Noise Solution: Deadlifts, Pendlay Rows, etc. From Home

So without going into an overly long and detailed drama, my neighbors are complete assholes.

I was doing Pendlay rows in my garage which is part of a town-home at 4 in the afternoon and out of no where some guy I never even spoke to before came up threatening to attack me because I was trying to improve myself and he felt that it was appropriate to be hostile and aggressive without due civility in politely bringing it up before, whilst the other neighbor’s passive-aggressive ass jumped in—who also never had the decency to just SAY something before.

Anyways the way I’m getting around this is by essentially deadlifting and rowing from the lowest possible rack-pull position that I can use with safety straps, without the plates actually touching the ground. Throw in a piece of flooring or two to make up for the deficit and you’re basically doing a full ROM deadlift or Pendlay row from the rack. Makes a massive difference and most of the noise is just plates clanking together. Anyways I hope this helps you guys who lift from apartments or town-homes, or anywhere else where you have to worry about dickhead neighbors. Cheers.

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If your neighbours are going to be such cockheads maybe you should start lifting at 4… in the morning. Give them something to complain about.

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Pretty much. People are trash.

You have bumpers and flooring… I don’t really understand where the noise would be coming from?

What time do you lift?

That was about 4PM

I live in a townhome which apparently shares a common slab with three other addresses. So when the bar contacts the ground the reverberations transfer all throughout. And I’m on one end in a 3 address unit and both of them feel it.

Sorry, I just noticed you already said that in your OP. Complaining during the day is a bit rough, maybe you should take up drums.

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What a cocksucker, it’s your place, you do what you want! Next time crank up some metal, grunt, groan, have the garage door open and lift those suckers straight off the floor! Go mental at him next time he fires up his lawn mower on Sunday arvo, seriously some people should be pushed into a wood chipper!
I lift on some old conveyor rubber, protects my plates from the concrete but makes a god awful bang when lifting 200+kg and never had a complaint from the neighbours, and my neighbour 2 houses down reckons he can hear it!

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You may need to isolate the shock/vibration by cutting a joint into the slab and filling it with a shock absorbing compound like they use for heavy plate shears or something.

Once you do that though, you might as well get a shear and start doing heavy plate processing. If they thought dead lifting was bad, wait till they feel that. Those things are seismic.

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You could build a plywood platform. That should dampen most of the vibration.

*Doesn’t cost much either.
**I used .5" horse stall mats on mine too.

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Are they complaining about the noise from the plates hitting the floor or the plates clanking together? If it’s the first one, just do barbell rows and slow negative deads and don’t slam anything? I live in a townhouse with a flat underneath and when they slam shit in theirs it gets my dog going and it’s hard to calm him down. It’s bullshit that they came up to you like that, but they pay to live there too. Honestly, I wouldn’t worry too much about it until HOA or the owner of the complex comes up to you personally.

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Yeah its the vibrations more than anything I think.

You have no idea, this fucker had prison tattoos and was inches from swinging on me with zero provocation.

He honestly could have gotten the same result with a civil approach, as could the dumb bitch who jumped in on it. People have no decency these days and some day they’ll answer for it.

Also I apologize for posting in the wrong section. I meant to add this to bodybuilding in general, but I guess my phone screen disagrees.

No need to apologize. It’s most appropriate here in BSL, unless the neighbors were complaining about you hosting a bodybuilding contest in your garage.

On topic, crappy neighbors will complain about anything. Whatever solution you come up with (mats or platform are probably the best bet), it’s in their craw already and it sounds like they’ll find reasons to whine no matter what.

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Surely when you introduced yourself to your neighbors and explained you would be lifting and making noise they made their objections THEN, no? Otherwise, silly of them to change their position without warning like that.

I had the same problem, but I’m the weird tattooed guy in my complex :frowning:

I ended up joining a gym and save heavier lifts for there, I just do light accessories at home now.

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