Is it best to go up with a weight you can lift but not be able to completely control on the down motion or only work with weights you can control equally?
I can pull 205# with bent rows, but when I lower it, its harder to control and ends up making noise. The reason I ask is because the gym attendant at my school mentioned to me to not make so much noise, “more control”. i am wondering if working with a lower weight for better control on the down motion would lower strength(most likely i assume). Currently doing a run at strong lifts, 5x5 rows and 1x5 deadlifts.
The old school way is to start kind of “loose.” You don’t heave the weights, but you use a little body English to make sure you get through a good ROM. Make sure you get those shoulders squeezed together and your elbows behind your back at the top.
Next session, stick to the same weight. Just try to get one of your sets in with strict form, and more control. Keep this up until you’re smoothly controlling all 5 sets, that you once needed to “cheat” through. Then repeat.
[quote]chamburger1 wrote:
Is it best to go up with a weight you can lift but not be able to completely control on the down motion or only work with weights you can control equally?
I can pull 205# with bent rows, but when I lower it, its harder to control and ends up making noise. The reason I ask is because the gym attendant at my school mentioned to me to not make so much noise, “more control”. i am wondering if working with a lower weight for better control on the down motion would lower strength(most likely i assume). Currently doing a run at strong lifts, 5x5 rows and 1x5 deadlifts. [/quote]
Ask the gym attendant: Is this a knitting class? If not, your late for one.
[quote]chamburger1 wrote:
Is it best to go up with a weight you can lift but not be able to completely control on the down motion or only work with weights you can control equally?
I can pull 205# with bent rows, but when I lower it, its harder to control and ends up making noise. The reason I ask is because the gym attendant at my school mentioned to me to not make so much noise, “more control”. i am wondering if working with a lower weight for better control on the down motion would lower strength(most likely i assume). Currently doing a run at strong lifts, 5x5 rows and 1x5 deadlifts. [/quote]
Ask the gym attendant: Is this a knitting class? If not, your late for one.
[/quote]
This. Don’t just let the weight fall but IMO there’s no need to lower it gently.
Seriously, I left my old gym cause they said my deadlifting was too loud. I said heavy weight makes noise, and I’m not dropping it at all. She said if I can’t control the weight I shouldn’t pull as much, it was 225 lbs, I can pull over 500, please bitch, cancelled that day.
if you’re doing sets of 5, especially on the barbell rows, you should be able to do them without dropping the weights hard each rep.
Why not try this: If you can’t control the weight going down, that means you’re using momentum to lift the weight going up. Try using stricter form on the barbell rows. This is definitely an exercise where strict form and a controlled descent can be beneficial. It’s the way I prefer to do them. Any weight I can perform a strict rep with, I can also lower it down reasonably.
205 shouldn’t make much noise anyway. That’s not much weight. If it’s making so much noise that you’re being called out for it, then you’re probably wrong here.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
I can see I’ll be in the minority on this, but…
if you’re doing sets of 5, especially on the barbell rows, you should be able to do them without dropping the weights hard each rep.
Why not try this: If you can’t control the weight going down, that means you’re using momentum to lift the weight going up. Try using stricter form on the barbell rows. This is definitely an exercise where strict form and a controlled descent can be beneficial. It’s the way I prefer to do them. Any weight I can perform a strict rep with, I can also lower it down reasonably.
205 shouldn’t make much noise anyway. That’s not much weight. If it’s making so much noise that you’re being called out for it, then you’re probably wrong here.[/quote]
I was going to say something similar that it could be of benefit to get better at controlling the eccentric if it’s a big weakness. It doesn’t have to be something the OP focuses on indefinitely but it’s always good to learn why weaknesses exist and how to improve. Control of his body results in better control of the weight.
Learning to control the eccentric on deadlifts and rows was pretty instrumental in my deadlift and back progress. Whole lot of growth potential in that.