Storage isn’t the real problem. You need, for example, a floor which will survive 300+ lbs of steel dropped onto it from more than six feet.
Unless you’re doing olympic weightlifting (at which point you’d be using rubber bumper plates), you’ll need to drop weights from hip height at most. Any weight you can overhead press, you can safely lower slowly to the ground. A 300lb deadlift will have two 150lb contacts with the floor—if your floor isn’t built to withstand 150lbs of force (an average person jumping), then it’s not fit to live on.
Lifting weights without a spotter or a rack is risky, especially for beginners.
For the bench press or squat, yes. For the deadlift, overhead press, and row, no. In the deadlift and row, the weight is never over you, and in the event of failure, dropping it is simple and easy. For the overhead press, a failed weight is still light compared to a person’s ability to control it to the ground. Furthermore, you should almost never be training to the point of failure if your goal is strength.
Weightlifters keep on saying that, but I see no sense in this. Why in the world, say, an overhead press is a “fundamental movement”?
In an overhead press, you 1) use your shoulders and triceps to move the weight up, 2) use your abs and back to stabilize your torso, 3) use your legs to balance yourself and stay in line, 4) brace your entire body to transmit force from the floor to your hands. Increasing the weight used increases the demand placed upon the entire body to develop strength.
How can that not be a fundamental movement? And how could improving these four points not have carry over to other tasks and movements?
If asked about highly general fundamental movements, I’d probably say run, climb, swim.
These are actually fairly specific movement patterns, even though they’re rather common. If you only trained running, you would not improve your squat much—but if you trained squatting, you’d improve your running, jumping, kicking, and any other motion that involves leg or hip extension. If you train climbing, you won’t help your swimming much—but if you train rows or chinups, you’ll improve both.
Someone runs across a field—using leg and hip extension trained in the deadlift and maintaining good posture also developed by the deadlift. They swim across a river—using pulling muscles developed by the row and pushing muscles developed by the overhead press. They climb up a cliff—using pulling muscles developed by the row, and push themselves over the ledge using muscles developed by the overhead press.
Sports scientists have very good ideas about what has broad carry over (ie general exercises/movement patterns) and what has limited carry over (ie sport specific movements). The idea is termed specificity. Strength training is very general, which means that it has very broad carry over to other activities. Elite weightlifters have very impressive vertical jump and sprint speeds, despite never training for these events.
Any weight you can overhead press, you can safely lower slowly to the ground.
In theory. In practice (especially with beginners) you lose your balance or you get a sudden pain or something else happens—and you would just throw the barbell on the floor.
if your floor isn’t built to withstand 150lbs of force
Force isn’t measured in pounds. What matters is momentum and contact surface. Drop your 300 lbs barbell even from hip height onto a wooden floor and it will leave dents.
How can that not be a fundamental movement?
Maybe we have a different idea of what “fundamental” means :-)
I am not arguing that weightlifting doesn’t develop muscles or that muscle strength isn’t useful. I just don’t see why, say, climbing a tree is less “fundamental” than taking, essentially, a very heavy stick and raising it over your head.
Unless you’re doing olympic weightlifting (at which point you’d be using rubber bumper plates), you’ll need to drop weights from hip height at most. Any weight you can overhead press, you can safely lower slowly to the ground. A 300lb deadlift will have two 150lb contacts with the floor—if your floor isn’t built to withstand 150lbs of force (an average person jumping), then it’s not fit to live on.
For the bench press or squat, yes. For the deadlift, overhead press, and row, no. In the deadlift and row, the weight is never over you, and in the event of failure, dropping it is simple and easy. For the overhead press, a failed weight is still light compared to a person’s ability to control it to the ground. Furthermore, you should almost never be training to the point of failure if your goal is strength.
In an overhead press, you 1) use your shoulders and triceps to move the weight up, 2) use your abs and back to stabilize your torso, 3) use your legs to balance yourself and stay in line, 4) brace your entire body to transmit force from the floor to your hands. Increasing the weight used increases the demand placed upon the entire body to develop strength.
How can that not be a fundamental movement? And how could improving these four points not have carry over to other tasks and movements?
These are actually fairly specific movement patterns, even though they’re rather common. If you only trained running, you would not improve your squat much—but if you trained squatting, you’d improve your running, jumping, kicking, and any other motion that involves leg or hip extension. If you train climbing, you won’t help your swimming much—but if you train rows or chinups, you’ll improve both.
Someone runs across a field—using leg and hip extension trained in the deadlift and maintaining good posture also developed by the deadlift. They swim across a river—using pulling muscles developed by the row and pushing muscles developed by the overhead press. They climb up a cliff—using pulling muscles developed by the row, and push themselves over the ledge using muscles developed by the overhead press.
Sports scientists have very good ideas about what has broad carry over (ie general exercises/movement patterns) and what has limited carry over (ie sport specific movements). The idea is termed specificity. Strength training is very general, which means that it has very broad carry over to other activities. Elite weightlifters have very impressive vertical jump and sprint speeds, despite never training for these events.
In theory. In practice (especially with beginners) you lose your balance or you get a sudden pain or something else happens—and you would just throw the barbell on the floor.
Force isn’t measured in pounds. What matters is momentum and contact surface. Drop your 300 lbs barbell even from hip height onto a wooden floor and it will leave dents.
Maybe we have a different idea of what “fundamental” means :-)
I am not arguing that weightlifting doesn’t develop muscles or that muscle strength isn’t useful. I just don’t see why, say, climbing a tree is less “fundamental” than taking, essentially, a very heavy stick and raising it over your head.