In my opinion I have been fairly good about putting down DBs lightly after finishing a set. (Is there even a term for this? I have just been calling it a ‘release’ since I don’t know if there is a name for it or not).
For me, there happens to be one exception to this: Flat DB bench.
At the last part of my rep, the weights are at their lowest position near my side/shoulders. Then I extend and straighten my elbows while trying to bring the DBs as close to the ground as possible. I end up completely letting go of the weights almost 6" above the ground and they make a huge slam noise. It isn’t my intention to do this, I don’t want to seem like an asshole trying to get attention.
I have a seen people do it a few ways:
Drop/Slam method (pretty much what I’ve been doing but I’d rather not if I could)
Another way I’ve seen is people setting down the weights on the DB “bottoms” (I have a difficult time performing this, possibly due to short arms)
Third way I’ve seen is on the person’s last rep, they pretty much perform only the “up” portion of the lift, and they somehow let the weights fall in an arc motion (while holding onto them of course) and the person almost seems to “roll” forward and ends up seated upright.
Is there a right technique to put down heavy DBs for flat benching? How would you do it?
Off topic but that guy in the video has some major trust in those cheap ass spring collars. Ive never had luck with them on DB when cleaning the weight like that when the loads get up at all.
Nothing like tearing something in your shoulder becuase your trying not to disturb the housewives on the treadmills.
No I am not saying slam your weights on purpose or for the hell of it, but if you are in a position where you are in danger of hurting yourself, drop the weight safly.
[quote]jbodzin wrote:
If you “have to” drop the weight then do it.
Nothing like tearing something in your shoulder becuase your trying not to disturb the housewives on the treadmills.
No I am not saying slam your weights on purpose or for the hell of it, but if you are in a position where you are in danger of hurting yourself, drop the weight safly.[/quote]
And here all this time I thought they were soccer mom’s…but you are right, given the choice between injury and noise, I’ll drop the weights.
Besides, aren’t Gyms supposed to be loud? Or is grunting and dropping weights politically incorrect these days?
[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
when you are on the last part of your rep, i.e. in the air, bring the DB’s slowly down to your chest, then sit up and rest the DB’S on your knees.[/quote]
I agree. Even when very heavy I have always been able to bring them down to my chest and then use the momentum from kicking my legs up then down to come back into a sitting position with the DB’s on my thighs.
A workout partner I had a couple years ago even with 100’s would let them fall crashing down. I didn’t like the attention it brought. I always felt like people thought “what idiots,” when he did that.
I sit up with them like the guy in the video, but that can be tough from the flat or decline position. You can try bringing them down to your chest, and then putting them down one at a time by rotating to that side. It’s much easier on the shoulders that way. But if it comes down to tearing a muscle or making a little noise in the gym (it’s not the f*<kin’ library), I think everyone here is in agreement.
I will test the ‘weights lowered to chest, then use momentum of legs to roll forward’ and see if I can do that with heavy weights. I have been doing that for DBs <50 but nothing beyond that. I will try starting from 60, 70, 80 and so on to see if I can do it.
It is very interesting that you guys mentioned possible shoulder injuries. The biggest problem for me seems to be my wrists, and that when I’m putting down the weights the weight is temporarily puts a large force on my wrist/arm in the perpindicular direction (hard to explain, kind of like a DB curl sort of).
If that doesn’t work, I’ll try putting the weights down one at a time and see how that goes.
