Don't SPOT me unless ASKED!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRR

[BrooklynBB]

Ok Fellow Lifters,

Something that has plauged me for a few years whenever I go heavy on *ANY* lift other than the bench press - dumbbell presses of any type, curls, squats, rows - you name it - some gym member will decide that if it looks too hard for me, he *MUST* spot me.

Case in point:

Today I was doing behind the neck dumbbell presses (or, dumbbell french presses if you prefer) on a 90 degree angled bench. No problem. Worked up to 110.

Now, the faces I make resemble something between utter pain and sheer enjoyment and all marking in between. Fact is, it ain't a pretty sight. Teeth gritting, blood-filled red face, veins popping out of my arms, neck and chest - it looks like I'm *GASP* - WORKING OUT OUT REALLLY INTENSELY!

What I can't stand is when I'm on rep 3 or 4, and some guy comes up behind me - skinny guy, not particularly gifted in the muscle department, and someone I DO NOT KNOW or ASSOCIATE WITH at ALL - decides that he's going to touch the dumbbell in an attempt to "spot" me.

My usual routine is as follows:

I see person running over to me to "save" me from my own lift.

I wait for him to come over to me, and say, loudly, "NO THANKS, I GOT IT." (mind you, I'm in HALF rep, holding this thing statically contracted until this guy moves)

He decides to stay there.

Ok, let's say it again, LOUDER and with less words:

"GET THE f*ck AWAY I GOT IT"

guy still stands there.

Finally,

"GET THE f*ck AWAY I GOT IT"

Guy still stands there with his hands on my Dumbbell.

I proceed to shot-put this dumbbell across the rack (didn't know I had this talent) and ask the guy if I asked him to spot me. He says, "no". And I said, "Then why would you spot me?"

Silence.

He doesn't even know *WHY* he would spot me.

Yikes.

Now imagine if I allowed him to "spot" me. Him, anonymous lifter and gym goer, not knowing my lifting style, cadence, set I'm on, what I've done previously, and what I'm doing next, has no idea if this is my heaviest, lightest, warm-up or max set. Doesn't know how many reps I'm going for, doesn't know if I'm trying to get a squeeze out of the rep or just throwing it up and down - and nor does he care.

He just knows that he HAS to spot me!

Can anyone relate to this? There should be a huge sign posted in gyms: "Do not touch anyone that doesn't want to be touched!" or "If he didn't ask for a spot, he probably didn't want one."

Of course, that's absurd. But what is more absurd is that people will spot you without regard for your safety, even though that is precisely what they believe that they are protecting in the first place!

I've made my best gains WITHOUT spotters, and I don't need them now. When I DO need a spot, it's on one of three lifts - The bench press, the Incline bench Press and the Decline bench press. That's it. Nothing else. If I can't get it up myself, I'm probably going too heavy on that set and shouldn't be lifting it.

What is the deal with these spotters?

I've gotten injured a few times thanks to "spotters" who were "helping me" lift the weight. Whether that help came in the form of screaming while pushing my elbow INWARDS on a bench press, or perhaps bending down with me on the barbell row (no joke, some guy came up doggy style and tried to "help me" lift the weight... I let the mother-flavor have it for days after that)

Anyway, there's my rant, much needed, since I felt bad for yelling at the guy, and even apologized to the dolt. He's a nice fellow. But he's also stupid for spotting me since I didn't ask for it!

[sponge]

ah c'mon man the guy spotting you doesn't have a crystal ball.. he doesn't know whether you're goin to drop it or not. he's only trying to help and maybe give you an extra rep or two if you want. i think you are ranting over nothing :grin:

[ExpensiveUrine]

He wants to be your friend. Why won't you let him be your friend?!!?! Are you too good for him is that IT?!!!1111

If it's only one guy, telling him a couple of times not to spot you would most likely suffice, unless there's an army of doggy-style "spotters". Then there might be a whole different agenda, on their part.

Generally, I spot them if...

1) They ask me.

2) They're getting crushed by the bar.

[brock_solid]

Where do you live exactly?

A) Nobodys ever spotted me before unless i have asked.

B) I've never seen anyone spot anyone that hasn't been asked.

[Varven]

haha Brooklyn, come workout at my gym.. I had a BB stuck on me chest once and noone would help me even though they noticed me ... it wasnt unbearable or painfull so i waited out of amusement.. until I called out no1 came around. Lucky i was relatively a newbie and the weight was non injury causing.

