Deadlifts - lower it fast or slow?

[raffytaffy]

I noticed a lot of people, when deadlifting, tend to slowly pick up the weight, then drop it quickly. Is there any advantage of dropping it faster then picking it up? I myself like to pick it up slowly ( 5 secs~ ) and lower slowly ( ~4 secs ). Any thoughts on this?

[peroxadic]

hrmm i'd like to know the answer on this too.. i saw a youtube clip (dont have the link anymore sorry) of this humongo guy doing deadlifts and he was going up AND down pretty damn fast.. probly like a rep a second

[DiMattia43]

i do it slow up and down..

a nice controlled lift i think is best...

[FWCMuZiK]

People just do what works what they see and feel results from

[ironwill2008]

It's best to lower the bar under control, then re-set, and pull the next rep. If the bar drops quickly, you lose the benefit of the negative, and you also invite injury; you can get hurt lowering the bar with bad form, just as you can lifting it with bad form.

[brandynq]

When I'm doing heavy weights (anything under 5 reps) I go up fast, pause, and down fast. The times I've gone down slow, I had to lower the weight. It tires you out a lot quicker.

But I hear slow negatives are a good idea so I guess just do what you prefer.

[DontRevMe]

The people you watch drop the weight are probably power lifters, hypertrophy isnt their main concern. You do much of the damage to your muscle during the negative movement.

[rockhuddy]

You should always try to lift the weight fast, for all compound exercises. This will recruit the most muscle fibers.

For deads, lower the bar quickly but under control. Trying to put the bar down slowly doesn't offer any advantage, and it's a good way to hurt yourself. Even if you think negatives are a good idea, this is not a good exercise to do them with.

[Phil2009]

You should always try to lift the weight fast, for all compound exercises. This will recruit the most muscle fibers.

For deads, lower the bar quickly but under control. Trying to put the bar down slowly doesn't offer any advantage, and it's a good way to hurt yourself. Even if you think negatives are a good idea, this is not a good exercise to do them with.

x2 Its not so much at what speed you can move the bar, its more at what speed you can WITH control. The moment you lose control, the more likely you will injure yourself, especially with an exercise such as deadlifts.

[murphyx500]

If I lowered the bar too quickly it would probably break through my ****ty gym's floor.

[msg_chris]

you should have a controlled explosion on the positive phase of the lift, pause for a moment and hold peak contraction, then you should lower the weight slowly under control.

not like 5 seconds down but controlled an slow...

[Doenitz79]

I have to lower under control if not the gym attendant would chase me out of the facility.

[lukew55]

i usually try to do a controlled explosive positive, then a slow negative and thats when i feel the most pull in my back and it helped me to build a lot of thickness

[Dominik]

I noticed a lot of people, when deadlifting, tend to slowly pick up the weight, then drop it quickly. Is there any advantage of dropping it faster then picking it up? I myself like to pick it up slowly ( 5 secs~ ) and lower slowly ( ~4 secs ). Any thoughts on this?

If I was training at home or in a powerlifting gym, I'd do them like Matt Kroczaleski in the video below. Because I train in a commercial gym that's more like a "fitness centre", I lower the bar slowly so it doesn't make much noise. Costs me at least a couple of reps.

[dazzlepecs]

try repping without actually touching the ground

[justarandomguy]

try repping without actually touching the ground

As far as I'd say, if you're all about strength, dump it at lockout, and focus on exploding up, if you want size, don't let it touch the ground, which isn't really a deadlift because the whole idea is it's a "dead" weight.

If you're in it for size, lighter weight, fast up, really slower down, don't let it touch the ground, repeat for higher reps.

For strength, lower reps, fast up, drop from top, always regrip and use heavy arse weights.

Overly simplified, but you get the idea.

[jonwilson]

you should have a controlled explosion on the positive phase of the lift, pause for a moment and hold peak contraction, then you should lower the weight slowly under control.

not like 5 seconds down but controlled an slow...

thats the thing tho, if youre lifting a heavy weight, its kinda impossible to explode up. the heavy weight is gonna make you slow down.

[Juggernaut33]

I drop the weight pretty fast when I do deads. When I go heavy on them, droppin them slowly isn't a priority.

[AHTTG]

I lower the bar fast.... erm I should say I almost let it fall, just guide it along the way so I don't have to reset my position.

The real difference is if you start each rep from a dead stop or use the bounce to get more reps out. Neither one is better than the other, just different.

[ElClipo]

you should have a controlled explosion on the positive phase of the lift, pause for a moment and hold peak contraction, then you should lower the weight slowly under control.

not like 5 seconds down but controlled an slow...

Not meaning to threadjack, but...
By holding the contraction on deads, do I just hold teh bar or should I do a shrug as part of the excercise?

[jonwilson]

I lower the bar fast.... erm I should say I almost let it fall, just guide it along the way so I don't have to reset my position.

The real difference is if you start each rep from a dead stop or use the bounce to get more reps out. Neither one is better than the other, just different.

i understand that people want to lift as heavy as possible, but if people are only concentrating on the concentric, wouldnt they get less results than if they concentrated on using good form on both concentric and eccentric portions of the lift?

[Flex500]

I noticed a lot of people, when deadlifting, tend to slowly pick up the weight, then drop it quickly. Is there any advantage of dropping it faster then picking it up? I myself like to pick it up slowly ( 5 secs~ ) and lower slowly ( ~4 secs ). Any thoughts on this?

you look very big so I imagine also strong....

which makes me wonder why this question has not already been answered for you...I mean when you get into the 400, 500, 600+ range of deadlifting you start to lose the ability to slowly lower it and set it down nicely. I don't think if you are really going heavy enough you can actually lower it slowly.

Of course if we are talking about striaight leg deads and working the hamstrings that is totally different.

[AHTTG]

i understand that people want to lift as heavy as possible, but if people are only concentrating on the concentric, wouldnt they get less results than if they concentrated on using good form on both concentric and eccentric portions of the lift?

That depends on the exercise. For some it works well, for others it doesn't. If you wanted to focus on the negative part of the lift, I would reccomend SLDL.

[Emmortal]

I'd focus more on lowering it in a controlled fashion all the way to the ground. Let the bar reset (it's called a deadlift for a reason) and then do the next rep. I see a lot of people lower the bar within a few inches of the ground and then proceed to lift it again. This is a recipe for injury, especially once you start going into the 400lb+ range.

[rockhuddy]

when you get into the 400, 500, 600+ range of deadlifting you start to lose the ability to slowly lower it and set it down nicely.

very true, good point

[AHTTG]

very true, good point

Fast forward to about 3 minutes into it.

[rockhuddy]

Fast forward to about 3 minutes into it.

that's making 100% sure they can't DQ you

[AHTTG]

that's making 100% sure they can't DQ you

Captain obvious, is that you?

[rockhuddy]

Captain obvious, is that you?

just pointing it out for those who may not realize

[tropo]

I don't think if you are really going heavy enough you can actually lower it slowly.

Ronnie lowers his first rep in an 800 lb double slowly here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1KD7cGRDDc