Russian powerlifter dead after a benching accident

[Anthony21]

....So by now i'm sure you guys have seen the video of the Russian power lifter who died from the barbell crashing on his diaphragm. He died a little after the accident happened. Watching the video it looks like there was some poor spotting on each end of the bar. It's pretty sad to see this happen.

I didn't see a post about it and watned to get your guy's thoughts on this tragic event.

It's hard to watch this personally but...

[neilmorgan77]

Not a nice thing to see. I'm shocked that the bar just seemed to jump out of his hands. Was that suicide grip or did a thumb go?

Nothing the spotters could have done really as it was just so quick.

I'd rather not see things like this because it will have me worried about the same thing happening to me.

[Anthony21]

Not a nice thing to see. I'm shocked that the bar just seemed to jump out of his hands. Was that suicide grip or did a thumb go?

Nothing the spotters could have done really as it was just so quick.

I'd rather not see things like this because it will have me worried about the same thing happening to me.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the spotters suppose to have their hands under the bar(not touching it) and following it's bar path the whole time? They were just standing there doing nothing. I'm not saying this could of been prevented but who knows, they could of took some of the force off from the impact maybe.

I don't know what his grip was like.

[neilmorgan77]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the spotters suppose to have their hands under the bar(not touching it) and following it's bar path the whole time? They were just standing there doing nothing. I'm not saying this could of been prevented but who knows, they could of took some of the force off from the impact maybe.

I don't know what his grip was like.

That's supposed to be the case, but rarely are they ready to catch a falling barbell. Even with a normal failure, you will have to wait for a little while before they come in to help.

[Limitless7]

The spotters are obviously there to catch the weight and if that's not possible slow the bar down as much as possible before it hits the lifter. The spotting was very poor here. The guy in the red wasn't anywhere near the bar. Had they both been close and slowed the bar down more he might have been ok we will never know.

That's supposed to be the case, but rarely are they ready to catch a falling barbell. Even with a normal failure, you will have to wait for a little while before they come in to help.

Not sure what competitions you've been to or who spots you. All good spotters are ready to catch a falling barbell

[cbd88]

at 0.20 the guy in red isnt even near the bar, doesnt look like hes paying attention

[neilmorgan77]

The spotters are obviously there to catch the weight and if that's not possible slow the bar down as much as possible before it hits the lifter. The spotting was very poor here. The guy in the red wasn't anywhere near the bar. Had they both been close and slowed the bar down more he might have been ok we will never know.



Not sure what competitions you've been to or who spots you. All good spotters are ready to catch a falling barbell

In almost all competitions the spotters stand clear so that they are definitely not interfering with the lift. Having a spotter touch the bar can cause the lifter to lose balance, so it's best if they aren't too close. In my experience the spotters are never ready for a really quick failure, no matter how good they are, and it's very difficult for them to do anything in the case of a complete failure anyway, the bar is often just too heavy and dropping too fast.

[SophieM]

Not sure what competitions you've been to or who spots you. All good spotters are ready to catch a falling barbell

This. I've seen the spotters catch the bar at almost every meet I've been to.

It didn't look like a suicide grip either. What a freak accident.

[100lbweakling]

At every competition I've been in, the bench has had safety bars. Why don't gyms?

[Anthony21]

I don't want to put blame on anyone in this scenario but I honestly think the spotters could have done a better job. It looked to me as if they assumed he would be able to life it with no problem. If they spotted him correctly they could have possibly reduced the force a enough to possibly not cause the outcome it did.

[dlt76028]

In Russia weight benches you.

[smallkiwi]

spotters fault entirely. safety racks would have saved his life, but in their absence the spotters should have been extra vigilant.

IMO a good spotter doesnt actually see any of the lifts, they should be focussed on the bar and not the lift/lifter. even slowing the bar down would have saved his life.

[Limitless7]

In almost all competitions the spotters stand clear so that they are definitely not interfering with the lift. Having a spotter touch the bar can cause the lifter to lose balance, so it's best if they aren't too close. In my experience the spotters are never ready for a really quick failure, no matter how good they are, and it's very difficult for them to do anything in the case of a complete failure anyway, the bar is often just too heavy and dropping too fast.

I've lifted in and been to many competitions and this is nonsense as far as I'm concerned. Every competition I've ever been to the spotters have been very attentive and right there ready to catch it or try their best incase something happens. Not sure what competitions you've been to but it must be a garbage federation if the spotters are standing clear of the lifter.

[WorldDomnit]

Not to be mean... but it looked like he literally just let go of the bar

[strengthsthetic]

why do powerlifters not use safety pins for something like bench which can easily go wrong?

[gb5k]

It looked like he literally just dropped it on himself..

Infuriated at the spotting in this video, though.