[grinder]

Dude just roll the bar down your body - mind the jewels - and sit up.. :wink:

[Marcus]

I don't have a problem with people coming up to spot me, just say "hands off" when they try to help when you're managing. There's nothing worse than a spotter who is gifting you a lot of extra reps. But I see it all the time unfortunately. How many guys to do you see at your gym that are benching say 120kgs, but their spotter seems to be straining just as hard as the lifter? BS man.

[Growth]

He wants to be your friend. Why won't you let him be your friend?!!?! Are you too good for him is that IT?!!!1111

If it's only one guy, telling him a couple of times not to spot you would most likely suffice, unless there's an army of doggy-style "spotters". Then there might be a whole different agenda, on their part.

LOL :pfft:

I dont ask for spots, i often get them though, i find it pretty usefull once in a while, sometimes im not in any trouble and i get a spot, which is cool because i can try for that final rep or two, and other times i actually really need it because im going to get trapped. I wouldnt spot someone else unless they were pinned or obviously struggling pretty bad.

I think training with a spotter has its advantages and disadvantages.

[frogie2001]

Dude just roll the bar down your body - mind the jewels - and sit up.. :wink:

mate if you can roll 100+kg down your body to your thighs to sit up you must have abbs of concrete. I've alwasy been a big fan of only using DB so that way i can fail and not kill myself. if I need to go super heavy on BB and no one is around to help. I jsut leave the collars off so i can tip it off.

it is very distracting though with people pestering you half way through. my pet hate is when a spot is too keen and they lift too much. :twisted:

[THEBERG]

That dodgey style spotter is just creepy. I've never had randoms come up to me while doing a set, when i first tried 120 kgs on bench press i failed after 3 and it was laying one my chest and i couldnt get it up and no one would come over and help me, i had to end up yelling a couple of times real loud to have someone help me assist it up, now i stick mostly to dumbells so i can drop them plus i've noticed better gains too.

[brock_solid]

I've never injured myself on bench press, i almost did once when i was new to the gym and was benching only 60kgs but that was quite alot back then and i was half way through my last rep and couldn't lift it up so had to yell for help and some guy helped me.

Other than that i've only ever been injured once at the gym which was when i was using Dumbbells doing incline dumbbell presses and wrenched my right shoulder backwards and dropped the dumbbells and my arm was fucked for 2 weeks +

Thus making me hate dumbbell chest exercises

[Growth]

Thus making me hate dumbbell chest exercises

DB exercises can be just as dangerous when going to failure, ive seen them fall inwards onto peoples chests / faces numerous times.

[Ash]

DB exercises can be just as dangerous when going to failure, ive seen them fall inwards onto peoples chests / faces numerous times.

That's why I love the power rack so much. If the safety bars are set correctly, you can just drop the bar down onto them with minimal chance of getting hurt. Good thing not many people at my gym use it so I can pretty much grab it whenever I need to

[grinder]

Dude just roll the bar down your body - mind the jewels - and sit up.. :wink:

mate if you can roll 100+kg down your body to your thighs to sit up you must have abbs of concrete.

Definately only recomended for those new to the game -VZ said it was a lightish weight.. if they're attempting 100kg+ then they're monsters in the making..

[brock_solid]

DB exercises can be just as dangerous when going to failure, ive seen them fall inwards onto peoples chests / faces numerous times.

That's why I love the power rack so much. If the safety bars are set correctly, you can just drop the bar down onto them with minimal chance of getting hurt. Good thing not many people at my gym use it so I can pretty much grab it whenever I need to

Are you talking about the smith machine where its like two vertical beams with little points and you can clip the bar onto them?

If you are then you shouldn't be using that machine.

[Ash]

Are you talking about the smith machine where its like two vertical beams with little points and you can clip the bar onto them?

If you are then you shouldn't be using that machine.

Nope - a power rack and a smith machine are very different animals.

We've a got a half rack at our gym, which is OK but I would much rather have a full rack.

[brock_solid]

Ahhh i see, one of those, we don't have one like that at our gym.

[Ash]

Ahhh i see, one of those, we don't have one like that at our gym.

You're missing out, that's an amazingly versatile piece of equipment.

[BrooklynBB]

Some funny responses and some really honest ones - I appreciate that guys.

It wasn't just one guy - it's numerous people at my gym. I live in Brooklyn, NY - USA. Usually the mantra is - for any gym I've worked out at in NYC - seems to be that if the set LOOKS hard, that you must need a spot.

