The Lost Art of Spotting by SB

[B.S.T]

i know of what you guys speak- the guy who has 225 on the bar and says "i'm gonna get 8" and can get 3 unassisted, then 5 more forced reps where i'm holding half the f'n weight bent way the fuck over

something that ticks me off is when i ask someone to spot me on a bench press and soon as i start to struggle, they just grab the bar cause they get nervous if there's some weight on there

from now on i say "do not touch the bar until it starts dropping"

[Bryan Paulsen]

Great article, and a big reason why I'm extremely thankful for my training partner. He knows my habits for lift-off, and during lifts from training together for years. He knows when to give "finger support" to keep the bar moving, or when I've completely failed the lift and need to just get it racked. He knows that besides lift-off I can't tolerate someone touching the bar unless that weight is starting to descend after getting it up some distance, or if I couldn't get it moving in the first place.

I laughed at the specific mention of 24 Hour Fitness, since SB has probably been exposed to the exact same one I train at, and some of the shit you see there is just ridiculous. I call it "dude brah" lifting, and they'll do that shit for partials.

[Sand Blaster]

^I would have mentioned that, but I didn't think anyone would believe me....

SB

[ESSION]

Dude brah lifting is so pro.

[aaron]

I spot people occasionaly if they ask. I do agree with BST though its very annoying when someone says they are gonna get this amount of reps and you have to spot them throughout the entire set.

Happened to me before. A guy put 3 plates a side on the bench and asked me for a spot. I hadn't been watching his warmups so didn't know what to expect. I help him unrack the weight and he goes "mine". The bar plummets down to his chest and it bounces up abit before he rests it on his chest whilst moving his feet around like crazy. I obviously take hold the bar and basicaly have to deadlift it. It was effectively a defecit deadlift. This guy then has the balls to go. "okay 1 more". My reply was "fuck no mate" and i just racked the bar.

[evansss]

^ And you should have too. I hate seeing bouncing bench presses. maybe even more than partials.


Solid post SB. Im a big fan of only having 2 fingers on the bar to help a spotter out. Conversely one shouldnt be doing an upright row to help you spot...if thats the case, its obviously too much. Form should be assessed, and its something i'll often look at when I give spots myself, but it is not common. I find that on a good spot, ill tend to get more than the reps I initially shoot for.

[regl8r]

Great Post, a good spotter is a huge advantage.

Going for one extra rep because you know it will get racked is very important IMHO.

Also if you are the lone spotter for a guy lifting heavy weight, your better off inside the rack/bench with a staggered stance instead of directly behind in case something goes wrong.

[Benny]

[QUOTE=Mudge;435332]Always make sure you know what someone wants of you when you spot, or vice versa. I don't want the weight jerked off of me so I can see how strooooong you are whoopee - I want a gentle assist along my natural plane of motion.

- It may sound fairly ignorant on my part, but I have always hated that when I try to do my negative sets and my workout partner yanks it off yet I never really clicked it in my head to just tell him..

I am relatively new at benching, and regardless if its just mental, I feel like if you mess up my routine I have to wait a couple days before I will gain what I would have, because when I am using a spotter I am doing my heavy days, and usually at or around my negative

[Firehawk734]

I learned to spot from JJ Thomas and Clay Brandenburg from Detroit Barbell.

The most important thing that i learned on a side spot for bench was to interlock my fingers.

True story, I had only been there about a month, and a guy had about 560 on the bar. We had 2 side spotters and a hand off guy.

Well, he got the handoff, and he benched with palms, no thumb wrapped around. The bar slipped out of his hands. I reacted and caught it just before it landed on him. It took about 5 minutes to register what happened and then I had a short nervous breakdown LMAO.

So, I found out quickly that it was absolutely paramount that I had my fingers locked.

JJ taught me how to hand off to people (with weight I can handle). Seems to work well when you hand off maybe 30-50% of the weight and let the lifter take it from there, slowly let go when he's fully extended...it is an art, takes practice.