Starting Strength

get much help the next time you need it.

    Figure 5-31. On the final rep, it is common to push the bar back toward the rack before finishing the rep, instead of driving into a proper lockout over the chest. If you miss the last rep (and if you miss a rep, it will probably be the last one), where would you rather the bar come back down – on your chest or on your face? Get in the habit of finishing every rep correctly.

    Spotters
     
    In many gyms around the world, bench pressing is a team activity. The guy on the bench is “doing chest” while the guy standing over his head is working on his traps. It is truly amazing how much weight two guys working together like this can “bench press.” It is not an exaggeration to say that the vast majority of big gym bench presses are exaggerations. If the spotter puts his hands on the bar during the first rep, and keeps them there for the rest of the set, then who has lifted what, and why?
    There is a perfectly legitimate place in the weight room for spotters, but it is not in the middle of someone else’s work set. Spotters should not be there to help with a set. The role of the spotter is to help get the bar out of the rack and into the start position over the shoulders by helping to overcome the long moment arm between the rack and the shoulder joints. The problem with many spotters is that they create more problems than they solve. The bench press is actually a simple movement to learn correctly, and more people have problems with their spotters than they do with the exercise itself.
    Spotters should be there for safety, when a question of safety exists. For everybody except rank novices, the first warm-up sets are not a safety concern and do not require spotters unless the spotter is also performing a coaching function. As the weight gets heavier, a spot becomes more necessary: some people need one on the last warm-up sets, and everybody should be spotted on the work sets because the weight is supposed to be heavy. Excessive caution and the insistence that every set be spotted for everybody is inefficient, unnecessary, and bothersome to other people in the gym who are trying to train. But if your gym contains mostly people who can’t be bothered to help you when it is legitimately necessary, it could be a problem. Get a spot when you need to, and know when this is.
    For the bench press, a competent center spot will suffice for all but the very heaviest attempts – the kind reserved for a meet, unless you’re training at a national-level powerlifting gym. A good handoff is one of those rare commodities – there are more bad ones than good. A bad handoff interferes with the lifter’s timing, balance, view of the ceiling, and concentration by the spotter’s attempting to participate in the rep. A good handoff spotter is experienced and appropriate with the timing and amount of bar contact, respectful of the mental requirements of the lifter, and, above all, conservative about when and how much to help.
    The bench press spotter stands behind the head of the lifter, in the center of the bar ( Figure 5-32 ). This position can be adjusted a little if necessary. The primary requirement of the position is that it is close enough for the spotter to grab the bar, but far enough back that after the handoff, the lifter has an unobstructed view of the ceiling. From this position, the spotter can do whatever might be necessary at the end of the set, from just watching the lifter finish the set, to securing the rack by following the bar as it meets the uprights, to taking the bar out of a sticking point.

    Figure 5-32. The standard spotting position (A) allows for a quick and safe response to problems. But the proper role of the spotter must be understood. The spotter provides a measure of safety and confidence and can help through a sticking point on the last rep and ensure that the bar is racked safely (B)

    If you actually get stuck during a rep, your spotter needs to be the one to decide that this has occurred, that he will take the bar, and how much of the weight to take when he does. The bar is stuck when it reaches a point of zero upward movement. This will shortly be followed by a deterioration in position as the bar begins to move down. Sometimes you’ll be able to tell the spotter to take the bar, and sometimes you won’t. Your spotter has to accurately evaluate the bar velocity, being certain not to take a bar that is still moving up, yet not failing to take it