Problem is, when it's getting hard, that's when you're adapting to the weight, that's when you're pushing past your threshold, and that's where you're forcing your body to increase it's muscle cells' size and structure. When someone comes over and helps you lift the weight - not a function of a spotter, in my opinion - he's taking away from your gains by lowering the amount of resistance placed on your muscles.

I think the sole purpose of a spotter is to make sure that you're not going to get hurt by the weight, not to help you lift it. And in the exercise that I was performing - the behind the neck dumbell press - there was no need for a spot since I had everything under control. I was just wincing and making faces - as I always do and I'm sure most of you do to - when you're focusing, breathing, and trying to work the target muscle.

Anyway, a bit of a different situtation today.

When I do my incline benches, I don't go too heavy - maybe 275 max - and I like to have someone there JUST IN CASE. So my specific instructions is, "Can you do me a favor and just watch me? If I say "grab it" then grab it. If not, just let me do the lift by myself, but don't touch the bar unless I tell you. ok?" And the guy nods.

So I do my set and he doesn't touch the bar. Cool. He listened.

I go over and do my dumbbell presses. Work up to 120. Tell the guy, "I just need you for the first rep, then walk away and don't touch me. Ok?" He says, "Ok". The first sign of trouble was that when I got the 120's on my thighs, he's standing on my left side near the front of the bench and not behind me. So I look at him and say, "You ready?" and he just nods. Finally he figures it out and gets behind me.

I know I'm in for a treat.

So he gives me the boost for the first rep. Cool. I do 1, I'm about 75% of the way for 2 and he's LAUNCHING my elbows up.

Here's what happened - he assumed that I was slowing down because it was heavy. Actually, I was just controlling the weight on the way up - slowly - because this is pretty close to my max DB press. When he did that my elbows went INwards because of the force of his spot, I had to adjust my neck, back and torso, and felt a TWINGE in my lower back. I YELL at him, "DONT TOUCH ME". I go down for rep 3, he's pushing up like a maniac the entire way.

I decide to move on to flyes. Again, I work up pretty high, and I'm on rep 5 of my flyes, and this guy comes RUNNING OVER like I asked him to spot me - I didn't - He just assumed I needed it, so I ended the set at 5, even though I was shooting for 7 or 8. Thanks to him, my workout got ruined.

See my point? I don't like random strangers spotting me unsolicited. IF I ask for it, great, but don't come and "help" if you don't know what my goals are.

And as I type this, I have a pain in my lower back when I stand and sitting down hurts a little bit, thanks to the "helpful, friendly, anonymous spotter".

[Marcus]

I see what you mean. I think the problem is that most people don't know how to spot correctly. They're used to spotting a buddy who's lifting way to much for himself & the spotter has to do a lot more work.

When I get someone to spot me basically I tell them this: Hands off the bar until I say so, when I do need help just take enough off to keep me moving (sometimes it will only take a light tap to get past a sticky point). Make me work!

Inexperienced spotters get scared when they see a weight go up slowly because thats when most people will ask for a spot. They don't realise that the hardcore guys won't give up!

[Growth]

I think Marcus nailed it. Too many spotters have grown up helping out their buddies who are lifting far to much weight. The guy loads up 100 kilos and ends up pushing 80 while the spotter pulls the other 20 on every rep.

[THEBERG]

Spotters should be there only for safety, personally i only get them to help me rack the weight making sure it's aligned up correctly etc.

But i think MArcus is correct that most guys are use to spotting guys who fail to early (from too heavier weight for them) and end up assiting and getting a working set too almost like doing deadlifts when spotting bench press.

[Brock]

Just get a t-shirt with "Don't spot me" on it at the front and maybe at the back :grin:

[Decado]

Lucky I usually work out with my younger brother and we discuss how we want to be spotted before we do a set. It depends on how we feel at the time. Otherwise its just 1-2 forced reps, and just like Marcus said, just a tap past the sticky point(s). We keep track of our sets/reps and a spotted rep doesn't go down on record.

A few years ago, I was spotting a friend benching 100kgs at the University of Auckland gym. He was quite strong and was repping pretty confidently so I looked around the gym scoping out the chicks. 1 loud bang sounded and I looked down to see that a 20kg plate slipped off my mates bar. The bar tilted towards the heavy side and another 20kg plate slipped off. Due to him trying to compensate the bar tilted again to the opposite side and another plate fell off. Finally the last plate fell off and I was just standing there, dumbstruck, looking like a total douchebag with everyone staring at me. I suck!