Spotter,
Please
Remember,
a spotter is someone who is ready to help the
lifter in case he or she can't complete a
lift. As someone who has chosen to lift a
heavy object—often over your precious head or
neck—it's your responsibility to make sure you
have a spotter whenever you're doing an exercise
that may jeopardize your health and
welfare. Probably the two most important
exercises to have a spotter for when you're
using freeweights are the squat
or bench
press,
but there are not the only ones. Again if
you can't lift the weight, you're in serious
trouble.
Even
when you're using a machine or doing freeweight
exercises where your safety isn't jeopardized by
the absence of a spotter, a helping hand can
help you get more out of an exercise in two
ways.
How?
Everyone has exercises that he or she finds
particularly difficult. Let's say for you
it's shoulder
presses.
Oftentimes, just having someone stand next to
you provides the extra motivation to focus and
finish the set with good form and maximum
effort. Second, a spotter can help you get
a few extra reps out of any exercise by offering
the barest assistance. We've had spotters
who nudged the weight with two fingers who
provided invaluable help.
As
the lifter, it's your responsibility to tell the
spotter what you're going to do. Let him
or her know how many reps you're hoping to do,
if you want a spot on the liftoff (when
you first pick the weight off the stand), and so
on. It's also your job to never give up on
a lift.
Soon
or later, you'll be asked to switch places and
act as a spotter. In that case, it's your
job to ensure the lifter's safety. Here's
the key: Never agree to do something you
can't. And if you're not sure what's
expected of you, ask. A good spotter is
like a good baseball umpire—as unobtrusive as
as possible. Aside from an inattentive
one, an overanxious spotter is the next biggest
sinner. Once you've ensured that the
lifter doesn't drop 200 pounds on his esophagus,
the spotter's job is to make sure that the
weight keeps moving with as little assistance as
possible. Remember, you're doing the
lifter a disservice if you provide too much
assistance.
If
you see the weight stop moving, give it a little
nudge. (On most exercises that use a
barbell, you're usually best off by lifting the
bar itself. In the case of exercises that
use dumbbells, it's usually preferable to nudge
the lifter's elbows.) Once you've done it
a few times, you'll get the hang of it.
The most important things to keep in mind are to
always pay attention, don't jump in too soon,
and stay close enough to the lifter to help out whenever
needed.