The MONSTER GARAGE GYM/MAROSCHER COACHING LOG is a weekly Coaching Log by MGG owner, 2-Time WPC World Powerlifting Champion, Eric Maroscher, and is one of the Featured Coaching Logs at EliteFTS.
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Monster Garage Gym/Maroscher Coaching Log: (Log number LXXXVII). “DUDE, CAN YOU GIVE ME A SPOT?”
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It is an innocuous and seemingly benign little question…. “Hey, can you give me a spot?” But depending upon the both the perspective and the experience of the person asking for the spot and the perspective and the experience of the person being asked to spot, the act of spotting as well as the need for the spot can be interpreted and unfortunately, misinterpreted in several ways.
The stark reality is that there are countless ways for injuries to occur in our sport. Fact of the matter is, an injury occurring with the serious powerlifter is an absolute fait accompli.
As the sport of powerlifting is so injury laden, making sure our intentions when asking for or the providing of a spot, need to be clearly understood by both the spotter and spottie.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpEh0jyYfkI&feature=youtu.be]
For most who “work out,” the spot is the act of pushing the lifter just a little past a sticking point with a nudge, or in Weider-speak, a forced rep. As the bar nears the lifters sticking point toward the top of the lift (with the bench for example), the “spotter” puts their hands on the bar and adds a few % of lift to the bar which enables the bencher to lock out the press, or at minimum, keep the bar moving upward to complete the rep or the next couple forced reps. Similarly, sometimes the when spotter’s hands go on the bar to add that tiny %, the barbell goes down anyway, and the spotter is already there to help safely bring the lift to fruition/lockout and safely assists the bencher to re-rack their weight. So, for those “working out,” this is the nature and intent of the spot for the lifter.
Most lifters who are lifting for the simple pleasure or health, know how to help with a forced-rep or the benign spot at the top of the lockout. When it comes to spotting for the powerlifting, the significance of the spot can mean in addition to completing the rep, the difference between a major injury and no injury.
The aforementioned workout spot is used frequently, but for the purpose of this coaching log, we are going to juxtapose spotting for forced reps vs the one-rep-max and/or the 110% effort competition attempt.
Where the spot gets tricky is when you have a lifter who has helped out before with this type of spotting for the person who is “working out,” but the person asking for the spot is really going for a weight attempt that could put themselves in danger.
We put together a short video, again to juxtapose, the powerlifting spot with the forced rep spot.
Our sport is 100% going to result in injury for the lifter, we hope that this video brings a little light on the subject so at minimum, lifters better communicate what their spotting needs are and what the spotters experiences are so both individuals are on the same page prior to the lift.
At the MONSTER GARAGE GYM we don’t let anyone new to the gym spot one of the team until we have shown them how we spot for safety. Something to think about in your training when you need a spot as well.
Things will go wrong in the gym, and even with a great spot, injuries do happen but we want to minimize the injury potential as much as we can through proactively communicating about the spot.
Wishing you the best in your training and competitions. Ever onward. Eric Maroscher: Monster Garage Gym
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