Dropping weightS

rogerbosch

Bar slipped out of my hands yesterday while deadlifting w a snatch-grip. Had to drop it to prevent injury. I did feel embarrassed, though.

MinimalistShoeAddict

Watch this short video. It will answer all of your questions about the subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh-LFQRICR4

DavPul

There's a very important part of weight lifting called Time Under Tension. Lifting involves the eccentric (easy or negative part of the lift), isometric (pause between easy/hard) and the concentric (harder or positive part of the lift). Slowing or for argument's sake completing the eccentric part of the lift is extremely important for muscle tension as this is when the muscle lengthens. So if you just drop the weights on the easy part, you're basically excluding 1/2 of the lift and therefore getting 1/2 the time under tension and 1/2 the benefit.

this either assumes they are dropping the weight between every single rep, or that missing out on the negative of the final rep is sooopah important, or that there eccentric portion of a heavy deadlift or clean somehow outweighs the injury risk.

meshashesha2012

i personally like giving old people heart attacks

JNick77

Depends on the lift. Heavy singles and Oly lifts with bumper plates can be dropped. I've done heavy Kroc rows for max reps and dropped the weight the 4-inches to the ground because I'm frickin' exhausted when I'm done. If I'm doing DB bench/incline bench you better believe I drop the DB's down to the side. I control the weight as far down as I can go but I'm not rupturing muscle tissue or a tendon to lightly set it down. That's why most of the gym floors are rubber. If people around me don't like it then they should go to a gym where weak people lift or where people don't push themselves.

JNick77

There's a very important part of weight lifting called Time Under Tension. Lifting involves the eccentric (easy or negative part of the lift), isometric (pause between easy/hard) and the concentric (harder or positive part of the lift). Slowing or for argument's sake completing the eccentric part of the lift is extremely important for muscle tension as this is when the muscle lengthens. So if you just drop the weights on the easy part, you're basically excluding 1/2 of the lift and therefore getting 1/2 the time under tension and 1/2 the benefit.

Go to a heavy deadlift single at 95%+ of your 1RM and then come back and post that nonsense.

Leadfoot_Lewis

Go to a heavy deadlift single at 95%+ of your 1RM and then come back and post that nonsense.

Sweetie I DO Deadlifts @ 95% of 1RM and I never drop the weight. Lower it quickly yes but in control.

Just curious "what nonsense" my reply contains? What scientific benefit is there to blowing off the eccentric part of lift?

I guarantee you 99% of the meatheads in the gym dropping weights aren't going for a 1RM on their lifts.

KBjimAZ

Go to a heavy deadlift single at 95%+ of your 1RM and then come back and post that nonsense.

Sweetie I DO Deadlifts @ 95% of 1RM and I never drop the weight. Lower it quickly yes but in control.

Just curious "what nonsense" my reply contains? What scientific benefit is there to blowing off the eccentric part of lift?

I guarantee you 99% of the meatheads in the gym dropping weights aren't going for a 1RM on their lifts.

When in doubt, go with the opinion of an authority on the subject.
From the rulebook of the United States Powerlifting Federation:

"6. Causes for Disqualification of a Deadlift
6.7. Allowing the bar to return to the platform without maintaining control with both hands."

I know, not very impressive for the bro's and gym bunnies that might be watching.

Just more nonsense, I guess....

IronSmasher

Bar slipped out of my hands yesterday while deadlifting w a snatch-grip. Had to drop it to prevent injury. I did feel embarrassed, though.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with dropping when you have to.

astronomicals

Dropping weights.. who cares.. I hate the *kitten* who dont rerack the plates..


I dont get why people care unless its someone doing overhead olympic lifts in a place where its clearly making it dangerous for other gym goers.

I'll add that if you should be in control unless your deadlifting something like twice your bodyweight (and thats still not much)

I also agree that DB bench is a scenario where you'll be dropping weights when you get to big dumbells.

DavPul

<--- uses the dbs at the end of the rack. Never drops them

astronomicals

<--- uses the dbs at the end of the rack. Never drops them

So you can DB flat press 240 to failure and still manage to get up? Or you never go to failure? Or your dumbells dont weigh 120 each?

I dont care if its incline.. i mean flat...


At the end of the day, you should drop the weights if you think it may prevent an injury. You shouldnt make a douchy clash to be macho. Anyone saying you should never drop weights, is clueless.

jimmmer

The dropping weights and the super loud grunting= everybody please look at me I'm the ****!! But just makes them looks stupid

Things that will help you get that last rep and break PRs:
1 - Metal in your playlist.
2 - Tapping into your primal instincts by grunting.
3 - Not being afraid to drop the weights if you fail your rep. You'll get 'em next time.
4 - Not giving a damn that others might think you look stupid. Likely that you are progressing while they are spinning their wheels (sometimes literally, on the hamster wheel).

Things that will hinder your progress:
1 - Being judgemental about what others are doing.
2 - Not focusing on what YOU are trying to accomplish.

As for the OP, some lifters drop the deadlift at the top in order to prevent injury during the eccentric part of the movement. And some do this even with warm up sets. If the gym owners do not have a problem with this, neither should anyone else. If the noise distracts you, you aren't focused enough. Go join Planet Fitness, and good luck with your progress.

If we can swap Metal in your #1 for some Simon & Garfunkel then we're in total agreement fella!

".... like a bridge over troubled waters....."

helps me get that last rep every time......

BonaFideUK

I see the reasoning to do it occasionally if you're going to absolute failure on a set but yea... there are a lot of dumb meatheads that drop weights for no reason other than to look like a badass (in their mind). Its the same reason people do all kinds of stupid crap in life, they think it looks cool when really it doesnt.

JNick77

Go to a heavy deadlift single at 95%+ of your 1RM and then come back and post that nonsense.

Just curious "what nonsense" my reply contains? What scientific benefit is there to blowing off the eccentric part of lift?

I guarantee you 99% of the meatheads in the gym dropping weights aren't going for a 1RM on their lifts.

The eccentric isn't always beneficial, depends on what you're doing. There is zero benefit from the eccentric portion of a Power Clean or Snatch for instance.

Agreed, most aren't working heavy and just being stupid. But to say 100% of the time that it's stupid and wrong is an incorrect statement.

JNick77

<--- uses the dbs at the end of the rack. Never drops them

So you can DB flat press 240 to failure and still manage to get up? Or you never go to failure? Or your dumbells dont weigh 120 each?

I dont care if its incline.. i mean flat...


At the end of the day, you should drop the weights if you think it may prevent an injury. You shouldnt make a douchy clash to be macho. Anyone saying you should never drop weights, is clueless.

Agreed. I've actually ruptured the tendon that connects from your chest into your arm and I wasn't even benching anything heavy, it just decided to go. I was doing DB bench one time and went to let the weight down to the ground and felt that spot twinge as I did it, for now on I just drop the DB's. The mats are rubber, so who cares. I'm not injuring or re-injuring anything just to save the possibility that management may have to tighten the screws that hold the plates on.

IronSmasher

<--- uses the dbs at the end of the rack. Never drops them

So you can DB flat press 240 to failure and still manage to get up? Or you never go to failure? Or your dumbells dont weigh 120 each?

I dont care if its incline.. i mean flat...


At the end of the day, you should drop the weights if you think it may prevent an injury. You shouldnt make a douchy clash to be macho. Anyone saying you should never drop weights, is clueless.

Agreed. I've actually ruptured the tendon that connects from your chest into your arm and I wasn't even benching anything heavy, it just decided to go. I was doing DB bench one time and went to let the weight down to the ground and felt that spot twinge as I did it, for now on I just drop the DB's. The mats are rubber, so who cares. I'm not injuring or re-injuring anything just to save the possibility that management may have to tighten the screws that hold the plates on.

Dropping them bends them. It's because I don't want to wreck my shoulders that I don't put them down. Since I don't put them down, I don't drop them.

DavPul

<--- uses the dbs at the end of the rack. Never drops them

So you can DB flat press 240 to failure and still manage to get up? Or you never go to failure? Or your dumbells dont weigh 120 each?

I dont care if its incline.. i mean flat...


At the end of the day, you should drop the weights if you think it may prevent an injury. You shouldnt make a douchy clash to be macho. Anyone saying you should never drop weights, is clueless.

Yes, I can press 120s and get up. You can't?

I've seen dropped heavy dbs get bent and the gym is ungodly slow about replacing them. There's really no pressure on them to do so because only 2 people in the entire gym use them, and one of them is the SOB that bent them.

IronSmasher

Beep! De de beep! Deep! Beep!

*Update.

So I saw the gym manager take the now practically U-shaped barbell away, and we're getting a new one! Yay!

I'm not holding my breath, but I'll continue to use the slightly less bent one in the meantime.