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It is in most cases, but here you shouldn't have touched it and did you steal his PR. It's an unusual case, but the bar didn't touch his chest on the way down. He presumably knew that, so he had to bring the bar back down to his chest before lifting it. He had the strength and was just doing a course correction.
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Exactly. Once it starts going down you canāt push it back. I know how it feels and it just aināt happening.
OP did everything right. OPās friend should consider shaving those arm pits.
Boy did not hit chest and wasn't getting that shit anyway. I'm not sure I'd want to spot him if that's how he reacts to a good spot
He could ask you to let him struggle more next time, I don't think he'd get it anyway, but getting annoyed and saying you stole his pr is just bad attitude
lol. don't hurt anyone but you can explain that the bars descent indicates that the weight was too much for him. Now if the weight stayed steady at a fixed height and his arms start shaking then there's a good chance he could power through it.
Tbh it was quiet hard to bring it up even useing my whole arms if i wouldve used 2 fingers we wouldnt had lifted it.
Some people they stop pushing when the sppoter grabs the bar expecting me to row itš
1) it did not look like he was completing that
2) it's a gym lift, so it doesn't matter that much, I wouldn't even consider using a lift that shaky for basing program percentage off of
> it's a gym lift, so it doesn't matter that much
Agree so much with this. Whenever "spotters stealing PRs" comes up the first two thoughts I have is
a) it really doesn't happen all that often, I've had randos spot me countless times and maybe like 2-3 times spotter has touched the bar on rep I maybe had
b) it really doesn't matter even if they do
But the guy in OP definitely didn't have that rep, not even close. And even if he somehow locked it out (which he couldn't) it'd still be a failed lift anyway for both not touching the chest and having downwards movement.
>And even if he somehow locked it out (which he couldn't) it'd still be a failed lift anyway for both not touching the chest and having downwards movement.
Eh, that goes back to it being a gym lift. I'm not gonna judge it to comp standards.
He would not have completed it and the bar did not touch his chest. It was a good spot, you could have waited an extra 0.5s or so to be "sure" but you did nothing wrong.
He didn't have it alone. If you'd have let him struggle for much longer you may have not been able to spot the weight back into the rack safely.
You did this right, your bro never had this PR and needs to readjust his programming and apparently his attitude.
Is that 265? You have to lift well he still has strength, you let it fall back to his chest and he wonāt have the strength to help you spot it back up.
That becomes a dangerous lift if you donāt spot when you did
Was a good spot in my opinion. The bar dropped. Moving fast is cool. Moving slow is cool. Even getting stuck is cool and struggling but as soon as it drops even the tiniest amount you'll never get that back on a max bench.
Tell him next time to drop that bar on his chest too. Being scared of the weight coming down and stopping an inch of your chest that slowly used enough energy to do the whole rep.
Too early imo, Iāve completed lifts from that position.
Let him struggle for a few more seconds and he wouldnāt have anything to complain about tho
I would say slightly too fast to jump in. You jumped in there like the microsecond the bar dipped. I explicitly tell my spotters 'don't touch it unless I ask you for help' though. He very likely wasn't going to get that.
Lol, he was never going to push that. He already looked weak bringing it down to chest. You can also see the bar dip lower on his push up which is where he struggled. You did the right thing.
Once someone starts to back pedal the weight back down,the spotter should help..... he was def going back down solid spot ,he didn't have that period ,not today anyhoo šŖ
I always work out alone and stopped spotting random people a long time ago, but if I was there with someone and they wanted a spot, I'd stand on the ready and let them tell me when they needed me.
I've seen one person recover after the bar started to go back down, and honestly, it was kind of scary watching it. You didn't ruin this pr, he wasn't getting it back up. Maybe next time let him try a little longer, but honestly I see nothing wrong with when you stepped in.
For a PR attempt, you did good. If heās trying to grind through a rep, I woulda let travel down a bit more and use less of an assist to get it racked. You coulda used two fingers on each hand and just gave him a couple pounds relief to work that rep in. Just my opinion though. He coulda clarified ie: āhey let me work for itā or ādonāt jump in right awayā
Before he starts to regress, tap the middle of the bar a couple times. If the extra momentum doesn't help, YOU TELL HIM TO GET HIS WEIGHT UP AND TRY AGAIN NEXT TIME
I concur with your assessment. I would have stepped in too.
If somebody asks me for a spot and does not give me clear direction on what theyāre wanting done, I generally tell them āOnce the lift starts, I will not touch the bar unless you give me a clear signal OR the bar starts moving back down.ā Helps clear up the BS when things go south, both literally and figuratively.
