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Porcelain toilet lids and the metal plates on weightlifting machines are among the most dangerous common objects when it comes to hearing damage. I've heard of
by chongli 7y ago
Porcelain toilet lids and the metal plates on weightlifting machines are among the most dangerous common objects when it comes to hearing damage.
I've heard of cases where the plates on the machine were stuck together with grease and the user had selected a much lighter weight than usual. A number of plates below the linchpin were all the way up by the bonds of the grease before slipping and falling back down. The metal on metal impact rings out like a bell, right next to the user's head (in the case of bench press). Really nasty!
- zaroth 7y agoAnother good reason to barbell bench and skip the machine!
- i_am_nomad 7y agoOr dumbbell bench with those heavily rubberized weights. Dropping them is about as close to silent as you can get, and the exercises are the ultimate in form-focused weight training.
- vorpalhex 7y ago> heavily rubberized weights They're called bumper plates! They're so you can drop a loaded bar without causing everyone to glare at you - and also to help avoid the plates bouncing onto your foot. But you shouldn't need these on the bench. If you bench without a spotter and get stuck, move the weights to your hip and then sit up and shift them slowly to the floor like you're finishing a deadlift. (I've always called this the 'strongman escape' but it has no formal name afaik)
- zaroth 7y agoHaha, I’ve always heard it called the “roll of shame”. The bumper plates are also round, which makes it easier to get a deadlift into position, and makes it land better when doing reps. The first 45 is a bumper plate, then add regular plates from there. Resist the urge to bounce off the bottom of the rep! :-)
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- germinalphrase 7y agoI’m a small guy who used to frequent a bodybuilder focused gym. I can attest to the truth of this.
- JadeNB 7y agofragsworth mentions being the victim of exactly this issue with weightlifting machines (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16723769 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16723769) in the post linked by coke12 (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20700966 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20700966).
- chongli 7y agoThanks for linking this. This is what I was referring to, I had forgotten where I had heard of it happening.
- raverbashing 7y agoThere's usually some dampening at the bottom of the pile of weights, but yeah it can be loud depending on how heavy and how fast it is dropped.
- londons_explore 7y agoEven a piece of paper between each weight would surely absorb most of the energy and make it much quieter? Why don't all machines have that?
- raverbashing 7y agoGood question, I don't know the answer. I think it also has to do with how rough the surface of the plates is, I believe a bit of a rough surface can help with the noise (some have a very polished surface and I can hear that from a mile)