Deadlifts: drop or put down?

[Todd Rehm]

Originally Posted by Jon Gregory

Yep....so many people have trouble on the way down they are an injury waiting to happen.

Do you have non-anecdotal data to support this statement? Or a background in weight training outside of CrossFit?

It appears to me from anecdotes and personal experience that powerlifters don't injure themselves deadlifting with the frequency that CrossFitters do.

[Thomas Green]

The lift doesn't count unless you lower it under control

[Jon Gregory]

Originally Posted by Todd Rehm

Do you have non-anecdotal data to support this statement? Or a background in weight training outside of CrossFit?

It appears to me from anecdotes and personal experience that powerlifters don't injure themselves deadlifting with the frequency that CrossFitters do.

Not sure why I'd need any evidence to support the suggestion....a great many people lose form on the down and, hence, become injury prone. My background isn't particularly specialised, I primarily come from a team sports and surfing and snowboarding/skiing background so my statement is basically anecdotal from observations in the gym.
Bear in mind that if you refer to powerlifters you are looking at a very specialised group of people who have developed their form to a very well grooved stage. You wouldn't expect a person specialising to that extent to make a mess of the down.
Now, your average joe who decides one day that he's going to start deadlifting and doesn't learn the movement properly can get into a mess very quickly, and from my observations it commonly occurs on the down. Some guys will get the up with reasonable form and then just crumple down with the bar totally messing up their form. This is an injury waiting to happen.
Obviously, if they are basically dropping the bar and just "following it down" the risk is reduced but the "average joe" doesn't do that.

[Jason Peacock]

Ah, this is thread is where I really wanted to post this awesome clip I just saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHuglcCk8I (wfs)

Notice how he's not dropping the bar? He may be coming down quickly, but he's still lowering and not collapsing.

There's really no reason to ever drop the bar, it doesn't gain anything and working the negative is good for you.

You need to maintain pressure and good form for the complete movement, which includes the down as well as the up. Too many people get the bar up, then release all their pressure and attempt to lower the bar, that's where the injuries occur.

It's like starting a squat by just dropping down, *then* trying to pressurize and get back up again - it doesn't work. You've got to keep pressure the whole time.

[Geoff Archibald]

Originally Posted by Jason Peacock

It's like starting a squat by just dropping down, *then* trying to pressurize and get back up again - it doesn't work. You've got to keep pressure the whole time.

Isn't that pretty close to what happens in a good clean?

Let's say you're working a 2 rep max deadlift. You make the first and lower OK but you're already starting to feel weak. You go for the second rep and fail. Do you lower back down or drop the bar?

I would drop it. Is that wrong? It seems to me that failing while lowering is more dangerous than failing on the way up. Again, I may be wrong but I haven't seen any evidence to the contrary.

I drop things that I lift all the time. Tires, bags of dirt, anything that is heavy and can't get damaged. Yes, it's important to be able to lower heavy things but all things that are heavy need not be lowered. Shouldn't I know how to drop them as well?

With the clean or snatch, when I'm warming up, I'll control the weight back down to the ground. Essentially reversing the movement in a way. When the weight gets heavier I drop it. Granted the lifts are very different from the deadlift since there is a dynamic component and bringing it down gets to be impossible but I don't think that the "don't drop deadlifts" is as cut and dry as some are making it out to be.

If ever I post my 1RM anywhere it will be one that was lowered but I may drop a few along the way.

[Chad Anderson]

I set the weight down.

I tweaked my low back about 10 years ago and then again 8 years ago. The culprit was primarily a mental lapse leading to poor form.

Solution- Keep my shoulders back, chest high, back flat, core tight and weight on heels while allowing the weight to decellerate past the knees.

Think of it like squatting the weight back down...butt stays back, chest high and weight on heels.

I see way too many people let their shoulders roll foward or allow the weight distribution roll to the balls of their feet on the descent which places the low back in a compromised position.

[Andrew Breyer]

I'm a dropper.

In metcons, time is critical. Why waste the time setting the bar down nicely, if the rules give me completion points at the top?

[Eric Montgomery]

Originally Posted by Andrew Breyer

I'm a dropper.

In metcons, time is critical. Why waste the time setting the bar down nicely, if the rules give me completion points at the top?

On metcons, it takes longer to reset your grip after a dropped deadlift than it does to keep your hands on the bar and do a touch-and-go at the bottom.

[Jon Gregory]

Touch and go waaaaay quicker on metcons. Normally the weight isn't too challenging for a strong lifter and you can really motor through them

[David Thornton]

Originally Posted by Chad Anderson

Solution- Keep my shoulders back, chest high, back flat, core tight and weight on heels while allowing the weight to decellerate past the knees.

Just to be sure, Chad, do you mean accelerate?