Listen to this, I go to this LAME health club called edge fitness.
This guy was under the smith machine on his back on the floor doing 1/4 leg presses with like 225 on there.
I kinda though this was a little duchey because there was 2 leg press machines and a power rack 5 feet away. Anyways I figured he would know how to give me a spot right.
I asked him and he was like “how many you TRYING to do?” i said “Im going to do 5 reps” he said “think 6 man think 6!”
He put his fingers under the bar on every rep and I shouted at him “Don’t touch it!” and I kid you not, he kept doing it!!! So after racking the weight I was pissed and completely ignored him but then since Im a nice guy I said “Thanks” just to be polite.
Anyways the next(last) set I asked a different guy to give me a spot and he did the same thing!!! He freakin’ touched the bar while it was moving slow on 2 of my reps! He even had the balls to say “Its all you mann!” while he was doing it!
What is so hard about giving a spot? When the bar STOPS for a few seconds, then help but if its moving slow on its own dont touch it!
I will admit I’ve touched the bar by mistake before.
And really, is it that big of a deal?
I’d rather be prepared for someone not getting it up than slack off and be 2 ft away from them.
I can see if they took weight off by pulling up, but slightly touching the bar won’t be the end of the world.
I’m probably all the way at the other end of the spectrum. I will not even go near the bar until the guy lifting is seriously in trouble. I refuse to contribute to anyone’s false perception of their own strength, and in doing so, risk my own safety as well (nothing worse than getting hurt helping some idiot in the gym).
Yeah I just got back and I was pissed off and needed to get it out. Its just when I told the guy not to touch it and he kept doin it, he wasnt listning and it pissed me off. I just figured if he was doing advanced ass exercises he should have known better.
That’s pretty much been my experience anytime I ask one of the student employees at my uni gym for a spot…irritating. I think there was only one time where a guy knew what he was doing.
[quote]elano wrote:
I just figured if he was doing advanced ass exercises he should have known better.
[/quote]
I dunno, using the smith machine for a leg press where there are other machines designed for it, I would think the guy didn’t know what he was doing :shrug:
[quote]elano wrote:
Listen to this, I go to this gay health club called edge fitness.
This guy was under the smith machine on his back on the floor doing 1/4 leg presses with like 225 on there.
I kinda though this was a little duchey because there was 2 leg press machines and a power rack 5 feet away. Anyways I figured he would know how to give me a spot right.
I asked him and he was like “how many you TRYING to do?” i said “Im going to do 5 reps” he said “think 6 man think 6!”
He put his fingers under the bar on every rep and I shouted at him “Don’t touch it!” and I kid you not, he kept doing it!!! So after racking the weight I was pissed and completely ignored him but then since Im a nice guy I said “Thanks” just to be polite.
Anyways the next(last) set I asked a different guy to give me a spot and he did the same thing!!! He freakin’ touched the bar while it was moving slow on 2 of my reps! He even had the balls to say “Its all you mann!” while he was doing it!
What is so hard about giving a spot? When the bar STOPS for a few seconds, then help but if its moving slow on its own dont touch it![/quote]
I totally understand what you mean,your not doing forced reps lol
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
I will admit I’ve touched the bar by mistake before.
And really, is it that big of a deal?
I’d rather be prepared for someone not getting it up than slack off and be 2 ft away from them.
I can see if they took weight off by pulling up, but slightly touching the bar won’t be the end of the world.
that’s just me though[/quote]
i thought having a spotter touching the bar would disqualify the lift…
[quote]ericbyrnesjr wrote:
jehovasfitness wrote:
I will admit I’ve touched the bar by mistake before.
And really, is it that big of a deal?
I’d rather be prepared for someone not getting it up than slack off and be 2 ft away from them.
I can see if they took weight off by pulling up, but slightly touching the bar won’t be the end of the world.
that’s just me though
i thought having a spotter touching the bar would disqualify the lift…[/quote]
he’s not lifting at a competition. if someone really thinks that because a finger touches the bar that they’re wasting a workout then I don’t know what to say.
[quote]Scott M wrote:
Hey do you guys like your spots the same way as me and 100 other guys in the gym on a Wednesday night?
Oh wait you wouldn’t know unless we talked about it would you… Did you talk to him about what you wanted before hand?[/quote]
Well it didn’t beforehand, but he did say how he screamed DONT TOUCH IT after he did and they guy kept doing it. I think its ok to be pissed cuz you told him not to touch it.
I told the second guy before hand, “Dont touch spot me unless I need it.” I guess he thought I was going to do forced reps.
By gay health club, I mean the trainers and people working out dont know shit, NOT that a bunch of guys circle jerk in the sauna. Just that other people use busu balls and crap and smith machine leg presses. Im saying its not a real barbell gym or anything. Maybe gay was the wrong word to use. They have a tanning bed, daycare, and crap like that. The only water fountain in the place is locked up in the cycling room so you have to buy bottles or shakes.
Edited to: lame fitness center
When someone touches my bar while Im lifting it as in pulling up on the bar with their fingers, it cant count it as a true rep because i was not lifting it on my own. Therefore I don’t know for sure if I will be able to bump up the weight next workout.
[quote]Scott M wrote:
Hey do you guys like your spots the same way as me and 100 other guys in the gym on a Wednesday night?
Oh wait you wouldn’t know unless we talked about it would you… Did you talk to him about what you wanted before hand?[/quote]
Are you saying if I asked you for a spot and said I was doing 5 reps, you would try to help me out with the 2nd or 3rd one unless we talked about it beforehand?
Im just going to have to tell every person who spots me “Dont touch the bar at all unless I cant lock it out on my own”.
I had a lifting buddy do something similar. He was stronger than me and I was going for a personal best. I asked for a spot just in case. I start to bench the weight but he kept his fucking fingers on the weight. I told him to back up but he said he wasn’t lifting it, it was “all me”. I did my set but the weight did not feel as heavy as it should have. Pisses me off till this day.
The point of a spot is to help you before you fail.
When I ask for a spot I tell them I’m shooting for, say 8 reps, and say I’m struggling at rep 6 and they go for the bar I tell them to back off - because there are about 2 reps before I fail where I do get the weight up - even after a few sec of struggling.
Make some friends at the gym, and tell them what you are doing before the spot.
[quote]rsg wrote:
The point of a spot is to help you before you fail.
When I ask for a spot I tell them I’m shooting for, say 8 reps, and say I’m struggling at rep 6 and they go for the bar I tell them to back off - because there are about 2 reps before I fail where I do get the weight up - even after a few sec of struggling.
Make some friends at the gym, and tell them what you are doing before the spot.[/quote]
Exactly my point. I don’t plan on going there much longer tho, my membership expires in a week and I will be training at my college gym again where people know what their doing.
I feel your pain. There were times were I was attempting a new 5rm or 3rm with 5 extra lbs, only to have some dude touch the bar. It drives me up the wall: It’s way too easy to add 5 lbs of force. I’ve stopped midset because of someone touching the bar, only to try again in 5 minutes with another spotter.
I now make it very clear that I do not want help lifting the bar. I ask my spotter to not touch the bar at all unless it is going down or I specifically ask for help. I also tell them it is important to me to make the lift all on my own.
