Barbell Bench Press without spotter

24

Replies

  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    Erik8484 wrote: »
    pdxhak wrote: »
    Bench in a squat rack with the safety bars set at the height to rest the bar if you cannot complete the lift

    Recommending this approach.

    I do this as well.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    Look if they can ask me all the time then I can ask them. My problem is most people can't spot worth a damn. Then you have to tell them what you want or else they'll f**k your s**t up! Plus if I have to educate someone on how to spot it's throws me off if I'm maxing out. Basically I tell them to keep an eye on me, only grab it if I tell you to.

    So you have never gone to failure and there's no need to, some of you say. Hmm...so how do you know to stop one rep short(meaning you're shorting yourself), how do you know you can't do what you did last time or can, you don't ever do negatives? So in reality you're not a bencher just a workout guy going for a certain number of reps quitting just shy of failure, but how do you know that rep was the failure rep?

    And to have a program for the bench that never takes you near failure isn't a bench program. Plus even if you're doing one of those programs what if something happens with a lesser weight? Accident's happen. Find a partner and a new program.

    So you people have never failed during a workout? How do you know something for sure unless you've tried it? Failure is what you build upon. If you don't know failure, how do you know success? If you've never failed, how do you know what's possible?

    Yeah I know, I'm a smart @zz today. JMHO

    I used calculations from AMRAPS and volume PRS to adjust my 1rm. I test my 1 rm few times per year, most likely on the platform. Testing it constantly in the gym may stifle my effort if it is fatiguing. I bench 4x per week.
  • CowboySar
    CowboySar Posts: 404 Member
    I have never done the roll of shame but have come very close. I have been close to it many times but have been able to muster enough to hit the bottom pins. I have given up on the barbell bench press as a staple and stick to exclusively dumbbell for my chest work. I will on occasion do the odd BB bench to see if it has increased any from last time.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    edited February 2018
    Had to do the roll of shame once. (I don't currently bench enough weight that there would have been any danger of suffocating though-so have never bothered to request a spotter..wouldn't be a feasible option at higher weights).

    On the dumbbells- you have a lot less control of the weight when you get close to failure..so you do run the risk of F'ing up your shoulder if not careful dropping the weight or of a weight coming down on yourself with a bit more speed than with a barbell.

    ETA: I use the dumbells more often than the barbell despite the above.
  • Z_I_L_L_A
    Z_I_L_L_A Posts: 2,399 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    Look if they can ask me all the time then I can ask them. My problem is most people can't spot worth a damn. Then you have to tell them what you want or else they'll f**k your s**t up! Plus if I have to educate someone on how to spot it's throws me off if I'm maxing out. Basically I tell them to keep an eye on me, only grab it if I tell you to.

    So you have never gone to failure and there's no need to, some of you say. Hmm...so how do you know to stop one rep short(meaning you're shorting yourself), how do you know you can't do what you did last time or can, you don't ever do negatives? So in reality you're not a bencher just a workout guy going for a certain number of reps quitting just shy of failure, but how do you know that rep was the failure rep?

    And to have a program for the bench that never takes you near failure isn't a bench program. Plus even if you're doing one of those programs what if something happens with a lesser weight? Accident's happen. Find a partner and a new program.

    So you people have never failed during a workout? How do you know something for sure unless you've tried it? Failure is what you build upon. If you don't know failure, how do you know success? If you've never failed, how do you know what's possible?

    Yeah I know, I'm a smart @zz today. JMHO

    I used calculations from AMRAPS and volume PRS to adjust my 1rm. I test my 1 rm few times per year, most likely on the platform. Testing it constantly in the gym may stifle my effort if it is fatiguing. I bench 4x per week.

    Do your calculations put you pretty close at a meet? I've been training my nephew for the past 5 years, but he is gaining muscle so fast it's hard to gauge him. I power lifted for 12 years, stopped at age 34, I'm 51 now. Would love to do one more meet.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    Look if they can ask me all the time then I can ask them. My problem is most people can't spot worth a damn. Then you have to tell them what you want or else they'll f**k your s**t up! Plus if I have to educate someone on how to spot it's throws me off if I'm maxing out. Basically I tell them to keep an eye on me, only grab it if I tell you to.