[zakatak333]

my tummy drops every time i see something like this, as if part of me dies too

[Jason2459]

This thread was also n the misc and it frustrated me there too. Cliffs. The spotters failed the lifter. Two guys on the sides should have been there and easily prevented this entirely or greatly reduced the injury. It wasn't an insane amount of weight. Much more has been caught before by alert and proper spotting.

[Anthony21]

Yea it looks like he just let go of the bar. I don't know if he was thinking he actually had spotters spotting him or what his rationale was.

[Anthony21]

This thread was also n the misc and it frustrated me there too. Cliffs. The spotters failed the lifter. Two guys on the sides should have been there and easily prevented this entirely or greatly reduced the injury. It wasn't an insane amount of weight. Much more has been caught before by alert and proper spotting.

Sorry for the post J. I don't post around the Misc section.

[Jason2459]

Sorry for the post J. I don't post around the Misc section.

Its fine. I just find it frustrating when people don't think the spotters could have done anything. Of course neither of them could have done anything because both of them were not spotting properly. I take spotting very seriously and hate it when people don't think it will happen to them. The fact is you just never know when a freak accident will happen. I've been there when a guys arm just snapped and the bar instantly free fell to my hands and I was able to keep the guy from getting crushed. All because the other guy and I were spotting like something was going to happen. We were ready for the unexpected. The unexpected happened and we were there. This pore guy did not have that luxury. Granted the freak accident above turned into an unusual death.

[Anthony21]

Its fine. I just find it frustrating when people don't think the spotters could have done anything. Of course neither of them could have done anything because both of them were not spotting properly. I take spotting very seriously and hate it when people don't think it will happen to them. The fact is you just never know when a freak accident will happen. I've been there when a guys arm just snapped and the bar instantly free fell to my hands and I was able to keep the guy from getting crushed. All because the other guy and I were spotting like something was going to happen. We were ready for the unexpected. The unexpected happened and we were there. This pore guy did not have that luxury. Granted the freak accident above turned into an unusual death.

I think every spotter should spot with the assumption something is going to happen.

[babylover]

I've seen some of the best spotting crews miss this. You have no idea how fast a loaded barbell falls. No one can catch it.

One of the risks we take.

RIP.

[Jason2459]

I've seen some of the best spotting crews miss this. You have no idea how fast a loaded barbell falls. No one can catch it.

One of the risks we take.

RIP.

Sorry but have to disagree. Yes, spots have been missed but many more have been caught. I'm very much aware how fast a bar can free fall instantly with out warning. I've been in that position and have caught it. Those guys weren't even close to being able to help.

[kingscross]

why do powerlifters not use safety pins for something like bench which can easily go wrong?

Never seen these before?




This topic about this lifter has appeared in a couple of places and RIP. However for those who don't actually lift or know how to spot someone properly, that is not how to spot.

The Russian judges should have told off the spotters in question for not spotting properly (assuming they were doing that with lighter weights). Perhaps they just pulled the spotters from the crowd as the meet could have been short of spotters.

[neilmorgan77]

In addition to my comments above, the spotters did an awful job, and they should have at least got their hands on it before it hit his chest, even if they didn't stop it falling completely.

I see this type of spotting all the time in my gym. I will stand with my hands cupped under the one end of the bar and the other spotter will have his hands by his side, or be distracted by something around the gym. Makes me both nervous and annoyed when I have two spotters like that on my attempts. When I fail a squat I actually have to say "No", and even then I normally spend a second or two hunched over before any assistance arrives. It's lucky I have a belly to rest on or I'd probably have got injured by now.

[babylover]

I'm going to say a few more things about this.

Blame for this really falls on the meet director. They should have vetted the spotters much better, and they should have foreseen the risk of this happening and swapped spotters.

People seem to forget, spotters are just as important as the refs. At the GPC nats in Australia we had the fastest loading crew I had ever seen, to the point where I was having to get my knee wraps on 3 lifters ahead. I would rack the bar and the collars would already be off. Every single spotter was a competitive experienced lifter and attention was paid to every lift, even 45kg benches by teenage girls.

This was something the meet organiser was very big on. We had plenty of eager puppies put their hand up to help, but eagerness is not as important as experience.

This is on the meet director. Plenty of eager helpful guys would have put their hand up to help with nothing but some time in the gym benching 95lbs for sets of 12. Are they idiots? Yes. But I can't just blame them for being incompetent.

[Xuaxace]

Should be a reminder of the importance of spotting... I am sure the guy in red will be devastated.

[BombDonald]

Terrible situation. Spotters weren't paying attention, though that's not exactly something that happens very often with a raw bench press.

RIP

[kayne695]

Apparently he also dropped a 160kg bench in warmups in a similar fashion, but the spotters caught it. So why not try 185.