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testing one rep maxes - spotting and failing on squats

pistachio

pistachio

Member
well, this week i am going to test my 1 rep maxes. did bench over the weekend, although stuffed up by trying to go too heavy, and consequently not being able to do what i thought i probably should have.

anyway, how do you spot someone for squats? and if you are going to fail, how do you release the weight? my gym doesn't have a squat cage, just the usual rack and i can't see how i would drop the weight if i fail? i'm a bit cautious about doing it and think i will probably lift lighter as a result
 
Two people one on each side. When you are failing they take the slack so you can push it up. Don't dump the weight on them they are just there to help you get back up.
 
I find that way EXTREMELY dangerous.

I usually just spot someone from behind. I've had squatters fail 220kg and I got them back up okay.

The side to side is dangerous because of the load an experienced spotter puts on one side. Probably wont matter as much with the weight your trying though.

Simply go up in small jumps, you'll know when your near enough to your max.
 
Well he says 100kg so I doubt it would be an issue with inexperienced spotters and too much weight. You are right though if they do not know what they are doing it can be an issue but many people think spotting from behind is extremely dangerous too.
 
i don't think i'd trust two guys from the side, as one could lift more than the other. with heavier weights (200kg+) i think it would probably work better.

how do you spot from behind PTC?
 
dave said:
Well he says 100kg so I doubt it would be an issue with inexperienced spotters and too much weight. You are right though if they do not know what they are doing it can be an issue but many people think spotting from behind is extremely dangerous too.
Click to expand...

turns out you were right about me being able to lift more than i thought dave, last week i just did sets of 5 reps until i couldn't pump out 5.

got up to 120 i think, before it was getting tricky, so i figure my 1 rep max might be around 140?

well thats what i'm going to try for this week anyways..
 
Spot behind:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ097BbMQ1Q&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - PTC - Harvey 137.5kg squat (high)[/ame]
 
Told you so :p

Man just go find a gym with a real power rack and lift until you can't get up anymore and when you fail just slowly bring it down and rest it on the safety bars. A one off casual fee will be worth it.
 
dave said:
Told you so :p

Man just go find a gym with a real power rack and lift until you can't get up anymore and when you fail just slowly bring it down and rest it on the safety bars. A one off casual fee will be worth it.
Click to expand...

i don't get this tho, the safety bars are about 50cm below where i would be if i went parallel... how are you meant to slowly lower it past parallel? just getting to parallel is pretty tricky with my flexibility, although i am working on this (lots of goblet squats and front squats predominantly..)

Oliver04 said:
A gym without safety pins on the squat rack? I have honestly not seen that.
Click to expand...

it just has a safety bar at about waist hight, so the bar would drop to there, the problem is that the safety bar is too low to comfortably drop the weight onto..
 
pistachio said:
it just has a safety bar at about waist hight, so the bar would drop to there, the problem is that the safety bar is too low to comfortably drop the weight onto..
Click to expand...

Thats really not too far. Just dump it if youre doing high bar and fall forward if doing low bar. Its not going to be something that happens often.
 
Waist height is even a little high for a safety bar. If you can't squat that low, don't bother going up in weights and trying 1RM. You should keep practicing till you can squat deep. If you're hitting proper depth, that 120kg will become 100kg.
 
Dancelot said:
Waist height is even a little high for a safety bar. If you can't squat that low, don't bother going up in weights and trying 1RM. You should keep practicing till you can squat deep. If you're hitting proper depth, that 120kg will become 100kg.
Click to expand...

maybe its not waist height then, that was just a guess.

i am going to parallel, i am starting all my lifts from scratch and trying to have perfect form.

if i wasn't going to parallel, i could lift a hell of a lot more than 120kg!
 
Check out the height of the spotters bars in the video with Harvey, mid thigh. Its pin height 7 for anyone using the same rack. This height never changes, regardless of the lifter

On his next attempt, Harvey dropped the bar on the pins and walked away.

Waist high is way too high, like Jeremy said.

From your description, it sounds like your squatting very high.

Nick hits the bars at mid thigh, at 6'1" and 200kg on his back, as do others
 
PTC said:
Check out the height of the spotters bars in the video with Harvey, mid thigh. Its pin height 7 for anyone using the same rack. This height never changes, regardless of the lifter

On his next attempt, Harvey dropped the bar on the pins and walked away.

Waist high is way too high, like Jeremy said.

From your description, it sounds like your squatting very high.

Nick hits the bars at mid thigh, at 6'1" and 200kg on his back, as do others
Click to expand...

I am the same mid thigh area and I am 6'3 anything higher and I am hitting the safetys when I get good depth. Just dump the bar mate, the noise will stop the whole gym.
 
i'll take some videos this week when i get a chance (my training partners got one on his phone i think)

this will give an idea of both my depth and the squat rack.

i might try dumping the weight at the bottom (without failing) just to see how it goes....

cheers fellas
 
Atm I have spotters and squat outside of the rack, but when I used to squat inside a rack, the safety bars were always around mid-thigh.

You should always practice dumping the bar with something light, like 40kg, either inside the rack or outside. Don't leave it till you're squashed by a 1RM attempt to find out how to dump the bar!
 
Oliver04 said:
Just dump it if youre doing high bar and fall forward if doing low bar..
Click to expand...

What Oliver said,

This is a cut and paste from averagebroz for the OL high bar squat.

HOW TO MISS IN THE SQUAT:



LET THE BAR GO WITH BOTH YOUR HANDS AND PUSH YOUR HIPS FORWARD - QUICKLY!

IF YOU ARE TOO ROUNDED OVER THAT DROPPING THE BAR BEHIND IS NOT AN OPTION, THEN YOU MUST RE-EVALUATE HOW YOU ARE DOING THEM WITH LIGHTER WEIGHTS. IF THIS IS THE CASE THEN YOU PROBABLY HAVE INCORRECT POSITIONS LONG BEFORE THE MISSED ATTEMPT.
 
I set the safety bars just above knee level and get pretty close to hitting them. One level up and i hit them.

I know what you mean though. I have dropped 140kg on the safetys twice now and its kinda scary. Plus its farking loud haha.
 
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