Should you try to have your ass as close to the ground as possible at the beginning of each rep?
And do you benefit much from lowering the weight slowly, can you drop it?
I wouldn’t keep your butt any closer to the ground than you need. Basically set your hips so they move as the bar moves otherwise it’s just wasted movement. Also I wouldn’t lower the bar slowly…Check out CW’s recent article on reps…But whether you straight drop it depends on your goals. If your training like a powerlifter I’d just let it drop and only pull for singles, but if a bodybuilder you might rep it and let it down smoothly…IMO, if that makes sense…
By drop it I don’t mean just release your hands while standing but lower it as fast as possible…
Today’s training tip comes from Mike Robertson:
Lift, Don’t Sit!
When attempting a heavy deadlift, don’t “sit” at the bottom. Research has shown that the stretch reflex is all but negated after approximately four seconds. Some lifters may sit in the starting position for several seconds before they actually begin. Big mistake! Also, it’s difficult to maintain any air (intrabdominal and intrathoracic pressure) when you’re in the bottom. “Sitting” can decrease your stability and your strength as well.
You don’t need to get your ass too low; you aren’t squatting the weight off the ground.
Just drop the weight after you lift it. You will find that a lot of injuries occur on DL negatives . . . it’s not that they aren’t beneficial, it’s a matter of risk/reward.
No
Yes you can drop it if it is cool at your gym.
Ian King says, and this is speaking about doing deadlifts to promote hypertrophy (http://t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=39power) that the negative of the deadlift isn’t that important, and that it doesn’t mirror the lift. What I do is I lower it so that I put as little stress on my body as possible, for the least amount of time.