Is a spotter needed with SL?
mom2kpr
Posts: 348 Member
I am going to start SL next week (going to start w/3x5). Do I need to have a spotter with me for some of the exercises? I'm going to check today if my gym has a power rack (I go to YMCA). I workout alone.
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You should be fine! Especially just starting out. You'll be able to feel when your body just can't handle another rep, and usually that happens before you start your next one.0
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I agree. I don't think you'll need one for quite a while. Once you get the form down, you should be good for a little while. :-) Once you need a spotter I imagine that you'll be so confident at the gym that you'll be okay asking a stranger for a particularly hard lift.0
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You don't need a spotter. Just make sure that you have safeties in the power rack and know how to bail out of a lift properly. Learning form is key
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Yay!! Thanks everyone :flowerforyou: ! I will have a trainer at the Y show me how to properly use everything.0
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You don't *need* a spotter, but it sure is nice and can help you progress faster on bench. I failed at the gym pretty early on in SL because of some bad bar math. Embarrassing but not the end of the world. I do think having a spotter every single time at my home gym has made a huge difference in my bench - he keeps me going even after I have failed and I don't worry about giving it everything I have with a heavy weight.
ETA: I have an old shoulder injury and un-racking the weight is not a safe movement for me. I think this is true for anyone who has shoulder/rotator cuff injuries.0 -
I workout at home and usually have a spotter...but not always.
When I first started I didn't have a squat rack/power cage either...it was built after my first fail at squats and I had to dump the bar.
Now the only thing I need a spotter for it benching (for the moment) and I didn't have one Wednsday and I did the roll of shame...yup...130lbs rolled down my entire body...squishing the little fat bulge on my belly...
Learn to fail that way when you don't have a spotter you can "unload" in a safe manner.0 -
Hi everyone, I need your advice because I LOVE SL5x5 but I do not feel safe training without a spotter, particularly for squats, overhead press and bench press. Last week I failed on bench and overhead press- thankfully I had a spotter. I have done these exercises using the bar and the dumbells. I think using dumbells, it is easier to bail/ safely fail. Using the bar, my body mechanics are much better. I also feel like I get a better workout. But it is hard to do these using a bar without a spotter. I looked into training at various gyms and there is no spotter on staff, they suggest that other guests can spot or they suggest I hire a trainer for $65-85 per hour. I am doing SL5x5 and I am so happy with the results- currently primarily feeling more energetic and strong. My current stats are:
Squat 100 lbs.
Overhead press 40 lbs
Deadlift 90 lbs
Barbell row 45 lbs
I'd like your ideas on how to safely proceed/ not lose momentum while not having a work-out buddy or spotter at the moment. I have done weight training past and am really enjoying being back to it. I am on week 2. On week 1, I trained at a hotel gym with great staff and had a spotter the whole time. Perhaps I'm pushing too fast but I do want to feel like I am working not just going through the motions. On my first squats I could do the start weight 25 reps in a row without stopping. I read that you should try to start where you can do 5 but not 10. So I upped my weight and I am feeling much better about the workout. Thanks in advance for your input!0 -
I'm interested in this too. Started yesterday at my gym full of guys and I felt like I really should have a spotter but my husband travels a ton and can't come with me usually and none of my friends go to my gym! Does everybody just ask other guys at the gym to spot them? This feels kinda scary as I'm a little shy especially when it comes to working out...0
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I don't know how but a lot of people don't seem to think a spotter is necessary. Today I did overhead press and wanted to push harder to try to get through but didn't feel safe doing so without a spotter. I am adapting but it would've been better having a spotter to focus on the weight and not in the safe fail.0
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I'm just starting the program and working out from home on a weight bench. Since I'm starting low (45 for squats/barbell rows, 25 for OHP, 65 for deadlifts) I don't yet feel the need for a spotter, but when I hit my final reps I can tell that I'm going to want some additional security to go up in weights. I cringe at the idea of spending a few hundred on a power cage, let alone the space issue, but have not yet found any other good alternatives for a home setup.
I've been looking into safety stands. I like that they take up little space and are easily movable. But I wonder how secure they are in terms of tipping? I was thinking something along the lines of these:
http://www.amazon.com/TDS-C-93015-W-Safety-Stands/dp/B000TF66NG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1405959945&sr=8-4&keywords=barbell+safety+rack
For those working out at home, what sort of safeties do you have in place when you lift heavy?0 -
For squats, you let the bar roll back and I drop down to my knees when I know I'm going to fail.
For OHP, you won't get the bar over your head if you're gonna fail, trust me.
For DL, the bar will just drop down.
For rows, same as DL or you won't even get it up to your chest.
Bench is trickiest, but google roll of shame and that is how you get out of a tricky spot. I've never felt that I'm going to crush myself, and I'm at 105. I might start getting a spotter for my last couple sets though now, or bench in the power rack. I have done the roll of shame before, some guy tried to come "save" me and I was like "I'm good!" Lok0 -
For squats, you let the bar roll back and I drop down to my knees when I know I'm going to fail.
For OHP, you won't get the bar over your head if you're gonna fail, trust me.
For DL, the bar will just drop down.
