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Barbell Deadlifting in condo/apartment building

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ChiBill

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I live in an old 3 flat condo, definitely can not drop a heavy deadlift (even if I do them in ground floor common space). Wanting to start pttp/build a solid deadlift base but how would you go about programming with maybe touch and go deadlifts? I haven't deadlifted in over 25 years and after reading the q and d deadlift article I really want to add them into my routine.
Thanks
 
I have been there - no real way of avoiding eviction if you haven’t invested in a platform.

I have tried 1 leg barbell deadlifts, as you can always lower those slowly with 2 legs. This is what Pavel recommended in one of his earlier books as well.
 
If you have a common space you can use, you can get a 1/2" thick deadlift mat and then be able to drop your DL's there. 1/2" thick is thick enough to protect almost any flooring - I have dropped 350 lbs. onto handmade tiles underneath mine and everything is great, and I've not needed a 3/4" mat. You could conceivably unroll a 1/2" mat, DL, then roll it back up again, put a couple of bungie cords around it, and leave it in a corner.

Otherrwise, I'd join a gym. You really don't ever want to _have_ to do touch-and-go deadlifts.

-S-
 
Very curious as to "why not?" What are the downside issues?
I should have added the qualifier, "... if you want to deadlift heavy."

I don't want to have to lower _any_ rep slowly unless I feel like I'm able to do that safely, and I've had sessions where I picked up the weight just fine, but felt enough fatigue that I put it down rather quickly instead of the planned completely-controlled descent. Better to do that than to risk an injury.

As long as you keep the weights light-to-moderate, you'll be fine. For me, at some point as a linear cycle gets heavier, I switch to doing singles without a controlled lowering.

-S-
 
@GeoffreyLevens, we should also add that the reason deadlifts are lowered quickly in PTTP is that this method is best for strength without hypertrophy. I have a few reasons that I do touch-and-go deadlifts sometimes, but I didn't do them for probably the first 10 years I deadlifted. My particulars for t-n-g for anyone interested:

What might result in hypertrophy for someone younger is more likely to simply help stave off the loss of muscle mass in my case.

I've never been heavily muscled, so all the more reason for the previous reason to make sense for me.

The touch-and-go deadlift has the benefit of showing a good groove for deadlifting if you don't go slack between reps but rather touch the weights without completely releasing them. I try to barely touch the ground with mine - it's more time under tension, and it also helps me find a good DL groove for the second rep and after.

-S-
 
Yes! Thank. Confirms the assumptions I was operating under. At nearly 70, I'm all about preservation of muscle mass and base strength. So lighter weight, more reps, explode concentrically and go slow with full control for eccentric has been my m.o. Still doing short sets but more of them.
 
I've actually never dropped/controlled dropped my DLs.
 
FWIW, I never felt particularly good about dropping the bar (controlled or otherwise) after heavy pulls.

If lowering the bar under control means sacrificing putting a few more pounds on the bar, then so be it; there's a lot of benefit to deadlifting submaximal loads and, unless you're going for a max attempt, you should be able to lower the bar under control without losing your alignment.

You may want to make sure you reset your position after each rep as continuous 'touch and go' reps will tend to throw your start position off (ie the bar will gradually shift away from your mid foot).

That being said, it's better to have the option of dumping the bar if things go South during a lift. Joining a gym where you can deadlift would be recommended: Any gym that offers Olympic lifting or CrossFit training will have a bunch of bars and bumper plates and won't mind you dropping the bar (and other gym goers are less likely to give you the stinkeye for being 'too noisy').
 
If lowering the bar under control means sacrificing putting a few more pounds on the bar, then so be it; there's a lot of benefit to deadlifting submaximal loads and, unless you're going for a max attempt, you should be able to lower the bar under control without losing your alignment.
Chris, I will respectfully disagree. Controlling the descent of a deadlift feels like almost a different lift to me. It changes the focus; it gives the deadlift something a pure deadlift doesn't have. And I know I'm thinking about different things on the way down than I am on the way up.

As I said, I was deadlifting for at least a decade before I began incorporating controlled descents into some of my training, and I still get rid of them and pull heavy, with a "drop with the bar" descent, whenever a competition approaches or simply whenever the weights get to the point where I don't feel like I want to do them any more.

JMO, YMMV.

-S-
 
Chris, I will respectfully disagree. Controlling the descent of a deadlift feels like almost a different lift to me. It changes the focus; it gives the deadlift something a pure deadlift doesn't have. And I know I'm thinking about different things on the way down than I am on the way up.

As I said, I was deadlifting for at least a decade before I began incorporating controlled descents into some of my training, and I still get rid of them and pull heavy, with a "drop with the bar" descent, whenever a competition approaches or simply whenever the weights get to the point where I don't feel like I want to do them any more.

JMO, YMMV.

-S-

I would defer to your judgment on this one as you're a more competent lifter than I. Lowering the bar under control does require a lot of focus and technique in itself and isn't for everybody.

Lowering under control is an option provided that you bear the aforementioned in mind, although you're better off lifting in a location where you can drop the bar, whether you need/choose to or not.
 
FWIW, for me, pushing the hips back maximally when I lower the weight is the key cue. It's the opposite of getting the hips to move forward during the first half of the lift - if I don't push my hips back maximally on the descent, the load shifts to my lower back in a not-good way, I've found. :(

-S-
 
Do you have any experience with this product? How high are the plates off the ground when in it?
 
Do you have any experience with this product? How high are the plates off the ground when in it?

About 20mm - the thickness of the middle portion. Once the weights fully sit down it's no longer curved but sits flat cupping the edges of the plate
 
You can consider making a heavy sand bag--deadlift ,Zercher lift,continental cleans,get ups--different and harder in many ways than a well balanced barbell.
 
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