    So you have never gone to failure and there's no need to, some of you say. Hmm...so how do you know to stop one rep short(meaning you're shorting yourself), how do you know you can't do what you did last time or can, you don't ever do negatives? So in reality you're not a bencher just a workout guy going for a certain number of reps quitting just shy of failure, but how do you know that rep was the failure rep?

    And to have a program for the bench that never takes you near failure isn't a bench program. Plus even if you're doing one of those programs what if something happens with a lesser weight? Accident's happen. Find a partner and a new program.

    So you people have never failed during a workout? How do you know something for sure unless you've tried it? Failure is what you build upon. If you don't know failure, how do you know success? If you've never failed, how do you know what's possible?

    Yeah I know, I'm a smart @zz today. JMHO

    I used calculations from AMRAPS and volume PRS to adjust my 1rm. I test my 1 rm few times per year, most likely on the platform. Testing it constantly in the gym may stifle my effort if it is fatiguing. I bench 4x per week.

    Do your calculations put you pretty close at a meet? I've been training my nephew for the past 5 years, but he is gaining muscle so fast it's hard to gauge him. I power lifted for 12 years, stopped at age 34, I'm 51 now. Would love to do one more meet.

    Yep. At this point I've had programs written for me, so I can put my estimated max based on AMRAPS or a max I have hit in the gym/meet into my excel programming, and then run a percentage based program for 9 weeks based on that max, and come out with a PR on meet day...if I'm not having a rough meet.

    You should do one!
  • Davidsdottir
    Davidsdottir Posts: 1,285 Member
    susanp57 wrote: »
    Am I the only person who just yells out, "Help!"

    I've done that too LOL
  • PWRLFTR1
    PWRLFTR1 Posts: 324 Member
    I guess I'm lucky, I belong to a lifting gym, there is usually always someone around to spot me, even the gym owner. My advice would be to get to know your fellow gym members, unless it is someone who seems anti-social, most lifters won't mind giving a spot, but pick your spotters carefully, not everyone knows how to do a proper spot.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    PWRLFTR1 wrote: »
    I guess I'm lucky, I belong to a lifting gym, there is usually always someone around to spot me, even the gym owner. My advice would be to get to know your fellow gym members, unless it is someone who seems anti-social, most lifters won't mind giving a spot, but pick your spotters carefully, not everyone knows how to do a proper spot.

    There's a guy at my gym who won't talk to me anymore. His ego was hurt when after a set of him spotting me I said, "oh....I think I'm alright actually, no thank you".
  • Z_I_L_L_A
    Z_I_L_L_A Posts: 2,399 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    Look if they can ask me all the time then I can ask them. My problem is most people can't spot worth a damn. Then you have to tell them what you want or else they'll f**k your s**t up! Plus if I have to educate someone on how to spot it's throws me off if I'm maxing out. Basically I tell them to keep an eye on me, only grab it if I tell you to.

    So you have never gone to failure and there's no need to, some of you say. Hmm...so how do you know to stop one rep short(meaning you're shorting yourself), how do you know you can't do what you did last time or can, you don't ever do negatives? So in reality you're not a bencher just a workout guy going for a certain number of reps quitting just shy of failure, but how do you know that rep was the failure rep?

    And to have a program for the bench that never takes you near failure isn't a bench program. Plus even if you're doing one of those programs what if something happens with a lesser weight? Accident's happen. Find a partner and a new program.

    So you people have never failed during a workout? How do you know something for sure unless you've tried it? Failure is what you build upon. If you don't know failure, how do you know success? If you've never failed, how do you know what's possible?

    Yeah I know, I'm a smart @zz today. JMHO

    I used calculations from AMRAPS and volume PRS to adjust my 1rm. I test my 1 rm few times per year, most likely on the platform. Testing it constantly in the gym may stifle my effort if it is fatiguing. I bench 4x per week.

    Do your calculations put you pretty close at a meet? I've been training my nephew for the past 5 years, but he is gaining muscle so fast it's hard to gauge him. I power lifted for 12 years, stopped at age 34, I'm 51 now. Would love to do one more meet.

    Yep. At this point I've had programs written for me, so I can put my estimated max based on AMRAPS or a max I have hit in the gym/meet into my excel programming, and then run a percentage based program for 9 weeks based on that max, and come out with a PR on meet day...if I'm not having a rough meet.