For rows, same as DL or you won't even get it up to your chest.
Bench is trickiest, but google roll of shame and that is how you get out of a tricky spot. I've never felt that I'm going to crush myself, and I'm at 105. I might start getting a spotter for my last couple sets though now, or bench in the power rack. I have done the roll of shame before, some guy tried to come "save" me and I was like "I'm good!" Lok
Thanks for your tips. Nice bench stat- keep it up! I feel comfortable with the bench fail/ roll of shame, did it this morning! Fail on DL and rows- pretty straightforward. The squat fail sounds dangerous- did you practice? Do you have a video reference? For OHP, I have gotten stuck right in the middle going up- just past eye level and I have pushed through with a spotter before but I didn't feel safe doing it without. All this said, I am adjusting to not having a spotter and appreciating having a work-out straight through, but I'm still thinking about putting up an add for a weight training partner.0 -
The squat fail is the one that scares me the most as well. I've been watching youtube videos of squat dumps, and they aren't encouraging me. I'm trying to come up with a cheaper homemade setup that would help in the event of a fail, that wont break the bank or take up tons of space. Ideally something that could work for bench fails as well.
Does anyone have any idea what this guy is stacking up for his safety catch?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ko2i-kCWW0 0 -
Sorry @violet, I have no idea.
Here is a squat failure video guys,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwDN1156e0s he has safeties for it to land on, but without safeties the bar will land on the floor. I've had to bail out of a squat before, it's not as scary as it seems. 0 -
@suremeansyes: The part that worries me is getting the hands/wrists under and out in time. In each video, that part of the bail really looks worrisome.0
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@suremeansyes: The part that worries me is getting the hands/wrists under and out in time. In each video, that part of the bail really looks worrisome.
Practice it with just the bar. I promise it's easier than it looks!0 -
y'know, i've watched a bunch of people 'spotting' for other people most days when i'm in the gym. lifting seems to be a very buddy activity, especially with the younger guys . . .
so i'm going to say that they don't make me feel much safer, even just looking on. especially on the bench. unless they all have spiderman reflexes and fingers of steel. i mean, some of them don't even position their full palms under the bar, just their fingertips. and you can tell their stance isn't set up to take a sudden serious load either. you're going to catch 200 pounds and slow it down with just the ends of eight little fingers and all your weight on the balls of your feet? get real. i probably fret too much, but i can't help thinking some of these people would be safer without a spotter, because then they'd take a more realistic view of their abilities and not attempt weights where there's a fair chance they'll fail.
i just can't see a lot of extra confidence coming at me just by getting to look up somebody's nose while i lift. but that's me.0 -
y'know, i've watched a bunch of people 'spotting' for other people most days when i'm in the gym. lifting seems to be a very buddy activity, especially with the younger guys . . .
so i'm going to say that they don't make me feel much safer, even just looking on. especially on the bench. unless they all have spiderman reflexes and fingers of steel. i mean, some of them don't even position their full palms under the bar, just their fingertips. and you can tell their stance isn't set up to take a sudden serious load either. you're going to catch 200 pounds and slow it down with just the ends of eight little fingers and all your weight on the balls of your feet? get real. i probably fret too much, but i can't help thinking some of these people would be safer without a spotter, because then they'd take a more realistic view of their abilities and not attempt weights where there's a fair chance they'll fail.
i just can't see a lot of extra confidence coming at me just by getting to look up somebody's nose while i lift. but that's me.
The chances of your arms just giving out while pressing a weight that you could lower to your chest is exceedingly low. A spotter is there to help assist you in reracking the bar- not catching the weight in it's entirety.0 -
The chances of your arms just giving out while pressing a weight that you could lower to your chest is exceedingly low. A spotter is there to help assist you in reracking the bar- not catching the weight in it's entirety.
ahhhhh . . . thanks. that explains everything. so unless you're working to the failure point, it shouldn't be that much of an issue, right?0 -
The chances of your arms just giving out while pressing a weight that you could lower to your chest is exceedingly low. A spotter is there to help assist you in reracking the bar- not catching the weight in it's entirety.
ahhhhh . . . thanks. that explains everything. so unless you're working to the failure point, it shouldn't be that much of an issue, right?
Well, when you fail reps on SL technically you're working until failure. I think what she's saying is if your arms are going to give out, it's going to be before you get to the point of no return over your body. When I fail reps on bench, it's because I've lowered it to my chest and can't get it back up (then I do the roll of shame), or when I get to the top of the rep and realize that lowering it again will result in a roll of shame and then I rack it before getting to that point.0 -
Well, when you fail reps on SL technically you're working until failure.
right, but that isn't supposed to happen every time you do a sl workout, so hopefully it's the exception instead of the rule. the 'norm' is still to use whatever weight allows you to complete all 5x5 without failure and with good form.I think what she's saying is if your arms are going to give out, it's going to be before you get to the point of no return over your body.
okay, yeah . . . i think i'm a special snowflake, because with me the limiting factor is my strength on the way down. any failing would happen then if my shoulder can't keep the left side of the bar under control. i can usually get it up (snrrk), so if i don't think i can bring it down safely i just rack it.0
