While i totally agree with the rest of your post, I'm going to have to disagree with this. Most people work out to get stronger, which is hard to do if you're doing weights that are "easy" for you. You have to push yourself to get progress.

I work out with a group of 5 friends every night, most of us are just normal size but one of my friends is 6'8 and 300lbs and when he does shoulder presses with dumbbells (just as an example) he uses 125lb dumbells. While I can pick these up, I can't exactly take both of these from him at once so its easiest/safest to have him drop them. I don't see what people's big deal is about dropping weights, as long as its done safely and you're conscious about who is around when you do it.

Last week we got griped at by one of the front desk people because he was shrugging ~700lbs and dropped it about 4 inches on to the rack but it made a loud bang. Sorry, but sometimes heavy weights are just going to make noise. It's not a library, whats wrong with making a little noise?

 

^ Sorry, but it sounds like your friend needs a better spotter, or maybe needs to consider using the machines instead of freeweights if he can't find a way to control his weights.

Honestly, I'm not concerned about people dropping their dead lift when they're inside a rack, I'm concerned about the guy doing dumbell presses that launches the dumbells across the room at the end of the set (or just drops them, and they bounce off towards other people). A 125lb dumbell can do some serious damage when dropped. Hell, a 5lb weight can break a foot/toe even if only dropped from 1-2 feet high.

The point is that when you're in a gym, you're sharing that space with other people. Keep that in mind and be considerate of them.

Edit: And just to clarify... doing weights that you can control isn't the same as doing weights that are easy. Even if you're doing dumbell presses and you push to exhaustion, you should still be able to control the weights down to the floor. Use wrist straps to hold onto them if you have to.

 

honestly, have you ever lifted in your life? you must weigh 150 lbs or something.

I do dumbbell press with 110 in each hand and after 11 reps i have to drop them, and i dont mean throw in but dropping it about a foot off the ground.

 

I never realized how viral a topic grunting in the gym is.

 

You make it sound like he's just hurling it at someone's head. We're careful as to when we drop it and make sure nobody is standing around. If you don't struggle with the weight after 10-15 reps, then you're not working hard enough. As his spotter, i make sure he holds his last rep until its safe to drop and I give him the OK.

But if you're stupid enough to stand right next to someone who is clearly struggling with heavy weights you deserve to get your foot broken anyway.

 

If your buddy drops it straight down and it never takes a bad bounce and it stays within 6" or so of him, then I'm not specifically referring to him. Still, I honestly believe (and was always coached this way) that you should have full control of the weight from the time you pick it up to the time you put it down. If you can't manage that, then you should have a spotter and that spotter is responsible for maintaining that control when you're no longer able. It's purely a safety issue. Any time the weight is not under control, there is a risk that someone could get injured. Yes, I understand that some people want to push themselves beyond their limits when they lift weights, but they should never do it at the expense of other people's safety (or their own).

The people that concern/irritate me are the ones that have absolutely no control when they drop the weights. Some intentionally chuck them because they want to look cool (right after they complete a set full of unnecessary loud grunts), some just drop them at awkward angles and they bounce off in random directions. The benches in my gym are bolted to the ground and are about 4-5 feet apart. On multiple occasions, I've seen people drop weights so hard & awkwardly that they bounce and hit the bench next to them. These are the people I'm referring to. If someone had been working at that bench, they could've easily ended up with a broken foot or fractured ankle. I shouldn't have to look for another free bench or worry about injury just because some jackass next to me isn't taking other people's safety into consideration.

Nah, not much. Let's roll out our e-biceps and compare. However, I was on my varsity powerlifting team my sophomore year in high school. And as I mentioned above, I was coached that safety is paramount.

 

I often grunt when there are few people at my gym. But that's only because I lift and squat a lot. When it's more crowded, I don't grunt. Surprisingly, grunting does help a bit.

 

There is dropping weights, and there is dropping weights. I understand you sometimes need to drop a weight from belt height, but if you are dropping from shoulder height, you have absolutely no business lifting that weight in the first place.

 

Sorry, BS flag on this one. If you are working until failure, you don't have the time to check your surroundings and check for people's toes. If you can no longer hold the weight, it drops immediately. If you DO look around and scan your surroundings, that means you can easily place the weight on the floor with no problems.

 

You can grunt all day long, but the asshat in the video is borderline screaming.