Walk into any proper barbell strength training gym and you’ll likely see someone deadlifting. And that deadlift? It’s probably going to be set back down onto the floor with a thunderous bang.

In fact, some gyms ban deadlifts entirely because of the noise and vibrations that is emitted when iron hits the floor. That distinctive clang often causes disagreements between lifters and commercial gym management, as well as the casual gym goer.

The paradox of deadlift platforms

With barbell strength training booming in recent years, many commercial gyms are installing lifting platforms specifically designed to handle heavy deadlifts lowered quickly and Olympic lifts released from shoulder height.

But here’s the irony: just because these gyms have platforms doesn’t mean they understand their purpose. Some facilities buy this equipment simply because it’s currently popular and members demand proper lifting setups.

A client told me a while back about his gym’s renovation with new weightlifting platforms, bumper plates, the works. Yet when he was deadlifting heavy and lowered the barbell quickly back onto the platform (exactly what it was designed for), the staff told him to stop and lower it “gently”, which is absolutely ridiculous. And it’s not the first time I’ve heard lifters that train in commercial gyms get told to stop deadlifting, lower weights slowly, or quit “slamming” the bar.

With the increased popularity of barbell training and more people deadlifting, there can sometimes be tension in commercial gyms between between management worried about noise and upsetting the casual gym goer and serious lifters doing what they need to do. Just Google “kicked out of gym for deadlifting” – you’ll see what I mean.

At Hygieia, we understand why deadlifts are loud. But when new clients train alongside our experienced lifters doing a set of heavy deadlifts, they inevitably ask: “Why does that person need to ‘slam’ the bar down and make so much noise?“

Misconceptions about “slamming” the bar

Let’s get one thing straight: sure, some lifters intentionally slam the bar down because they think it’s cool or to show off what they’re lifting by drawing attention to themselves. If you’re doing that, stop. Don’t be a wanker.

Our lifters aren’t trying to “slam” the bar down to cause a ruckus. What we’re actually trying to achieve is energy efficiency. We coach our lifters to avoid expending unnecessary energy to control the descent of the bar, so that they can conserve energy for what actually matters – deadlifting the bar from the floor to the lockout position.

To the untrained eye, it looks like the lifter is simply relaxing and letting the bar crash down. But there’s a crucial distinction: properly executed deadlifts involve lowering the bar under control but quickly. There’s a difference between this and slamming the bar back down. 

Check out this video of deadlifts being lowered back to the floor. You’ll see the difference between a proper and controlled fast lowering of the barbell, and a deliberate slamming of the weight down. The difference between a controlled drop and a deliberate slam is as clear as night and day to experienced coaches, even though both create noise – albeit at different volumes.

Training progression of deadlift technique

We don’t coach new lifters to lower the barbell back to the floor quickly right away. When someone is new to deadlifting, we coach them to lower the bar under complete control – slowly – so they can learn proper movement patterns: how to lower the barbell back to the floor and setting up correctly for the next rep.

As the lifter gets more proficient in this movement pattern and can consistently repeat it, we gradually coach them to speed up the descent. But let me be clear: we never instruct anyone to “slam” the bar down, drop it as hard and fast as possible, or intentionally create noise. That is not what we want. What we want is for our lifters to avoid wasting energy on an unnecessarily slow descent. The noise created when the loaded barbell is set back onto the floor is simply a byproduct of energy conservation.

Observe an experienced lifter do a set of deadlifts and you’ll notice something important during the descent. After locking out the deadlift, they’re not simply relaxing and letting the bar free-fall. Instead, the lifter unlocks his hips first by shoving his butt back and bends at the hip while keeping his back in extension. The bar travels back to the floor in a controlled path, staying over the middle of the foot. It’s under control – just fast.

What we care about for strength training

The primary goal in strength training is straightforward: build strength by progressively lifting heavier weights.

Some people will argue that lowering the bar slowly builds strength and muscle by increasing time under tension. But that’s not true. You get stronger by lifting progressively heavier weights, not by increasing time under tension. We don’t care about time under tension. We care about lifting the weight. What makes you stronger is by lifting progressively heavier weights, period.

When you unnecessarily control your descent, you’re wasting energy that could fuel your next lift. If this exhausts you and causes you to miss the next rep, it’s counterproductive to getting stronger.

Practical solutions and gym etiquette

Look, we’re not oblivious – we know that deadlifting creates noise and vibration that can annoy others. A proper strength training gym should do its best to absorb impact and reduce noise and vibration in order to be considerate of its neighbours. That’s why one of my non-negotiable criteria when selecting our gym location was that it had to be on the first-floor. Even with this criteria, together with purpose build lifting platforms, we’ve occasionally received complaints from our neighbours about noise and vibrations from heavy deadlifts.

For hearing protection in noisy environments, Coach Marvin recently created a video about managing noise levels and protecting your hearing.

But let’s be realistic about commercial gyms – it’s a losing battle. Only a small percentage of their members deadlift heavy and make the noise we’re talking about. The average commercial gym would rather please the majority of casual members and surrounding businesses than deal with the hassle of allowing “proper” lifting.

Suggestions for casual members and lifters to train in harmony

I hope that the solution for commercial gyms isn’t a wholesale ban of deadlifts but rather accommodating to both casual and serious lifters. Providing equipment like deadlift platforms, deadlift slings or crash pads can help to reduce noise and vibration so that casual members and serious lifters can work together in the same space.

Lifters, do your part as well – don’t slam the bar down like in the video above. If the gym provides the necessary equipment to dampen the noise and vibration, use it.

However, if the gym you’re training at isn’t keen to provide such equipment, you should find another gym, preferably a proper barbell strength training gym like ours. In a dedicated strength gym like ours, everyone’s a lifter and lowering a heavy deadlift quickly is normal.

In the end, the sound of a properly executed deadlift isn’t “slamming.” It’s the sound of someone getting stronger, one rep at a time.

Tired of gym policies that limit your training? Need a like-minded space to train? Join us at Hygieia Strength & Conditioning.