    You should do one!
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    Z_I_L_L_A wrote: »
    Look if they can ask me all the time then I can ask them. My problem is most people can't spot worth a damn. Then you have to tell them what you want or else they'll f**k your s**t up! Plus if I have to educate someone on how to spot it's throws me off if I'm maxing out. Basically I tell them to keep an eye on me, only grab it if I tell you to.

    So you have never gone to failure and there's no need to, some of you say. Hmm...so how do you know to stop one rep short(meaning you're shorting yourself), how do you know you can't do what you did last time or can, you don't ever do negatives? So in reality you're not a bencher just a workout guy going for a certain number of reps quitting just shy of failure, but how do you know that rep was the failure rep?

    And to have a program for the bench that never takes you near failure isn't a bench program. Plus even if you're doing one of those programs what if something happens with a lesser weight? Accident's happen. Find a partner and a new program.

    So you people have never failed during a workout? How do you know something for sure unless you've tried it? Failure is what you build upon. If you don't know failure, how do you know success? If you've never failed, how do you know what's possible?

    Yeah I know, I'm a smart @zz today. JMHO

    I used calculations from AMRAPS and volume PRS to adjust my 1rm. I test my 1 rm few times per year, most likely on the platform. Testing it constantly in the gym may stifle my effort if it is fatiguing. I bench 4x per week.

    Do your calculations put you pretty close at a meet? I've been training my nephew for the past 5 years, but he is gaining muscle so fast it's hard to gauge him. I power lifted for 12 years, stopped at age 34, I'm 51 now. Would love to do one more meet.

    Yep. At this point I've had programs written for me, so I can put my estimated max based on AMRAPS or a max I have hit in the gym/meet into my excel programming, and then run a percentage based program for 9 weeks based on that max, and come out with a PR on meet day...if I'm not having a rough meet.

    You should do one!

    I'm working to a state record(402) in my weight class and age group. Right now I'm at 425 flat bench 380 incline. Both are TNG. We'll see what happens later in the year. Still working with nephew Sophomore 15 year old, 5'10 183 lbs 6%BF. He has a SQ 455, BP 325 DL 460.
  • THeADHDTurnip
    THeADHDTurnip Posts: 413 Member
    I've thrown a bench under the smith machine before so I could go full ROM without crushing myself... but it seems to void stability muscle groups, so I'm not sure it's the best.
  • JAYxMSxPES
    JAYxMSxPES Posts: 193 Member
    I will actually ask people how they want to be spotted. Some people just want to make sure they don't drop the bar on their neck, some want a lift-off, some don't, some want you help them cheat by keeping your fingers under the bar; so I always ask how they want to be spotted.

    My problem is that early morning there's only one or two guys that can spot me, so if they're not around I can only go so far.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,971 Member
    Lean59man wrote: »
    Never use collars when benching without spotters so you can dump the weight

    Have you actually ever tried doing this?

    It doesn't work because if you can't lift the bar to begin with, you still won't be able to upend it to slip 1/2 of the weight off. If you're using a bar that you CAN upend, then you aren't doing a realistic test of this theory.

    I have actually tried doing this while using the safety bars on my rack and failed miserably. Without the safety bars, I'd be dead.




  • JAYxMSxPES
    JAYxMSxPES Posts: 193 Member
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    Lean59man wrote: »
    Never use collars when benching without spotters so you can dump the weight

    Have you actually ever tried doing this?

    It doesn't work because if you can't lift the bar to begin with, you still won't be able to upend it to slip 1/2 of the weight off. If you're using a bar that you CAN upend, then you aren't doing a realistic test of this theory.

    I have actually tried doing this while using the safety bars on my rack and failed miserably. Without the safety bars, I'd be dead.

    If you get stabled, just roll to one side the weight will pull the bar over but you can't have safety bars in the way. It's embarrassing as hell but it works. Not to mention you can hurt somebody else if they're not paying attention.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
    Yes, I've done it, you just lean to the side. Sounds crazy loud when all the plates fall off...
  • cbohling1987
    cbohling1987 Posts: 99 Member
    My gym is way too small to dump plates off the bars to the side, I'd hit someone. I always use the safety pins.
  • JAYxMSxPES
    JAYxMSxPES Posts: 193 Member
    My gym is way too small to dump plates off the bars to the side, I'd hit someone. I always use the safety pins.

    That's the best bet. Don't want to hurt anybody else or yourself.