Spotting The Dumbbell Press

By dumbbell press I’m referring to all versions of the chest press (incline, flat and decline) as well as shoulder presses. The difference in spotting dumbbells as opposed to a barbell is that because the weight is more concentrated, strength discrepancies will be much more apparent. Meaning that as a spotter, you’ll have to be even more attentive when someone is working with dumbbells to ensure that both sides go up evenly. Giving too much assistance to one side is almost guaranteed to cause the lifter to lose control of the weight, so be careful. Speaking of which, the biggest mistake I see spotters make during dumbbell presses is spotting from the elbows. True, pushing on the elbows allows you to give the lifter an incredible amount of assistance, problem is you also run the risk of them losing control of the weight and getting a dumbbell across the face. I’ve seen it happen and trust me, it ain’t pretty.

To properly spot any version of a dumbbell press, lightly grasp the person around the wrists as you guide the weight up. This will enable you to offer enough of an assist while at the same time protecting them from the possibility of the weight falling in on them. As far as how you should position yourself, during both shoulder presses and incline chest presses standing directly behind the lifter is acceptable. For flat and decline chest presses though, you’re best off kneeling down behind them to get better leverage.

Related posts:

1. Spotting The Bench Press
2. Spotting Techniques
3. Mix It Up To Grow!