How much does a spot help at the gym?
Discussion
Possibly looking at changing gym's soon so that I can train with mates. Been going on my own since Feb when I started and I'm happy with how its going. I went recently to a friends gym and found I could lift a lot heavier than I normally do. Not sure if it is a mental thing or the fact I know somewhere is there in case I dropped the weights. Trouble is the gym I go to is literally opposite my house whereas his is a 10 minute drive, unless I go straight from work.
How much difference does it make having someone to spot you? Is it worth changing gyms for it? I want to achieve some good results this year. I could just ask someone at my gym when I need it but maybe it might be better to train with someone full time. What does everyone think?
How much difference does it make having someone to spot you? Is it worth changing gyms for it? I want to achieve some good results this year. I could just ask someone at my gym when I need it but maybe it might be better to train with someone full time. What does everyone think?
It's not just the spot that helps when training with someone although for bench press in particular the spot makes a massive difference.
When training with someone you make those sessions you might ditch cos you can't be bothered, you push yourself much harder every set cos there is someone watching so ditching that last rep isn't as easy and also a major positive is giving one another pointers on form, certain exercises it's very difficult to critique yourself and simple things like "elbows in, back straight" when curling etc go a long way to both results and injury prevention.
Worth noting this is all predicated on the fact that your friend will be a good training partner, not cancel last minute, want to train hard and both of you are willing to listen to the others feedback.
Overall, definitely worth trying for a month and judging from there..
When training with someone you make those sessions you might ditch cos you can't be bothered, you push yourself much harder every set cos there is someone watching so ditching that last rep isn't as easy and also a major positive is giving one another pointers on form, certain exercises it's very difficult to critique yourself and simple things like "elbows in, back straight" when curling etc go a long way to both results and injury prevention.
Worth noting this is all predicated on the fact that your friend will be a good training partner, not cancel last minute, want to train hard and both of you are willing to listen to the others feedback.
Overall, definitely worth trying for a month and judging from there..
Depends who it is
I used to train with one mate who was excellent, we both started at the same time and were lifting roughly the same weight, having that little competitive edge pushed us a long way.
Both had very little knowledge on heavy lifting but both learned and helped each other along the way.
Trained with another mate who knew sweet f.a about lifting but thought he knew everything, kept grabbing the bar every time I was trying to do a rep on the bench press which annoyed me, also nearly dropped the bar on me helping me up from doing a pb.
I used to train with one mate who was excellent, we both started at the same time and were lifting roughly the same weight, having that little competitive edge pushed us a long way.
Both had very little knowledge on heavy lifting but both learned and helped each other along the way.
Trained with another mate who knew sweet f.a about lifting but thought he knew everything, kept grabbing the bar every time I was trying to do a rep on the bench press which annoyed me, also nearly dropped the bar on me helping me up from doing a pb.
A spotter helps massively. Well depending on how much your spotter talks etc... But it can give you the confidence to push yourself more. Sometimes even just the threat of someone about to try and help will make you push yourself more. Not everything needs spotting but things like benching and shoulder presses really do. I find that I cannot get the first rep up on dumbbell shoulder press after about 37.5KG's but with a spot helping on the first rep I can get probably 6-8 reps out on a weight a bit heavier. Can help with negative reps as well. For example if they assist your last few reps you can bring them down slowly yourself.
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