Controlled eccentric on Deadlift

Hello,

I had a really simple question. I train at home on a second floor and I’m growing a bit concerned about the impact of my Deadlift on the roof structure, nothing has happened so far but I’m erring on the cautious side. Would using a controlled eccentric be detritimental? My main concern is injury wise, I know I would have to drop some weight off the bar to adjust to this type of eccentric and I know it won’t be optimal for max performance. I pull conventional around 200 pounds.
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Thanks in advance.

Daniel

DVD,

I don’t think you’re likely to increase injury risk by deadlifting this way and while I cannot speak to the structural integrity of your roof, it probably would help to not slam the bar into the ground each rep. You’ll have to move to a ground floor location soon though.

I also cannot speak to the condition of your structure. But consider your barbell as another person, with feet spread out nearly 5 feet apart. Or when you get to 405, two people standing nearly 5 feet apart. Lifting on a 8x8 or 4x8 platform with 3/4" rubber stall mat over two sheets of plywood also helps dissipate the energy of impact and distribute the load over a larger area. Deadlifting should be well within the range of normal residential activities. With residences you run into problems if you have a house party with people jumping in unison, or if you have multiple shelves of books like a library. Or a 1500lb waterbed, or if you’re in an attic that wasn’t designed to have a floor. A quick consult with a structural engineer will run about the same as an in-person coaching session and could relieve you of worries that might force training modifications or hold you back.

I have 9 foot basement ceilings now, but my last house I deadlifted between 400-500 regularly on the main level over a basement with sheetrock on the ceiling(couldn’t press in the basement).

I put the bar down pretty hard, the joists were fine but flexed and cracked the drywall on the ceiling. I moved my gym into the basement after that.

You will want to distribute the weight across more surface area, i.e. three sheets of plywood and a stall mat under where you lift. I lift in an office gym so I have to lower the weight under full control given people are working next door and I don’t want to be the guy that gets deadlifting banned in our gym.

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