Keeping the Red Nail Roster red hot, the latest is Mike Sharkey, who says of himself, “originally a symphonic percussionist, then a vegan chef, I now work in Hotel Biz, where the only extraordinary strength you need is helping people with their luggage.”


“I'm 5'9" and 185# and live in the lovely city of Brooklyn.  Until I was 32, I had never touched a weight or really even set foot in a gym, however, after arriving in NYC I realized you needed to be strong to survive the Jungle,” Mike Sharkey told IronMind.


“I was originally inspired to bend by Adam Glass, and have had a great amount of help along the way, including E.J. Livesey, David Wigren, J.T. Straussner and many others.  Steel benders are a small community and I have found everyone really willing to share their experience and information openly.  From the first time I read through Adam's articles I had the goal of being able to bend the Red Nail.  

“Though he said the Blue Nail was a good mark for a part time bender, I knew I wanted to take it farther.  The first steel I ever bent was an IronMind White Nail in Iron Mind Pads .  Reverse.  I still use the same pads to this day.  This is a journey that took me at least 4 years.  Being a vegetarian (for 20 years), I thought steel bending was the perfect pursuit to prove to myself and others that you could  be incredibly strong without eating meat,” Sharkey said. 

Incidentally, besides having some more bending and basic lifting goals, Sharkey also mentioned wanting to hoist the Dinnie Stones (“though probably I will use IronMind Eagle Loops to do it!”).

IronMind would like to join in thanking J.T. Straussner for refereeing Mike’s official attempt and Jedd Johnson for providing the perfect setting, and to Mike, congratulations—your name has been added to the Red Nail Roster.

                                                               ###

The IronMind Forum: discuss this article, talk strength, get help with your training.

You can also follow IronMind on Twitter.