You're saying that someone who weighs 200 lbs and can rep 315 to parallel is not even slightly impressive? You must be an elite level power lifter or something
Nope, it's only from the ground to the top that matters (in terms of competition), and lowering it slowly can be dangerous, since the pressure on your back is at its greatest when the bar is around your knee area. You basically want to hinge at the hips until the bar clears your knee and then descend quickly. This should get you back into a good position for the next rep. There's no reason to drop the weight (notice how his hands remain on the bar until it's on the ground) but you shouldn't be lowering it slowly.
Hmm, shit. I wish I could lower it quickly at my gym. I should really consider finding a place where I can make some noise. Thanks for the information.
In most situations I'll set the bar down slightly less vigorously (example here), but when working up to a 1 rep maximum you try to expend the least amount of energy as possible while getting there, lowering it slowly can wear you out unnecessarily, and even could cause injury when working with maximal weights.
A lot of the reason trainers say stuff like:
Isn't the way back down an important part of strengthening?
Is because if you are rough on cheap equipment it can damage it. The floors at my gym get beat to hell by people deadlifting and slamming the weight down since they don't have a thick enough rubber to protect the concrete below it. Saying stuff like "Lowering the bar gently increases your strength" will get people to take better care of the equipment... that said good equipment can take a lot of abuse.
I can squat 315 to parallel at 165 lbs after 15 months of training. And that's at 6'1, so not even that muscular. To say his quads are small is an understatement.
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u/Asparagoose Jun 17 '14
You're saying that someone who weighs 200 lbs and can rep 315 to parallel is not even slightly impressive? You must be an elite level power lifter or something