I feel we will have to agree to disagree.
Considering my experience I find this very improbable. IMO, side spotting is the most difficult to perfect. Invariably one side spotter will lift his side quicker than the other side, throwing the bulk of the weight to the lagging lifted side. The lifter absolutely loves this (no he doesn’t). It feels like crap and very scary. Good side spotters assist in unison: a true art. If you have done any negative only bench presses with side assistance, you know what I mean.
At most every meet I competed or attended, the side spotters were guys who lifted at a gym in the town the meet was held. And probably never side spotted anyone with the exception from previous meets. As the weight gets heavier, the bulkiness of the plates makes a failed attempt assist very intimidating.
A well equipped gym for powerlifting has no need of side spotters. I saw this when Charles Bailey trained at the gym lifted. And I assure you he would have been no picnic side spotting. He used overhead straps a little longer than the bottom of his squat. He never had to quickly bail out of a lift, if he missed (which he rarely ever did), but could just gently allow the bar to descend into the straps.
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I don’t understand it either, but see it all the time. Repeat offenders too. I had to run over an “rescue” a dude stuck in the hole of a squat while in a rack with the safeties sitting on the floor. I basically just did a rack pull with the bar and let him get out from under then I set the weight down. The very next week the same guy got pinned again in the hole and someone else helped him. Didn’t learn from his mistakes.
We have a trainer that does a lot of power lifting stuff, and also does a lot of dangerous stuff. Removes the safety straps on the mono and then has his clients do max singles. Often with a single spotter that isn’t big enough. He sets up girls with banded pull ups but has them get to the bar with box right under them (two boxes on the sides would be way better). If they lose grip, there is a high probability that the band kicks their legs out and they hit the box with their head or neck.
Lots of people do stupid stuff in the gym I guess. I maybe have an eye for danger that some don’t.
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That’s fair enough, and nice to learn. Surely there would have been at least some sort of protocol in place in a competitive setting? Anything bad happening would be down to individual mistakes, which can always happen, we’re human. There were so many things wrong logically with this death that it views more like an eventual inevitability that something was gonna go amiss rather than a mistake. I just hope the people seeing it all around the world will now respect the weight more, and always consider safety above all else. I want people to be nervous about not using the safeties after this, and to research proper spotting so that it doesn’t have to happen again.
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I will say: I’m immediately showing folks at the gym how to bail a squat. It’s tragic, for sure, but I do think it’s fair to say there’s a lesson we can carry forward.
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I can think of one from the video. Don’t try a 1 rep max with a weight that you cannot even do a proper negative.
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If so, that protocol didn’t address improper safety collar use. And if it did, protocol was clearly ignored. You can tell OSHA has no oversight over the federation putting on that meet.
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Hard to properly bail a squat when there is a dude reverse curling the same bar at the same time. Please make sure if they are going to use the bail method they dont have a spotter behind them.
Easier to teach then how to set up safeties properly.
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I think that’s the main part of the lesson - let’s just dump a bar vs think somebody can curl it off your neck.
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I saw the article in the British press and it labelled the move as a squat press and i assumed the guy was trying to lift it over his head.
Never heard it called a squat press before.
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That’s what I thought when I read the title. There’s a movement called the Scotts Press that we do in CF (you squat and then at the bottom position press the bar up), and I thought it was something like that as opposed to a back squat. Of course this movement is done with weight much, much lighter than a back squat.
Doing a dangerous exercise, which includes pushing the limit of weight and compromising control, defeats the purpose of exercise and is no more effective than many safer alternatives. Leg presses are safe because the weight stops descending where you place the pins. You can use a Smith machine to squat without the risk of the bar falling lower than the bottom of the squat.
What was he trying to prove by rejecting safety in something that offers no payoff?
The guy was too small for all that weight. Its all ego for social media, not smart training. Honestly you can get the same effects with lighter weight and high reps without killing your body or yourself. Functional training is suppose to be that functional not deadly or dangerous. As a trainer we want our clients to keep moving in strength for years to come!
What a shame. Always use a safety rack/cage/straps. If you dont have that option dont go too heavy.
Your purpose, not “the” purpose.
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