Today is chest day and why the hell did I had to click on this thread…
We have the safety bars at all our meets now. A few years ago a well known lifter dumped a bar on his face. All it takes is a second of inattention. In addition, when you’re lifting in a shirt, the bar can sometimes slide off the bubble towards your face with alarming speed that is very difficult to react to.
It was bench day for me too, Thought about it and made sure my setup was good and my spotter was standing in. I still sucked tho, 12lbs cut in 4 days kicked my ass…
How can a spotter be ‘asleep’ during a bench? If he spends the whole day spotting bench he’s still only actively spotting for a few minutes during the whole day. Can’t he be attentive for at least those few critical seconds he’s actually working?
It was great that that guy in the blue was there to pick his side up off the floor.
You really can’t blame the spotters. This is what happens.
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
You really can’t blame the spotters. This is what happens.[/quote]
Why the hell not? That’s their job: protect the lifter.
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
You really can’t blame the spotters. This is what happens.[/quote]
Why the hell not? That’s their job: protect the lifter.[/quote]
Exactly. Thus the name SPOTTERS.
Spot, or get off the pot.
lol
A spotters job isn’t to catch it when a guy tears a pec, his job is to get the weight off the carcass.
People have to learn to have no faith on spotters. Even when they are focused on task they often are not quick enough to prevent damage.
This is basic stuff.
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
You really can’t blame the spotters. This is what happens.[/quote]
It does occur in a split second, but that’s precisely the reason why you’re supposed to be paying close attention, not day dreaming.
If you’re a relatively strong guy, on the ball, and have your hands where they’re supposed to be (much closer to the bar than those jokers) you can stop a lot of weight.
That dude in the red (on the right) was positioned correctly, entirely focused, and reacted VERY swiftly and quite strongly.
THAT’S how it’s done.
[quote]Ghost22 wrote:
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
You really can’t blame the spotters. This is what happens.[/quote]
It does occur in a split second, but that’s precisely the reason why you’re supposed to be paying close attention, not day dreaming.
If you’re a relatively strong guy, on the ball, and have your hands where they’re supposed to be (much closer to the bar than those jokers) you can stop a lot of weight. [/quote]
I don’t disagree but you are foolish to depend on it. Spotters suck.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
That dude in the red (on the right) was positioned correctly, entirely focused, and reacted VERY swiftly and quite strongly.
THAT’S how it’s done. [/quote]
The dude in the red is slightly quicker than the blue dude and flipped most of the weight to him. He did not take as much weight as you think.
This often happens as people are not robots and react at different speeds.
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
You really can’t blame the spotters. This is what happens.[/quote]
Why the hell not? That’s their job: protect the lifter.[/quote]
Agreed on that.
It’s not like you’re asked to focus for hours, you need a little experience and less than a minute of concentration. If you offer to do it, you don’t half-ass something that could potentially end someones life.
I just rewatched the vid. Dude in blue was not day dreaming, he just was not superfast.
Don’t depend on someone being superfast to save your ass.
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
I just rewatched the vid. Dude in blue was not day dreaming, he just was not superfast.
Don’t depend on someone being superfast to save your ass.[/quote]
He had his hands by his sides. It doesn’t matter how much attention you are paying or how fast you are. If your hands are by your sides you have no chance of catching the bar. I’m not a powerlifter and have never been to a meet but I know if you have both hands two inches under the bar at all times and are tensed and ready, you greatly reduce the chance of injury in that kind of mishap. If your hands are by your sides you are window dressing.
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
I just rewatched the vid. Dude in blue was not day dreaming, he just was not superfast.
Don’t depend on someone being superfast to save your ass.[/quote]
…He was like 60 (or at least looks it), and didn’t even have his hands locked under the bar.
I don’t know what the meet supervisors were doing having him as a spotter, but regardless he was NOT doing a very good job at it.
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
I just rewatched the vid. Dude in blue was not day dreaming, he just was not superfast.
Don’t depend on someone being superfast to save your ass.[/quote]
It has to do with FOCUS. Slow reaction is often a result of not keeping the focus where it belongs. I’ve been guilty of this years ago. As a spotter, I was almost internally cheering the lifter on… almost sending my “strength vibes” to him. I foolishly put myself in the lifter’s place instead of my own, and damn near let the bar fall.
It’s easy to lose focus even for that critical second when havoc strikes. There’s more than just a bar coming down. A good spotter takes a lot into account and reacts accordingly. It’s scary how fast some huge guys can be.
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
A spotters job isn’t to catch it when a guy tears a pec, his job is to get the weight off the carcass.
People have to learn to have no faith on spotters. Even when they are focused on task they often are not quick enough to prevent damage.
This is basic stuff.[/quote]
What’s the alternative? Don’t ever miss a lift? I trust the guys I train with 100%. And every time I’ve failed (or any one else), they’ve saved my ass. I don’t see why it should be any different at a meet.
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
I don’t disagree but you are foolish to depend on it. Spotters suck.[/quote]
If we were just talking about some gym video with Joe Average spotting someone, I would agree.
However this is at a meet with max lifts being used, you should be able to depend on your spotters at a meet to keep you from dying. That’s the point.