Gym Rat will be helping out at the power lifting Nats

[Gym rat]

Last night I emailed the Otago weightlifting and asked about if they need any help with spotting a the at the Nat's in early August .Yes the do.This will be a first for me helping out a power lifting meet .If any of you guys Like Old Bull,Steak etc having any good tips on spotting at power lifting meet by all means feel to post them up.If any of you other guys are coming to Dunedin for the power lifting Nats in August and you want your photo taken with Gym Rat no problem.

[Luigi]

to everyone lifting at this meeting i urge you to stay safe.

[Calvin]

to everyone lifting at this meeting i urge you to stay safe.

[tomleegolf]

Fortunately I am not going

[M.T]

Fortunately I am not going

why not? your on a roll Tom

[tomleegolf]

Fortunately I am not going

why not? your on a roll Tom

Thanks. A few reasons, I wanna let my back recover and focus on raw Nats in November, get some solid base training in, which I feel has been lacking. And theres the Bay Of Plenty Golf Open the same week. Also the fact that its in the south island.

Anyway Gymrat, good on you for helping out (srs)

[BeastBuilder]

Last night I emailed the Otago weightlifting and asked about if they need any help with spotting a the at the Nat's in early August .Yes the do.This will be a first for me helping out a power lifting meet .If any of you guys Like Old Bull,Steak etc having any good tips on spotting at power lifting meet by all means feel to post them up.If any of you other guys are coming to Dunedin for the power lifting Nats in August and you want your photo taken with Gym Rat no problem.

Practice Bench handouts a lot !! Dunno about other people but if I get a bad handout, lets just say it doesn't make for a happy chappy

Also learn how to handout for guys wearing equipment (some Raw benchers too, like me ) they usually like the bar quite low down as this is where the lines of their shirts go.

Otherwise good effort for helping out !!

[severe]

First thing that came to mind:

[thatwaslight]

Last night I emailed the Otago weightlifting and asked about if they need any help with spotting a the at the Nat's in early August .Yes the do.This will be a first for me helping out a power lifting meet .If any of you guys Like Old Bull,Steak etc having any good tips on spotting at power lifting meet by all means feel to post them up.If any of you other guys are coming to Dunedin for the power lifting Nats in August and you want your photo taken with Gym Rat no problem.

[Gym rat]

Thanks guys

[Against All Odds]

Last night I emailed the Otago weightlifting and asked about if they need any help with spotting a the at the Nat's in early August .Yes the do.This will be a first for me helping out a power lifting meet .If any of you guys Like Old Bull,Steak etc having any good tips on spotting at power lifting meet by all means feel to post them up.If any of you other guys are coming to Dunedin for the power lifting Nats in August and you want your photo taken with Gym Rat no problem.

LMFAO

[drizzt]

Practice Bench handouts a lot !! Dunno about other people but if I get a bad handout, lets just say it doesn't make for a happy chappy

Also learn how to handout for guys wearing equipment (some Raw benchers too, like me ) they usually like the bar quite low down as this is where the lines of their shirts go.

Know what you mean here bro as poor liftoffs can be the difference between making or missing a lift, but it can be a wee bit tough to get everything right from a spotter's perspective. Best way to avoid any disappointment is to communicate what you want to the spotter before you lift :nod: (or I believe you have the right to have someone you know liftout for you?)

I was doing the liftouts for the CD Bench Champs/Unequipped Comp last weekend, and it was definitely the toughest part of spotting for the day. I've done my fair share of liftouts for people in the House (both equipped and unequipped) - so I suppose you can say I've practised! But when you've got 30-odd people coming through one after the other, for 3 lifts each, it makes for a tough time getting it exactly right for every person, as every single lifter had a different set up.

Some were equipped, others unequipped, some had tiny arms so it felt like you were lowering the bar to their chest, some seemingly a couple of meters long so you almost had to upright row it to get to position for them, some set up right down the bench so you had to pass it waaaay down, some pretty much head off the bench which almost tipped me back off the spotter platform, some counted up to 3 for liftoff, some down from 3 - some just gave me a nod - some had ultra wide grips which were fairly easy pass outs, some really close which meant they generally went up much higher than the start position (always caught me off guard), some were so fired up they almost flung the bar down to their legs, some didn't help me lift out at all! The best liftouts I did were for people who told me where they wanted the bar and when to lift out for them :nod: Guess I'm just trying to say there are so many different ways that people prefer the bar to be lifted out for them, that I don't really think (to an extent) practising it will necessarily make you better at it... it depends who you're spotting.