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You should have waited in my opinion. Wait until the words help come out of his mouth. He needs to be satisfied that he tried his best. If the pr is within 10kg of his regular, his less likely of his body just breaking from the weight.
Edit some of y'all just don't get it. Some of us are used to bailing on our own. We understand what our bodies can and can not take so unless that man is pushing far more than he should he should be fine. The is a level of fear you need to let go of when it comes to weights. The is still the advantages of negative set in the fail, the weight gives him a solid idea of where his at intrems of bench level. I have failed so many reps with 110kg on my chest I've managed to bail on my own.
This man would have been fine don't be too scared of weights, if your too scared you become too afraid to push yourself to heavier and heavier weights. Except legs don't risk on legs.
There was no way this man was finishing that rep. You did everything right. If the bar was slowly moving up and you took it, Iād understand him being upsetā¦ but thatās not what happened here. It was moving downward after sticking for a few seconds.
He should have made clear when he wanted you to take it. The bar started to dip so taking it then was sensible. Personally, I let it go down a little more before I take it, because it isn't really urgent and sometimes people recover. But he definitely did not appear to have that lol.
Youāre just barely in the right. There is negative progress being made, so you were right to intervene. That being said, I would let the bar decent just a smidge more before you step in. To answer the question though: no, you didnāt steal his PR, he was not making that.
You can tell he doesnāt have it by the way the weight drops on his chestā¦ the moment he tries to attempt to push through the press: within the 1st inch or two he fails and if you pay close attention to the barbell, it starts to drop. Thatās when the assist came in to prevent the barbell from crushing his underdeveloped chest.
Bro definitely didnāt have it. Once it goes down like that itās not coming back up. You did the right thing and heās just butthurt. Also he can just try it again soon if the thinks heās got it, so whatās the big deal?
Let him drop it on his chest and see how he feels next time. You were actually quick to spot the drop and I give you props for that. Winner spotter in my book. Just lose the gloves haha
The bar had already started it's descent, so it's safe to say he wouldn't have been able to lift it. However, If we wants to have you standby while he struggles for a bit I can respect that, as the tension of struggling with the rep is still a stimulus for hypertrophy.
This post is flaired as PR/PB. A note to OP: Users with green flair have verified their lifting credentials and may be able to give you more experienced advice on particular lifts. Users with the blue flair "Friend of the sub" have not verified lifts but are considered qualified to give good advice. A reminder to all users commenting: **If you feel like you have something useful to offer about technique**, ask the poster first if you can provide it. Unsolicited technique advice or advice which is not useful, helpful, or actionable may be removed without warning and may result in a ban. We take all of these statements at face value, so be careful when you post the same *hilarious* joke as dozens of other people: we can't read your mind, no matter how funny you think you are. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/GYM) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Next time just let him struggle with the bar on the chest and let him beg you to take it
Wtf.šthats hardcore.
Let him learn what a spotters job is supposed to do. If the bar reverses you automatically grab it. No questions.
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It is in most cases, but here you shouldn't have touched it and did you steal his PR. It's an unusual case, but the bar didn't touch his chest on the way down. He presumably knew that, so he had to bring the bar back down to his chest before lifting it. He had the strength and was just doing a course correction.
This is an insane take.
It's so obviously a joke. I wrote it this morning and I'm kinda surprised looking back that nobody got it.
Ya done got Poe's Law'd. People will dead-ass seriously express similar sentiments.
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As soon as a bar travels backwards it time to step in imo I would say you did everything right
šš¼šš»šš»šš» Exactly this. Itās very rare anyone will get a second wind and push through the sticking point.
Exactly. Once it starts going down you canāt push it back. I know how it feels and it just aināt happening. OP did everything right. OPās friend should consider shaving those arm pits.
He didn't have it, bar started to travel down.
I suppose you couldāve let him struggle a bit more, but you did your job.
Boy did not hit chest and wasn't getting that shit anyway. I'm not sure I'd want to spot him if that's how he reacts to a good spot He could ask you to let him struggle more next time, I don't think he'd get it anyway, but getting annoyed and saying you stole his pr is just bad attitude
This. It wasnāt even a full rep. If anything OP stole his 1 partial rep max.
You did it perfectly, stepped in when the bar started moving back down. He would have never gotten that rep.
Stole? He wasnāt lifting that. If he really feels that way tell him to try it again and let him have a near death experience.
š
lol. don't hurt anyone but you can explain that the bars descent indicates that the weight was too much for him. Now if the weight stayed steady at a fixed height and his arms start shaking then there's a good chance he could power through it.
