ver loud early in the morning. Outside and I was worried about chains slipping off for squats. I had them outside for bench. I'm thinking inside and I'll just have to wrap cardboard or something around the power rack where it hits.

[Ford Prefect]

Hang them inside the weights, on the inside of the hilt of bar. That's the only way I know how to describe it. That stopper that seperates where you slide the weights from where you can grip on the bar. You hang the chains on the grip part of the bar.

I didn't read your whole post, but you should have a thin chain you hang from the bar, and then you connect the heavy chains to that. You can control the diameter of the holder chain by using a clasp, and then you clasp the weights chains on there too.

Since I'm too lazy to go take a picture right now, I drew you a picture. I'm not as talented as Iron Fist though. ;)

[Toby]

Lol! Your art kicks ass over Iron's. Straight lines? Iron can't do those :D. Anyway, yeah, that's how I've got it. 5/8" chains to a large bow shackle. 1/2" chain on the pin of the bow shackle. On the next link up from the bow shackle I have a grab hook. The rest of the 1/2" chain goes over the bar and back down to the grab hook so I can adjust the length.

This morning I did 253lb bench, which is what I usually end a cycle with. Easy with the chains. Mmm, I certainly like benching with chains. Not so much with the squats, though. I'll see how I go after a couple of weeks.

[Toby]

End of cycle today. Benched 275lb at lockout x 4 reps. Probably could've done 5 reps but I was up late last night so I took it easy. Love those chains! Squats I'm more used to now. I took it easy and got up to 342lb at lockout. It was easyish too, especially considering I'm still wearing sandals (http://www.birkenstock.com/styles/51903/manager=ProdDisplay&brand=100&category=20o40o120o140&user_id=1232951&store_id=0&page=1&cat=birk) while lifting. If I'd slipped it would've served me right. Next week is deadlift with chains.