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Spotting: Mind over matter?

Fluffy said:
I worked out for years in commercial gyms no spotter. At one stage managed a 1RM touch and go (with ALOT of bounce) at 140kg. All I used to do when I failed was put it on chest and roll it down to my legs so I could sit up and move the bar.

You quickly get kicked out if you leave the collars off and just let the plates go shooting off each side, which is what I do at home. Even though I have a rack I never user the safties for bench.
Click to expand...

my best so far is only 120kg touch and go (no bounce :) ... I'm not really comfortable with the idea of putting that down on my chest though and a little worried it would roll back onto my neck...

My preference would be well adjusted spotter bars to be honest if i had the setup.
 
depends on what the person likes, for example on bench if i fail my coach only just touches the bar, to force the rep, this only works if you can maintain technique though otherwise its pointless.

as for squat if i fail its due to bad position and spotters take the bar.
 
oats5 said:
I'm new here, but I had a quick search on the forums and a similar one on google to no avail.

I am having a debate with my training buddy and he thinks that spotting takes a large amount of weight off the bar in bench press however I think it is only a kilo or two when I do it.

I feel that it is your mind that believes I have taken a large amount of stress of the muscles and this allows you to finish the last or last two reps in your set.

We are both fairly new to training, both have been training off and on for several years but have only recently started training properly.
That being said we are only benching 55kg for him on free weights and 75kg for me and 45 kg dumbbell press for him and 60 for me.

He is doing 6 reps and I'm doing 10, so we are both fairly novice and that's why I am hear today asking your thoughts ausBB.

Help us settle this matter.
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The weight you are lifting does not change, but the muscles being used to lift and stabilize fatigue.
Having someone there to assist reduces the load enabling you to add a couple more rep's, this enables you to further fatigue the prime movers.

To even further fatigue the muscles, the spotter can also lift the weight for You and you lower the weight, These are called "negatives".
 
IMO forced reps on the bench teach you to hold the bar still mid lift... Your body gets used to caving in and expects someone else to take some of the load off...

Need to train to move the bar.... Not train in your sticking point... (just my opinion)

Better to save one in the tank and rack the bar... Do an extra set...
 
nazzysmith said:
IMO forced reps on the bench teach you to hold the bar still mid lift... Your body gets used to caving in and expects someone else to take some of the load off...

Need to train to move the bar.... Not train in your sticking point... (just my opinion)

Better to save one in the tank and rack the bar... Do an extra set...
Click to expand...

There are numerous ways help one if one is stuck on a number.

There was a time where I was stuck on 8 rep's in the dip with an extra 25kg around my waist, and there was no way I could get past 8.
I tried negatives and such, but sometimes the most successful way was actually adding weight, in the case of my dip I added only 2.5kg, the added weight stimulated change, I used these methods to help me achieve 12 rep's with 30kg.
 
nazzysmith said:
IMO forced reps on the bench teach you to hold the bar still mid lift... Your body gets used to caving in and expects someone else to take some of the load off...

Need to train to move the bar.... Not train in your sticking point... (just my opinion)

Better to save one in the tank and rack the bar... Do an extra set...
Click to expand...

thats why the spotter needs to 'catch' it at the exact moment of failure, so there is no pause
 
Thanks for all the replies, it still appears to be a fairly contentious topic. Hopefully at some point we can put the debate to bed.
 
OP you can take off a surprising amount with one finger, I can do 1 hand chin ups with 1 finger on a nearby object... I thought I was really close to one till I used weights to assist me and couldnt do one without 20kg pulling me up.

Just make sure your benching doesn't end up like this...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzLYNY0pVI0]Big Cliff's 605lbs Benchpress - YouTube[/ame]
 
My FF PT used to literally rip the bar off my chest when training.
I actually remember her face when i told her to leave me alone and let me lift the bar myself!
 
I hav always prefered to have a spotter as i like to have my spotter force me through my weak points to lift 2 or 3 more reps after i fail.
In the past i would never hav had the balls to lift at max without a spotter but as my training partner has been out with injuries over the last month i hav had to work with out him.
Im happy to be able to say the last working set of my bench has now gone from 140 for 6 reps wen i last trained with him to 160 for 3 reps without a spotter b4 having to drop the weight on the safety bars.
I think i hav gotten stronger, faster without him there.
Im hopeing to be able to smash out all 8 at 160 b4 he gets bak just to make him feel like hes missed out on even more than just a coupl months of training wile hes been injured hahaha
 
Fluffy said:
I worked out for years in commercial gyms no spotter. At one stage managed a 1RM touch and go (with ALOT of bounce) at 140kg. All I used to do when I failed was put it on chest and roll it down to my legs so I could sit up and move the bar.

You quickly get kicked out if you leave the collars off and just let the plates go shooting off each side, which is what I do at home. Even though I have a rack I never user the safties for bench.
Click to expand...

Got to be careful when rolling a heavy bar over your ribs, can easily crack and break them.

You have bumper weights at home? otherwise that would make a fuckload of noise
 
iBug said:
Got to be careful when rolling a heavy bar over your ribs, can easily crack and break them.

You have bumper weights at home? otherwise that would make a fuckload of noise
Click to expand...

No and yes it makes an awesome noise and has left a few solid dents in the roller door.
 
iBug said:
Got to be careful when rolling a heavy bar over your ribs, can easily crack and break them.

You have bumper weights at home? otherwise that would make a fuckload of noise
Click to expand...



Yea i would never try to roll 140kg down my midsection. Sounds painfull!
 
If you are spotting properly then it may be a bit of mind over matter. If you are not spotting properly then you might be taking too much weight.

When a lifter stalls and the bar is stationary, they are exerting the same pressure on the bar that gravity is but in the opposite direction. Any additional force applied to the bar will initiate movement. If you take 2 kgs off that bar then he will begin to move it. If you take 20kgs off it will move faster.

There are two different types of spot as well. When a strength athlete fails the spotters do what they have to to re-rack the weight. When doing forced reps like you are, you want the spotter to apply the minimum force to the bar.

The answer to your question is if he thinks you are taking too much weight, take less. Use the speed of the bar as your guide.

Be very careful spotting dumbells. The funniest thing that I have ever seen in a gym involved a guy smacking himself in the side of the face with a 35 kg bell because his mate had hold of his elbow and didn't let it go. Luckily it was on incline or he might have done some real damage.
 
oats5 said:
Thanks for all the replies, it still appears to be a fairly contentious topic. Hopefully at some point we can put the debate to bed.
Click to expand...

1. Having a spotter for bench is a good thing from a safety perspective... But plenty of us get by just fine without one...

2. Bench press is not a team sport... Stop and rack the bar before you fail...

3. Don't do forced reps (especially at your level) - there are better more effective ways to overload the muscle...

4. If you are benching alone.... Never put collars on the ends of the bar to lock the weights on...

5. Don't use a suicide grip on bench...
 
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