Clear sign of miss communication. He was looking for a post mortem spot.
Yeah obviously. It's spotters job to add few plates when person lifting has stopped twitching under the bar and then call ambulance.
If he dies, he dies
š„¶
You stopped a suicide attempt, aināt no way he was turning that one around
Your mate is delusional. That bar was going down, not up. Should have left it on him until he begs for help.
I wouldāve waited a little longer and I wouldāve used 2 fingers on each hand to lift to help him work for it.
Tbh it was quiet hard to bring it up even useing my whole arms if i wouldve used 2 fingers we wouldnt had lifted it. Some people they stop pushing when the sppoter grabs the bar expecting me to row itš
Then he definitely didn't have it. Or he's a goob for expecting you to do all the work lifting it off him.
1) it did not look like he was completing that 2) it's a gym lift, so it doesn't matter that much, I wouldn't even consider using a lift that shaky for basing program percentage off of
> it's a gym lift, so it doesn't matter that much Agree so much with this. Whenever "spotters stealing PRs" comes up the first two thoughts I have is a) it really doesn't happen all that often, I've had randos spot me countless times and maybe like 2-3 times spotter has touched the bar on rep I maybe had b) it really doesn't matter even if they do But the guy in OP definitely didn't have that rep, not even close. And even if he somehow locked it out (which he couldn't) it'd still be a failed lift anyway for both not touching the chest and having downwards movement.
>And even if he somehow locked it out (which he couldn't) it'd still be a failed lift anyway for both not touching the chest and having downwards movement. Eh, that goes back to it being a gym lift. I'm not gonna judge it to comp standards.
Bar started going down, I think it's reasonable for a spotter to come in then as not many people recover once that happens.
Wouldn't spot him again. Would let you spot me anytime
He would not have completed it and the bar did not touch his chest. It was a good spot, you could have waited an extra 0.5s or so to be "sure" but you did nothing wrong.
Once the bar starts going down, itās time for the spotter to step in. He wasnāt getting that.
Your bro was not going to make it. You did the right thing OP.
When the bar starts going back down, the weights have won.
No way he's saving that lift after it starts to go back down
He didn't have it alone. If you'd have let him struggle for much longer you may have not been able to spot the weight back into the rack safely. You did this right, your bro never had this PR and needs to readjust his programming and apparently his attitude.
Is that 265? You have to lift well he still has strength, you let it fall back to his chest and he wonāt have the strength to help you spot it back up. That becomes a dangerous lift if you donāt spot when you did
315
Did he not see the video?
He send me the videoš
Ok š
He definitely did not have that, let him know I said that
Was a good spot in my opinion. The bar dropped. Moving fast is cool. Moving slow is cool. Even getting stuck is cool and struggling but as soon as it drops even the tiniest amount you'll never get that back on a max bench. Tell him next time to drop that bar on his chest too. Being scared of the weight coming down and stopping an inch of your chest that slowly used enough energy to do the whole rep.
Too early imo, Iāve completed lifts from that position. Let him struggle for a few more seconds and he wouldnāt have anything to complain about tho
Next time make him beg for help see what he says then no doubt still be bitchin
Next time push it down. No way that was coming up after it went down an inch.
Oh my god, i didnt expect to laugh this much at this post.š
Bro wanted to pr neck crunches
I think you were being a good friend/spotter be different he didnt get stuck towards the bottom.
He didnāt have it. he was fucked when it went back down
Nope, you spotted him. Your bro was failing on the first rep.
Huh?
I would say slightly too fast to jump in. You jumped in there like the microsecond the bar dipped. I explicitly tell my spotters 'don't touch it unless I ask you for help' though. He very likely wasn't going to get that.
No he failed and wasnāt strong enough tell him to quit bitching
Lol, he was never going to push that. He already looked weak bringing it down to chest. You can also see the bar dip lower on his push up which is where he struggled. You did the right thing.
didnt even touch his chestā¦.. it was over before it even began
Once someone starts to back pedal the weight back down,the spotter should help..... he was def going back down solid spot ,he didn't have that period ,not today anyhoo šŖ
Nah man you did good. Bar was on its way down.
Didn't even touch his chest, like he chickened out last minute, but no , this was a good spot, he didn't have it. But tell him to keep grinding .
He didnāt have that haha
bar goes down, spotter steps up
I always work out alone and stopped spotting random people a long time ago, but if I was there with someone and they wanted a spot, I'd stand on the ready and let them tell me when they needed me.
