Spotting

[supersoldier]

When somebody spots you on a bench press, and your going for a set of 5, and you hit 4 on your own, and they have to assist you on the 5th, is it more beneficial for you if they kill you and make you push for like 20 seconds before you finally get it up, or if they actually get the bar moving for you? I personally don't like the first one, and I don't like when somebody just yanks the **** off your chest and right on to the rack, either. I like it when they give enough assistance so that you complete the rep with the same speed that you did for the reps you got on your own, and for chist's sake let the person lock out and actually contract his pecs, don't just bring it straight to the rack. Sorry for ranting.

 

[sage]

intensity is always key. One needs and should be pushed, especially critical on the final repititions of a set. The saying that muscle is made in the final few reps is i believe, to be true. 20 seconds though? Probably too much.
Sage

 

[db682]

20 seconds is quite long. I prefer to move the weight as much as I can on my own until form starts to become an issue then a little assistance is always welcome. As for 20 secs, Ive noticed over the years (not just with myself either) that when your breathing patterns during lifting are disrupted that the lifting process becomes much more diffucult. The most common scenerio is (and Im sure most of you have had this happen) when someone causes you to laugh and you just cant get that rep out, Well that same effect occurs (for most people) when forceing out final reps where the exhale and inhale at each press and lowering movement becomes more of a secondary challange. Like instead of breath in during lowering and breath out during lifting you have to perform complete breathing cycles during just the lifting phase. This is not really the case when the weight is in a locked out postion and your body is temp. resting. This is the main reason I stress to people not to try and talk while lifting (unless you need help). Its a testable theory so if anybody is confused give it a try.

db

 

[supersoldier]

It was my first set of bench, and I had 4 more to go, plus negatives with db flyes, and then the same with incline. That ridiciously long rep (all of which was after I hit failure) fvcked up my strength for the rest of my workout. And it was a friend of mine who knew I was just starting my workout, not just some dude in the gym. Maybe a few killer reps on your last set would be productive, but not right from the get go.

intensity is always key. One needs and should be pushed, especially critical on the final repititions of a set. The saying that muscle is made in the final few reps is i believe, to be true. 20 seconds though? Probably too much.
Sage

 

[sage]

sure. but you dont lift to maintain an even flow of strength througout the entirity of a workout. Your drive is to push yourself to a point where you really cant push no more/too much. So why half-ass it on any set? (first, second, or last). Like i said, 20 seconds time under tension is extremely long, a good burnout, so you are right in saying that particular tempo scheme wouldn't be the best for the beginning of your workout. I think you might be defining intensity as going as hard as you can til you cant go no more. Intensity is to push yourself throughout the entire workout. I rather go intense in every set and have some strength decrease as my sets get higher in number, than half assing it so you are fresh for the end of your workout......everytime.
Sage

 

[supersoldier]

I don't half ass any workout. I've been lifting for 5+ years now, and I started out reading Flex and all that BS, so for a good 2+ years I was killing myself every workout, drop sets, tons of forced reps, ect., and I made no real progress in my strength development. I made gains in muscle mass no doubt, but then as I met more people and lifting buddies, especially in the army, they talked mad **** because I was big but my max bench was around 205 for 1 rep. That's garbage. Since I've read more and more about training, theories like "don't go to failure on every set" instead of forced reps/drop sets on every set have gotten me good progress. I had shoulder surgery 6 months ago, so I've only been barbell bench pressing for the past three months or so, and only the last two weeks going all the way down to my chest. The first day I got back to the bench I had trouble doing 135 for 10. I stayed at 135 for a couple of workouts (Dr's advice), and built up to 20 reps in three weeks. From there on I decided to add 10 lbs each week and only do sets of 8, 3 sets. That would be my first 3 sets, then I'd go ballistic after that. Could I have done more than 8 reps with 145?, hell yeah. But I stuck to this protocol and added 10lbs to my bench every week until I got 215 for 8. I think there's a smarter way to train then to just kill yourself every set. For instance say you do a given weight for 3 sets of 5, and the third set you kill yourself to get 5. OR the first set you bust balls to get 7, maybe 5 for your second set, and 3 for your 3rd. Both the same weight for 15 reps total, but what's more beneficial?

 

[Supa Freek 420]

Like sage said intensity is the key. My personal preference is that my spotter assist me in keeping from lowering the weight, helping me just enough so that I don't go negative. But then again I have a way of holding the weight at my sticking point until I can muster just enough strength to push through. It baffles many friends that have given me spots. It can take up to ten seconds for me to complete my last rep. I pretty much spot the same way, except I probably give a little more assistance than I'd personally prefer.

 

[Lock_n_Load]

Down 1....2...UP 1 Yates was the master of it. Coleman has an alright rythem too. Little fast, but tell him that lol

The only thing I know, is that I kow nothing. *Socrates*

 

[Cogar]

If you want to maintain a balance, let your spotter know that you will signal him with a little grunt if you want help. You can then determine when/if to get assistance on that rep. My two cents.

 

[jweave23]

I prefer to do as much work as I possibly can, so I like it if they let me struggle for a few seconds (not 20 though!)

 

[Rokdog]

I'm with Supersoldier on the 3 Sets of 8, move up routine. I think it keeps me from having to get surgery. But that's just me. As far as spotting goes, I tell my spotter how much help I want before each set. If somebody hasn't already done it somewhere else there should be a sticky on Training a Spotter.

 

[NO MERCY]

I prefer to do as much work as I possibly can, so I like it if they let me struggle for a few seconds (not 20 though!)

I was going to open a thread about spotting but I found this one so I will just add to this.

I am the same way as Jweave. I like when the spotter lets me struggle a bit and I can feel the muscle working. I hate when the spotter just grabs the bar and does most of the work for me. How the hell do you get this across to the spotter though. I have tried various things but it never seems to work. I guess I cant be picky if someone is doing me a favor but theres got to be something I can say to make myself clear. Any suggestions?

 

[NO MERCY]

No suggestions??