Have you ever seen what is referred to as the ?two man bench crew.?? Chances are you probably have? I wrote this article because I seem to see a lot of people not spotting their workout partners properly. Here?s a short summary of what this article contains:
- How to spot effectively
- My favorite spotting technique
- The benefits of a good spotter
Lets start with the basics of spotting. Ok, keeping things short and to the point, the more you know, the better you will be able to spot. With that being said, communication between the lifter and the spotter is vital. Ask how many reps the person is doing, intensity techniques (supersets, drop sets), and how the person likes to be spotted. Some people may like you to not touch the bar until they really need it, while others may want you to always be in contact with the bar for added safely. Here are some ways to spot various free-weight exercises:
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Barbell bench: the two finger or overhand-underhand spot (how you would grip a deadlift, you want to be right over top of the barbell). I will talk about the one finger spot later. You want to be pulling straight up, making sure to never restrict the motion of the barbell, since most people do not bench in a perfectly straight line.
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Dumbbell bench: push with palms up from their elbows. Avoid grabbing their wrists as is may throw off the lifter?s balance.
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Dips/ pullups of any kind: lightly take hold of the lifter?s feet or place open palms underneath their shins if they cross their legs and lightly help push them up (this is great for the top of the motion contractions on the last few reps)
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Flyes: Very similar to the dumbbell bench, but keep your palms flat to the bottom of their elbows (lower triceps). Placing too much pressure on the forearm area may actually drive the dumbbells down into the lifter?s chest.
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Triceps: Generally if the lifter is using a barbell the one finger spot will work just fine, a little touch to help the lifter out through the hard parts of the lift will be enough. If the lifter is using dumbbells (overhead extensions, skull crushers, and kickbacks) open palms on the bottom of the dumbbells to give an added push.
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Biceps: For any barbell move, a one finger spot will work. Stand in front of the lifter, placing your index fingers on the bar and helping it up. With dumbbells, what generally works best is to apply open palms to the wrist area while standing beside the lifter.
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Back: Back generally doesn?t need much spotting. Deadlifts, barbell rows, t-bar rows, and shrugs shouldn?t be spotted because there isn?t much benefit of a spotter in these exercises. Why? Well because just the positioning of the lifter makes it very hard for a spotter to be able to actually spot the weight, so generally these back movements don?t need spotting.
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Pulldowns: stand behind the lifter and place flat palms on the top of the bar, slightly bend your elbows and use your lats to help bring the stack up.
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Crunches and ab work: generally does not need spotting as well.
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Shoulders: With any overhead pressing movement help push the weight up with flat palms, with barbell military and rear delt presses, the two finger spot works very well. When spotting side laterals or bent over rear delt raises, place the backs of your hands on the inside of the lifter?s forearms.
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Legs: By far the hardest to spot. When spotting any type of squat I like to place my arms around the lifter?s waist and go through the motion of the squat, even if the lifter doesn?t need help. Help them rack the weight by walking forward with them with your arms still wrapped around their waist, but never start moving unless they are ready. When spotting leg presses, first get a firm foot placement, bend your knees a bit, and take a good grip on the foot platform, generally in the upper left or right hand corner, depending on where the release mechanism is. Bend your legs and move with the platform using your leg drive to press the weight, being careful not to push with just your arms. Having a strong foot placement is very key, since the leg press involves big weights, and a bad grip can lead to bad spotting and injury. When spotting hack squats, it?s very easy, just apply bodyweight to the back of the machine to help the lifter or grab one side of plate stack and pull up.
When spotting any exercise, make sure you have a good stance, knees bent, and ALWAYS on your feet, never kneeling, sitting, or anything. Give your full attention to the lifter, which brings me to another point, spotting mistakes. When you spot, never:
- Take the weight away from the person, unless they need it. Even if they hit their target reps, stand by, they may go for a few more. Never assume the person is done, until they make an effort to rack the weight, or they are in trouble of not making the lift at all. The worst a spotter can do is ruin the last few reps for a lifter.
- Yell or scream encouragement to the lifter unless they ask for it or you ask them if it?s Ok. This can be very distracting to someone and can ruin their set.
- Start talking to the lifter in mid-set. I think you know why?
There is one final example of how to spot. Someone asking you to hand them a weight. Basically, always pick up the weight from the sides, never obstruct the handles. Also I always verbally make sure the lifter is ready to go before letting go of the last dumbbell.
Remember it?s not your job to be lifting the weight rep after rep for the lifter. If from the first rep to the eighth you are doing a bent over row spotting a bench press, or right off the un-rack the lifter drops the weight on his chest because he?s using too much, there?s nothing you can do. Lifters cannot expect spotters to be able to pull hundreds of pounds of their chest in a flash.
So there you have it, the basics of spotting. But before I wrap this up I want to talk about the two finger spotting technique. This is my favorite of all spots. Its fairly simple too, just place your two index fingers under the bar and help push up. Doing so limits to how much the spotter lifts the weight and just gives the lifter that extra help needed to do the last couple of reps. If the lifter needs more help then I take a more aggressive grip. A good spotter can help the lifter to nail those last couple of reps, and we all know according to Arnold, that that?s where the growth occurs, through the pain of the last reps of a set.
Just a motivational quote: ?No one is going to give you anything in life. If you want something, you have to go get it.?
Articles referenced:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru36.htm (Spotting mistakes, dumbbell and squat spotting techniques). Everything else was written by me.
Thanks for reading, and all the best in training.
Spotting successfully and effectively: what YOU need to know
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