Spotting The Barbell Squat

More so than any other exercise, proper technique is absolutely crucial when spotting someone during a set of squats. As the spotter, your number one priority is to make sure that the lifter’s torso remains erect, so as not to allow them to collapse forward and injure their lower back. In order to do so, you have to stand directly behind them, with you’re your arms hooked underneath their armpits. This will enable you to pull their torso back into an upright position in case they start to lean forward as fatigue sets in. You’ll also need to adopt a fairly wide stance (slightly wider than shoulder’s width apart) so that you can comfortably squat up and down with them as they perform each repetition. Don’t be lazy and think you can just lean over at the waist and pick them up if they get in trouble. Even if you are somehow able to successfully get them back up, you’ll probably end up hurting your lower back. Finally, never, ever attempt to spot a squat by pulling on the bar with your arms. Attempting to pull a loaded barbell off someone’s back in addition to being incredibly stupid can place the lifter at risk of serious injury- this is something I learned the hard way.

When I was first getting started in this industry, I was working as a gym floor instructor at a local fitness center. One day while I was patrolling the weight room, a woman approached me and asked me for a spot. Having no idea of what exercise she was doing I naively agreed, after all, we had just covered proper spotting technique a few weeks earlier in the gym’s in-house instructor training program (certifications were not yet en vogue back then). It was only when she started heading towards the squat rack that I began to feel a little uneasy. After telling me how many reps she was shooting for, she warned me to “stay close”.

So, against my better judgment, I proceeded to spot her from a more socially acceptable distance of an arm’s length behind her. I figured as long as she didn’t get stuck I was fine. Well, low and behold, right around the eighth repetition the weight stopped moving. Leaning in slightly I proceeded to grab the bar and pull upwards on it. No dice. By now she was getting pretty upset, as the veins in her neck and bulging eyeballs seemed to attest. After several seconds of this, she awkwardly set the bar down on the supports at the bottom of the squat rack. She then proceeded to give me a tongue-lashing the likes of which I hadn’t seen since grade school. As the entire gym floor looked on, she ended her profanity laced tirade by saying “learn how to give a ##### spot, would ya’”.

Related posts:

1. Spotting The Bench Press
2. Spotting The Dumbbell Press
3. Spotting Techniques