[quote]SavagedNatiion wrote:
[quote]MWP wrote:
[quote]56x11 wrote:
As stated earlier, I can see why your father’s gym had the no-drop rules. And I agree that most fools who drop weights do so just to look alpha. However, there’s a time and place for most things - including dropping weights. [/quote]
Believe me, I have seen every possible way a db can hit the ground from an elevated position. The way I am refering to is usually done on incline chest press when you basically toss them to the ground because you don’t have the gas to lower them down normally. You drop those older dbs like that on the ground and your replacing them very soon and those things aren’t cheap.
Bottom line, I guess it all depends on the kind of db’s in your gym and your gym’s policy because hell yeah, I would drop some 120’s in a heartbeat if I could. [/quote]
Great post. I believe dropping heavy is almost ALWAYS an end results. I strained my right wrist hard trying to be polite goin to failure on 130lbs inclines. Another time, I was at a local gym, and doing 135lbs shoulder presses. I brought them down as safely as possible as they thunderous hit the mat. Lisa, the owner came over and asked me passive aggressively, “Do you drop the weights Ian?” I told her, " Yes it was me Im not about to risk sprain or blowing out my rotary cuff for the sake of good manners. Unless, you’re gonna spot me down." She of course backed down respectively and laughed it off because, there’s no peaceful way to unload heavy dbs. Its not arrogance or bravado or being Alpha Male, it’s necessity.
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Bullseye.
Experienced lifters know that middle area in which they:
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first and foremost not injure themselves so they can continue to train and progress.
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not recklessly and unnecessarily throw things on the ground with no justification.
Re-visiting the incline db example in my prior post, there is method to bring the dbs to a shoulder level, and guide the db’s down in a controlled fall.
And people should learn situational awareness. If I see a lifter going hard (like the ones I described earlier), I am absolutely going to give him a wide berth. And I expect the same courtesy (at least from people who know better). If it’s busy/crowded and I know I’m surrounded by those who are not as experienced as they think they are (what I call the tourists/dabblers), I will give a warning and ask for extra space or do something else.
In my very first post, I stated that the quality of the gym, as long as it’s reasonably well-equipped, boils down to the management, employees, and clientele. Well, IMO, a smart owner/manager should know the difference between ‘abuse’ and ‘necessary’ in terms of how weights are handled by experienced lifters.
Now, if the owner, as in MWO’s example, wants to have a strict no-drop policy, then that’s fine - as long as the potential client is made aware of this BEFORE signing on the dotted line.
Unfortunately, I’ve too often seen owners and managers subtly show off the “serious” lifters to potential clients when giving a tour (so the gym has more street cred)…and, when these potential clients are gone, turn around and chastise these very same lifters for piddly dink reasons. If you’re going to open a first-rate coffee shop, don’t expect all your customers to order decaf.