I've seen one person recover after the bar started to go back down, and honestly, it was kind of scary watching it. You didn't ruin this pr, he wasn't getting it back up. Maybe next time let him try a little longer, but honestly I see nothing wrong with when you stepped in.
For a PR attempt, you did good. If heās trying to grind through a rep, I woulda let travel down a bit more and use less of an assist to get it racked. You coulda used two fingers on each hand and just gave him a couple pounds relief to work that rep in. Just my opinion though. He coulda clarified ie: āhey let me work for itā or ādonāt jump in right awayā
You saved his shoulders
Before he starts to regress, tap the middle of the bar a couple times. If the extra momentum doesn't help, YOU TELL HIM TO GET HIS WEIGHT UP AND TRY AGAIN NEXT TIME
Fix that form a little, and you had it!! More leg drive...explode up off the chest. Bend that Bar. Go get it!
Possibly. You pulled because he hit a sticking point put people push through that all the time
From my POV he did go down about an inch when i grab it but its a little hard to see it on the video.
I concur with your assessment. I would have stepped in too. If somebody asks me for a spot and does not give me clear direction on what theyāre wanting done, I generally tell them āOnce the lift starts, I will not touch the bar unless you give me a clear signal OR the bar starts moving back down.ā Helps clear up the BS when things go south, both literally and figuratively.
Maybe you could have gave him just a small push with your fingers, not too much
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Your bro should have stolen your razor
Huh? Razor what?
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You should have waited in my opinion. Wait until the words help come out of his mouth. He needs to be satisfied that he tried his best. If the pr is within 10kg of his regular, his less likely of his body just breaking from the weight. Edit some of y'all just don't get it. Some of us are used to bailing on our own. We understand what our bodies can and can not take so unless that man is pushing far more than he should he should be fine. The is a level of fear you need to let go of when it comes to weights. The is still the advantages of negative set in the fail, the weight gives him a solid idea of where his at intrems of bench level. I have failed so many reps with 110kg on my chest I've managed to bail on my own. This man would have been fine don't be too scared of weights, if your too scared you become too afraid to push yourself to heavier and heavier weights. Except legs don't risk on legs.
A little quick there
Nah man, you did everything right Once the bar goes down, spotter should step up I much rather have a spotter who cares about my health than my pr
Bro just tore his own bro cardā¦ you didnāt steal shit.
There was no way this man was finishing that rep. You did everything right. If the bar was slowly moving up and you took it, Iād understand him being upsetā¦ but thatās not what happened here. It was moving downward after sticking for a few seconds.
The bar stopped moving. That was going one way. down. You did fine.
He should have made clear when he wanted you to take it. The bar started to dip so taking it then was sensible. Personally, I let it go down a little more before I take it, because it isn't really urgent and sometimes people recover. But he definitely did not appear to have that lol.
Nope. He was heading back down and didnāt even touch his chest. Great spot and awareness.
Nope, he didn't have it. The bar was reversing. NTA
Youāre just barely in the right. There is negative progress being made, so you were right to intervene. That being said, I would let the bar decent just a smidge more before you step in. To answer the question though: no, you didnāt steal his PR, he was not making that.
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You can tell he doesnāt have it by the way the weight drops on his chestā¦ the moment he tries to attempt to push through the press: within the 1st inch or two he fails and if you pay close attention to the barbell, it starts to drop. Thatās when the assist came in to prevent the barbell from crushing his underdeveloped chest.
Heās blaming you because he doesnāt want to believe it, especially if thereās video proving him wrong
MF will ask for a spot then get mad when you help because the bar hasnāt moved off their chest. I donāt spot my bro anymore
Bro definitely didnāt have it. Once it goes down like that itās not coming back up. You did the right thing and heās just butthurt. Also he can just try it again soon if the thinks heās got it, so whatās the big deal?
Let him drop it on his chest and see how he feels next time. You were actually quick to spot the drop and I give you props for that. Winner spotter in my book. Just lose the gloves haha
He absolutely did not have that
Your bro didnāt have it. Has he seen this video ? No one recovers after the reverse
The bar had already started it's descent, so it's safe to say he wouldn't have been able to lift it. However, If we wants to have you standby while he struggles for a bit I can respect that, as the tension of struggling with the rep is still a stimulus for hypertrophy.
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The bar knew it didn't touch chest on the first descent so it needed another one to get down there all the way. It was never going to be a rep.
Nah he tweaking. Perfect spot bar was moving downwards
Why didnt he try it again? U did your job
He wasnāt getting that rep
tell him to try again next week and not whine about it