The only generic thing I think is if you give a nice firm hand off (letting them guide you to where they want the bar), and release the bar slowly so that they take the weight nice and gradually. And I guess if in doubt, ask where they want the bar!

Just 2c from a spotter

See you there GR 8)

[steak]

Dont touch the bar until you are told..or you can see someone is gonna get hurt.

Talk/ask questions to the platform manager between lifts not during.

Stay hydrated and fed. You may end up lifting a lot with loading/unloading

Wear comfortable shoes.

Dont drop weights or bars.

Watch your finger tips.

Make sure collars are tight if you get this task.

Put yourself in a good position when spotting eg: squat with a squatter

Dont swear.

Make sure you get a break for a weewee or feed etc

I wont be there but my daughter and TinyTraps will be...Emma - junior lifter. Enjoy!

[thatwaslight]

me if he turned up to spot me:

[thatwaslight]

Dont touch the bar until you are told..or you can see someone is gonna get hurt.

Talk/ask questions to the platform manager between lifts not during.

Stay hydrated and fed. You may end up lifting a lot with loading/unloading

Wear comfortable shoes.

Dont drop weights or bars.

Watch your finger tips.

Make sure collars are tight if you get this task.

Put yourself in a good position when spotting eg: squat with a squatter

Dont swear.

Make sure you get a break for a weewee or feed etc

I wont be there but my daughter and TinyTraps will be...Emma - junior lifter. Enjoy!

HAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHA

[BeastBuilder]

Practice Bench handouts a lot !! Dunno about other people but if I get a bad handout, lets just say it doesn't make for a happy chappy

Also learn how to handout for guys wearing equipment (some Raw benchers too, like me ) they usually like the bar quite low down as this is where the lines of their shirts go.

Know what you mean here bro as poor liftoffs can be the difference between making or missing a lift, but it can be a wee bit tough to get everything right from a spotter's perspective. Best way to avoid any disappointment is to communicate what you want to the spotter before you lift :nod: (or I believe you have the right to have someone you know liftout for you?)

I was doing the liftouts for the CD Bench Champs/Unequipped Comp last weekend, and it was definitely the toughest part of spotting for the day. I've done my fair share of liftouts for people in the House (both equipped and unequipped) - so I suppose you can say I've practised! But when you've got 30-odd people coming through one after the other, for 3 lifts each, it makes for a tough time getting it exactly right for every person, as every single lifter had a different set up.

Some were equipped, others unequipped, some had tiny arms so it felt like you were lowering the bar to their chest, some seemingly a couple of meters long so you almost had to upright row it to get to position for them, some set up right down the bench so you had to pass it waaaay down, some pretty much head off the bench which almost tipped me back off the spotter platform, some counted up to 3 for liftoff, some down from 3 - some just gave me a nod - some had ultra wide grips which were fairly easy pass outs, some really close which meant they generally went up much higher than the start position (always caught me off guard), some were so fired up they almost flung the bar down to their legs, some didn't help me lift out at all! The best liftouts I did were for people who told me where they wanted the bar and when to lift out for them :nod: Guess I'm just trying to say there are so many different ways that people prefer the bar to be lifted out for them, that I don't really think (to an extent) practising it will necessarily make you better at it... it depends who you're spotting.

The only generic thing I think is if you give a nice firm hand off (letting them guide you to where they want the bar), and release the bar slowly so that they take the weight nice and gradually. And I guess if in doubt, ask where they want the bar!

Just 2c from a spotter

See you there GR 8)

Haha, mean response, didn't even think I would get something back from that !!

I know what you mean bro, I've spotted at a couple comps here and working at Eastside always get asked for a hand out or spot, benchers definitely come in a variety to say the least !!

I just mean that if he gets to experience a few differences between how people bench and different weights etc, he is unlikely to get any big surprises on the day, like imagine first time doing an equipped bench handout and it's in comp, the competitor would not be happy :pfft:

Can you actually get someone you know to lift out for you ? Cos that would be ideal, Coach can Deadlift like triple what I Bench so he could take all the weight for me, easy as that

[drizzt]

I know what you mean bro, I've spotted at a couple comps here and working at Eastside always get asked for a hand out or spot, benchers definitely come in a variety to say the least !!

I just mean that if he gets to experience a few differences between how people bench and different weights etc, he is unlikely to get any big surprises on the day, like imagine first time doing an equipped bench handout and it's in comp, the competitor would not be happy :pfft:

Can you actually get someone you know to lift out for you ? Cos that would be ideal, Coach can Deadlift like triple what I Bench so he could take all the weight for me, easy as that

All good bro wasn't having a go, just meant it is an art to get right. Generally just being massive helps :pfft:

As for someone you know doing liftouts, I'm pretty sure you can, but you'd need to ask someone who knows for sure. I'm sure I've seen it done on videos in comps where the big fullas get their own guys to do it, and the Beast did it for Bayassa when he was pressing 250+ last weekend at the bench champs - they train together so he knows what he wanted.

