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Notes -
Memetic learning in all things.
A lot of guys grunt because they saw some "famous" lifter grunt on youtube. I think the rhythmic nature of it is a dead giveaway. Your bench-n-leg-curl aficionado probably saw at some point, perhaps even in real life, a lifter he considered "elite" doing something similar and decided to adopt it.
So this would naturally lead to the question "is there a reason for grunting that has validity." Yes but no. Yet in that intermediate to advanced lifters learn how to use held breath and abdominal contraction to stabilize their core which can be very beneficial for compound lifts. If you've ever seen lifting belts, they aren't there to "reinforce" the back on their own, they are there to aid with roprioception (the body's own sense of where it is) during the lift. Lifters combine breath techniques and their lifting belts to create a very stabilized core momentarily. To prevent blackouts and other bad things, they might "force exhale" in intervals. You'll recognize this as a kind of "hiss" through the teeth. Over time, or with decreasing emphasis on technique, these hisses can get grunt-ified.
There's also just guys (both novice and experienced) who grunt as a psychological tool for themselves. It can work or it can't. It is highly correlated with ego lifting.
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