zakruti.com » Sport, fitness, workout » Jeff Cavalier

Can You -Spot- the Problem?

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

m answering a common question of whether or not spotting helps to make gains or hurts muscle and strength gains over time. To do this, I-m answering one of the viewer-s questions as part of AX Jeff. Here, Albert Hansen asks: -Jeff what-s your opinion on spotting? I-m a bit of an old school guy and I tend to never want someone to touch the bar when I-m lifting but am I being too stubborn for my own good? - There are really three criteria that needs to be addressed when answering this question and those are the load, goal and the experience of the lifter utilizing the spot. Let-s start with experience. I-m a firm believer that beginners should never employ the use of a spot for any reason other than ensuring safety on a lift or to assist with perhaps the lift off portion of a bench press (the immaterial part of the exercise. The reason for this is clear. Beginners often times rush to get under a barbell without first having any control at all of even their own body in space. Attempting to control their body holding an implement is simply taking a step out of order. What makes this really bad however is when this step is made and the person doing the lift isn-t even the lifter themselves - but their spotter. If your spotter is doing more work than you are then you are never going to build the foundational strength needed to make solid gains down the road. That said, I often times recommend that early beginners spend a short time training with bodyweight and learning how to command their body in space before even moving onto weights. This doesn-t have to take a long time as I said. Sometimes, more athletically gifted trainees can speed through this period if they have great body awareness and natural strength. Too often however, this phase is skipped and the person winds up paying for skipping it in the form of unsafe and unstable lifting technique for the rest of their lifting lives. What is even worse than having someone that spots too much however is getting bad spots from people. As we have seen many times before, this can actually take a situation that is ineffective and it can quickly make it downright dangerous. Of course, the load being used is a critical part of whether a spot is necessary, since I believe there are definitely times when one is warranted. At high loads, not only is it recommended but it is imperative that spotters be present in order to minimize the dangers if something were to inexplicably go wrong. All you have to do is look at the recent Ryan Crowley incident to see how fortunate he was that he had spotters in place to minimize what could have turned disastrous. On the other end of the spectrum however is the overuse of spots on submaximal loads. Beginners will often times have their workout partners spot almost every rep of every set. This is often times used as a way for them to feel as if they are lifting heavier and heavier weights. If the spotter is doing all the lifting though, it really isn-t increasing the overall load at all. Which does bring us to training goal however. If you are looking to build more muscle and wonder whether getting a spot can be helpful, it absolutely can. Having someone there to help you perform forced reps for example can be a great way to induce more overload and force new size gains. When training for strength on the other hand the waters become a bit muddier. Some purists will say to never touch the bar other than to help get it back to the rack and prevent a disaster as noted above. Others will say, the slight assistance near the sticking point is a great way to help the lifter grind through this part of the lift and continue to build strength through the rest of the range of motion. This of course, would be used judiciously. Ultimately, there are advantages and disadvantages when it comes to spotting during a workout. You are going to be the judge when push comes to shove. Be sure to sound off in the comments below and let me know your thoughts on spotting. In the meantime, if you-re looking for a complete step by step program to build muscle and strength at home (without needing a spotter if you don-t want one, be sure to head to athleanx. com via the link below. Start training like an athlete and build ripped athletic muscle in the next 90 days
Date: 2022-04-22

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Comments and reviews: 10

Luk--
Hey Jeff I think this is the question many people have and are interested in this topic - we live in this quarantined time, where we work from home and we have time to actually exercise our bodies through out the whole day. I instead of having one hour exercise session exercise through out the whole day - sort of greasing the groove method. I start in the morning with kardio, let's say I put 100 swings down or some interval running training and then I mix push ups, pull ups, squats (I ultimately aim for pistol squats) every 20 mins or so. So I do 15 push ups, 20 minutes pass, do 8 pull ups, 20 minutes pass, then do 4 assisted pistol squats for example. I alternate the exercises so I do diamond, rubber band, wide, archer push ups variations, same with pull ups - sometimes I do chin ups, sometimes I use just my gymnastics ring to do Australian pull ups etc. Is this a good way how to train? And how would you plan your day as exercise session? Thanks for some advice.
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Daktaklakpak
Why is no one ever using the safety stop when bench pressing? If you reach dead end, and cannot lift it up again. While having so spotter or even a bad one. You can safely lower the bar till it sits on the safety stop. Without crushing/touching your ribcage. Even if it would slip out of your hand, you are safe. But people don't use that for what ever reason. And no, you won't lose gains. But you can lose your life in a worst case scenario when not using it.
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Rin
Hey Jeff! I've always wondered. is there a limit to how much muscle we can build naturally (by natural I mean not using anabolic steroids or other PEDs? Like, how and why are you in the same (amazing) physique that you were these past couple years with no noticable changes? In other words, can you keep on gaining muscles if you stick to good nutrition and regular workout? And if yes, are you trying not to gain too much muscle? -
Cheers Jessy! -
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Felix
Can you do a video explaining if the following shoulder exercises are EFFECTIVE for the SIDE DELTS or just dangerous?
- Snatch Grip High Pull (technically an Upright Row BUT with EXTERNAL Rotation)
- Bradford Press (there-s a small component of BEHIND THE NECK press)
- Lu Raises (wondering if there is internal rotation inside the shoulder when doing this)
- Crucifix Holds (static internal rotation)
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Kenneth
Hey Jeff, I am having issues with a lateral pelvic tilt with pelvic rotation. Basically my pelvis is stuck in a right rotation. In addition, I have a stiff upper back that despite doing face pulls, it doesn-t get better. I-m thinking it is the paraspinal muscles that are weak and I feel like my ribcage is stuck, as in too stiff. What can be done about these issues I-m having?
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shuvo
I am from Bangladesh and I believe you are an international treasure. I can't afford to have a trainer, your videos are all that I have followed for last 5 years or so and I am glad to say that I never felt the need for a trainer. Me and my buddies often refer to you as our Guru(teacher in Bengali. Hope you are seeing this. Thank you Jeff for everything.
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Scaaty
My question is, when you did the video about pec tears, did you consider the close grip bench.
I have done both forms, and I ask 'is there a difference' and if so, should I not do the close grip.
btw, is there instances of pec tears on the incline or decline bench.
I know they are not done near as heavy as the flat bench.
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Joshua
Speaking of -gains or creating pain over time, - are there more benefits to wearing zero drop barefoot shoes when lifting versus athletic shoes with a raised mid and lower sole?
would greatly appreciate a video of the impacts of lifting on the plantar fascia and how to avoid foot pain when training. thanks for the awesome videos!
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Cartman
Around 10 years ago my workout partner who was one of my best friends, is a bit deaf so he don't hear too well. So while I'm benchpressing the man started looked around and while I was in need for help and tried to let him know he didn't hear me - that was a weird situation but in the end he did look at me but it was almost too late
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Helios
i find two good things about having a spotter and not having a spotter. having a spotter will make you feel better to go lift heavier than what you can. not having a spotter gets me motivated cause i always think i gotta finish this final rep and rerack it or else, this bar will get racked on my chest since i dont have a spotter.
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