[BeastBuilder]

All good bro wasn't having a go, just meant it is an art to get right. Generally just being massive helps :pfft:

As for someone you know doing liftouts, I'm pretty sure you can, but you'd need to ask someone who knows for sure. I'm sure I've seen it done on videos in comps where the big fullas get their own guys to do it, and the Beast did it for Bayassa when he was pressing 250+ last weekend at the bench champs - they train together so he knows what he wanted.

All good brah, no worries, thought ya mighta thought I was having a go at him but nope

Thats pretty cool then, although dunno if they'd let me get whoever I wanted for just like 150-160kg, long way ta go before getting 250+ :pfft:

[Ronin]

Crikey, I've just been asked to help out with the loading/spotting here too, but after reading this thread I'm starting to think I'm seriously under-qualified :shock: . It seemed so simple when I said yes... help load the plates, help spot, be ready to grab the bar if it looks like he/she is gonna brain themselves.

Seems I may have to take some sort of advanced tertiary course before August :shock:

[drizzt]

Crikey, I've just been asked to help out with the loading/spotting here too, but after reading this thread I'm starting to think I'm seriously under-qualified :shock: . It seemed so simple when I said yes... help load the plates, help spot, be ready to grab the bar if it looks like he/she is gonna brain themselves.

Seems I may have to take some sort of advanced tertiary course before August :shock:

If you're just side-spotting/loading weights, you'll be fine mate. Just double check the weights/rack height after loading, and don't grab the bar unless someone says to or if it is clearly going pear-shaped 8) You'll be right :nod:

[Old Bull]

If you guys are going to help then I would ask for a dry run session on Thursday night. When we have big comps, we always dry run our spotter loaders, Head spotter and Platform manager through a complete set of Squats. 8 lifters of varying heights, and do 3 lifts each. So 24 attempt changes and rack heights. What we try to do, is get the Loaders going as fast as possible, timing the weight changes till we are happy with the speed. If they are new, then they are taught how to catch the bar, especially not with their hands (cupped alright for lighter weights) for the bigger attempts.

Being the Nationals,you will most likely do Fri and Sat morning, with a slightly more experienced crew, to do the afternoon and the fat bastards on Sun day me included.

Drizzt, TFB and TMQ loaded 31 tonnes at our Classic, with only 3 or 4 big lifters. So like Steak said eat heaps plenty of Fluid and be prepared to not move for a couple of Days if you in the Sunday Team :clap:

You will enjoy yourselves being that close to the Action, good learning experience as you see so many different styles.

Be good to put faces to the names down there, already met Mr Rat himself that was an honour \:D/

OB

[Viking Power]

If you guys are going to help then I would ask for a dry run session on Thursday night. When we have big comps, we always dry run our spotter loaders, Head spotter and Platform manager through a complete set of Squats. 8 lifters of varying heights, and do 3 lifts each. So 24 attempt changes and rack heights. What we try to do, is get the Loaders going as fast as possible, timing the weight changes till we are happy with the speed. If they are new, then they are taught how to catch the bar, especially not with their hands (cupped alright for lighter weights) for the bigger attempts.

Being the Nationals,you will most likely do Fri and Sat morning, with a slightly more experienced crew, to do the afternoon and the fat bastards on Sun day me included.

Drizzt, TFB and TMQ loaded 31 tonnes at our Classic, with only 3 or 4 big lifters. So like Steak said eat heaps plenty of Fluid and be prepared to not move for a couple of Days if you in the Sunday Team :clap:

You will enjoy yourselves being that close to the Action, good learning experience as you see so many different styles.

Be good to put faces to the names down there, already met Mr Rat himself that was an honour \:D/

OB

Well said OB1 :clap:

I am looking forward to meeting some names on here also, and just for the record... Gym Rat i'm bringing my camera for a photo couldn't turn this down :pfft: as red machine wants a copy too 8)

VP

[Gym rat]

I am also looking forward to meeting you guys.If any of guys need to stock up on food there a couple of supermarkets close by to the Edgar center which are Countdown on Anderson bay road which close by and the other which is Pack and save on Hillside road.It will be a good learning experince for me also being up close to the action as well.What are the numbers like for power lifting nats?

[Monarchking]

What date is the comp and where will it be held?

[drizzt]

What date is the comp and where will it be held?

3rd, 4th, and 5th of August at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin.