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I'm not sure what you consider heavy lifting, but when I'm deadlifting 200+, I drop the weights too. I was really uncomforable doing this at first, but I was told to do so by my trainer. One of the signs that he knew I could lift much heavier, is the control I have in setting the weight back down, but he is teaching me to let go. We have the oly-style plates so they stand up better to being dropped.
BTW as a 52 year old lady, it has nothing to do with attention getting. It can be the gym culture. I think it really depends on the facility. It's really common in CrossFit circles, and olympic training gyms.
I competed in Olympic lifting for 8 years. First thing we were taught was how to properly drop the weight when it was over our heads. We had to learn to gauge where our leg was if we were split lifting and how to arch enough so we would drop without hitting our leg and breaking it in half. (One lifter who came out of powerlifting had an issue with dropping the weights and wound up breaking his arm just below his elbow because he tried a controlled drop.) Since the Olympic gym was very well padded and the weights had rubber coatings, it wasn't too noisy. I actually miss that sound! My coach knew what he was doing. He is one of the 100 Golden Olympians, has coached 7 different teams worldwide and is a judge at every Olympics. He also was a Gold Medalist twice at the Olympics and is the guy who got Arnie Schwarzennegger to start lifting weights.
Coach's mantra? Until you know how to properly drop the weight in an emergency, you aren't ready to compete. That didn't mean we dropped it every time we practiced, only that we practiced dropping it every time we met for team training.
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Originally Posted by td333
Can you imagine Olympic Weightlifting when they used iron plates? My coach says platforms were completely destroyed at the end of competitions.
Sorry but your trainer is wrong in regards to deadlifts. If he has you dropping because of risk if injury he has you doing too much weight and has not shown you how to properly deadlift. Serious lifters would not disagree with me. Know why? The most serious lifters are the ones who compete. Know what dropping gets you in a comp? No rep.
I disagree. I think my trainer knows exactly what he is doing. There are actually several trainers at my gym who have instructed me. Yea, USAW certification is just one of their pedigrees. I'm probably explaining it wrong.
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Originally Posted by td333
Powerlifting competitions require the lifter to control the weight down, otherwise it is a no lift.
I am not participating in any competitions...yet. That is a long term goal. But, I will learn all that from my trainers.
If you have to drop a deadlift, it's too heavy and you didn't complete the rep. A lift has 2 parts....up/down. All it takes is maintaining proper form on the down. If that can't be done because of the fear of injury then it is too heavy. I just recently PRd my 1 rep max on deads at 440 without dropping. If I would have had to drop because I didn't think I could handle the down, then I wouldn't have counted it as a completed rep. However, on stuff like heavy clean and jerks or something, dropping is justified simply because its allowed in competitions.
For the recreational dead lifter or athlete trying to get stronger for their sport I disagree with this. It is called a dead lift, not a dead drop. The rep is completed when you lift it and squeeze your glutes. Easing the weight back down is not neccesary and most people that say they don't drop it actually do. Even if your hands are still on the bar you can still be in the process of letting it go and dropingp it.
If you are talking about powerlifting competitions then yes you have to control it, but if you are not there is no point. Just cause serious powerlifters dead lift huge amounts of weight with rounded backs doesn't mean everyone should do it to up their numbers.
For the recreational dead lifter or athlete trying to get stronger for their sport I disagree with this. It is called a dead lift, not a dead drop. The rep is completed when you lift it and squeeze your glutes. Easing the weight back down is not neccesary and most people that say they don't drop it actually do. Even if your hands are still on the bar you can still be in the process of letting it go and dropingp it.
If you are talking about powerlifting competitions then yes you have to control it, but if you are not there is no point. Just cause serious powerlifters dead lift huge amounts of weight with rounded backs doesn't mean everyone should do it to up their numbers.
Using your logic, a squat would be considered completed when you are in a squat position, with your knees bent.
A dead lift is a pulling exercise and a squat is a pushing exercise. Also, a dead lift starts with the weight on the ground and a squat starts with you holding the weight up.
A dead lift is a pulling exercise and a squat is a pushing exercise. Also, a dead lift starts with the weight on the ground and a squat starts with you holding the weight up.
My point is you are taking the name "dead lift" too literally.
My point is you are taking the name "dead lift" too literally.
All I am saying is that the main point of a dead lift is to lift the weight up off the ground. That is where strength and muscle building takes place. Returning it back to the ground in a controlled matter is just an extra detail and only applies to people that aspire to be powerlifters. I think someone that says that you shouldn't dead lift weight that you can't return back to the ground in a controlled manner is giving bad advice.
For recreational dead lifters, bodybuilders, and athletes training for a sport other than olympic/powerlifting returning the weight back to the ground in a controlled manner is not necessary. These individuals should be most concerned with conditioning themselves while avoiding injury or excessive fatigue because it would have a negative impact on the very thing they are lifting for (physical fitness, anti aging, looking nice, getting in better shape for football season, etc.).
The dead lift is not an eccentric lift, it is a concentric lift. The lift is brought down in a controlled drop, not an eccentric motion (as in loaded/under tension).
Squats are both an eccentric and concentric exercise.
Bench press is an eccentric and concentric exercise. However, this can be modified, like speed benching has much less focus on the eccentric phase. Also the main focus for the bench is the concentric phase as to not waste energy on the eccentric phase say for a max or something.
Yates - eccentric and concentric; BB and Pendlay - concentric.
For the recreational dead lifter or athlete trying to get stronger for their sport I disagree with this. It is called a dead lift, not a dead drop. The rep is completed when you lift it and squeeze your glutes. Easing the weight back down is not neccesary and most people that say they don't drop it actually do. Even if your hands are still on the bar you can still be in the process of letting it go and dropingp it.
If you are talking about powerlifting competitions then yes you have to control it, but if you are not there is no point. Just cause serious powerlifters dead lift huge amounts of weight with rounded backs doesn't mean everyone should do it to up their numbers.
again, Im just a recreational lifter with years of experience, but if someone has been taught properly to set down weight, there really is no risk. Sure, not in a comp and just lifting recreationally, who is really gonna care? But for me personally, it isnt a completed rep if I just up and drop it from the top, and I wouldnt consider myself to be able to properly perform the whole rep if I only did half of it.
Also, just because you get up in weight, doesnt mean the back has to round. Even with my current 1RM at 440, backs stays flat and straight. You see someone with a badly rounded back, then the weight is too heavy since form went to crap.
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