Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - How to Not Suck at Spotting

Episode Date: February 15, 2021

I don't know about you, but I don't like balls in my face when I'm bench pressing. Or a sweaty dude snuggling with me while I squat. Or being shrieked at to "dig deep," "feel the burn," or "let the big dogs eat." Or trying to catch my breath mid-set in a noxious haze of someone's fart. I'm not speaking hypothetically, either. After 13 years in the gym, I've seen a lot of bad spotting (and a lot of weird shit in general). Hence, this podcast. In it, we're going to talk shitty spotting, good spotting, and everything in between. Let's start with some laughs... --- Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 3:12 - How do you spot well? 4:09 - How do you spot a bench and military press? 7:10 - How do you spot a dumbbell press? 9:04 - How do you spot a squat? --- Mentioned on The Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: buylegion.com/mike --- Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

Hey, I'm Mike Matthews. This is Muscle for Life. Welcome to another episode. Thank you for joining me today. And I have an announcement to make. I don't like when some dude's scrotum is dangling over my face when I'm bench pressing. Yes, you heard me right. But before you leave and unsubscribe and never come back, let me explain. You see, I also don't like when some sweaty hordo is snuggling with me while I squat, or maybe shrieking at me to dig deep and feel the burn and let the big dogs eat. What am I talking about? Well, after 18 years now of gymming, I have experienced a lot of bad spotting. 18 years now of gymming, I have experienced a lot of bad spotting. And most people, unfortunately,

seem to have no idea how to spot correctly. And that's too bad because good spotting can make a difference in your training. It can encourage you to go for that extra rep when you have a few hundred pounds on your back and your legs are on fire. A good spotter isn't going to make those grinders any easier, but at least you know you're not going to split your kneecaps in half like communion wafers. Another benefit of good spotting is often just having someone there can mysteriously increase your strength. And I know it sounds dippy until you experience it yourself. You're deep in a set, the bar is getting heavier by the second, then your buddy puts his fingers, little fingers, maybe even pinky fingers under it. And suddenly you have a second wind and you just shoot the weight up. It's sorcery. I tell you,

I don't have an explanation for it. Also, if you like what I am doing here on the podcast and elsewhere, definitely check out my sports nutrition company, Legion, which, thanks to the support of many people like you, is the leading brand of all natural sports supplements in the world. And we're on top because every ingredient and dose in every product is backed by peer-reviewed scientific research. Every formulation is 100% transparent. There are no proprietary blends, for example, and everything is naturally sweetened and flavored. So that means no artificial sweeteners, no artificial food dyes, which may not be as dangerous as some people would have you believe, but there is good evidence to suggest that having many servings of artificial sweeteners in

particular every day for long periods of time may not be the best for your health. So while you don't need pills, powders, and potions to get into great shape, and frankly, most of them are virtually useless, there are natural ingredients that can help you lose fat, build muscle, and get healthy faster, and you will find the best of them in Legion's products. To check out everything we have to offer, including protein powders and bars, pre-workout and post-workout supplements, fat burners, multivitamins, joint support, and more, head over to buylegion.com slash Mike. That's B-U-Y-L-E-G-I-O-N dot com slash Mike. And just to show you how much I appreciate my podcast, peeps, use the coupon code MFL at checkout and you will save 20% on your entire first order.

Now, how do you spot well? Fortunately, it is not rocket surgery. You basically stand there and you make sure the spotty doesn't maim or decapitate themselves. Most of the time it takes just a nudge. If spotting were indeed surgery, it would require a scalpel, not a truckload of juggalos with chainsaws. So my point is the key to good spotting isn't making the entire set easier. It's just ensuring your buddy doesn't gank himself. You're not needed most of the time, so you let them huff and puff and you let them grunt and groan as they cross swords with mean old Mr. Gravity. For example, on the bench press, which doesn't require a spotter, by the way, you can safely bench press heavy weights without a spotter. You just have to have the right rack

set up. But if you want a spotter, especially if you are going to be pushing yourself and you want to make sure you have somebody there for that last rep or two, let's talk about how to get it done correctly. So this will help you when you are getting spotted and when you are spotting others. So the first thing you want to do is you want to ask the person you're spotting what they are planning on doing in the set. How many reps are they going for? Do they want to do anything fancy and unnecessary like negatives or forced reps? Then you want to get behind them with your hands in the middle of the bar in between their hands and in a lunge-like position as opposed to having your legs on either side of their head, which again, sticks your crotch in

their face. You want to have one leg forward, kind of off to the side of them and one leg back. And again, you just want to make sure that there is enough distance so they are not staring at your hoo-ha and so you don't accidentally drop sweat into their mouth. Yes, that has happened to me. And while it doesn't actually mean anything, of course, it's just gross. It's like a spider. It's not going to hurt you. It's just gross. Next up is asking if they want a liftoff. Some people do, some people do not. So it's worth asking. And then let the spotty do as many reps as they can without any assistance from you. Keep your hands near the bar, but don't

touch it. Don't even put your fingers on it. And then if at any point the bar is moving in the wrong direction, if it has stopped and then started to move back down, or if the person you're spotting asks for your help, use full force to finish the rep. This is where many people accidentally underspot by only partially alleviating the load. If the bar is moving backward or if they are crying uncle, the set's done and you want to take as much of the load off as you can and just get the bar racked. Now, if the bar has slowed down to a crawl, maybe even stopped, this is where you just bring your fingers or your palms under, but don't take any weight off yet because often just having your fingers or your palms under, but don't take any weight off yet because often just having your fingers

or your palms there is going to give that magical boost that they need to finish the rep. And if you do that and the bar still isn't moving, then grab it with your hands and take about 10% of the load off. You want them to struggle to finish the rep. So just take enough of the weight off so they can grind that last rep out. Again, assuming this is how they want to train. This is how most people want to train when they ask for a spotter, but maybe they actually want to be ending with one or two reps still left in the tank, in which case you shouldn't be needed at all. But maybe you do have to step in because they accidentally overextend themselves. They think that they can get one more good rep with another good rep in the tank and they're wrong. And that really actually is going

to be their last rep. So you just want to be there and make sure. And so if you take 10% of the load off and they're still stuck, then take another 10 or 15% off just a bit more. And if they're still stuck after that, I would say they're toast and then just use full force, help them just get the bar up. And that's really it on the bench press. It's kind of just common sense. And that's also how you spot a military press as well. Essentially the same.

Now, what about a dumbbell press? Well, everything I just shared with you does apply to the dumbbell press, but the key is with dumbbells, you spot the wrists and not the elbows, unless they want the elbows spotted. Some people never want to have their elbows spotted because they're afraid of losing control of the weight and dropping it on themselves. I actually prefer elbows over wrists, but either way, it works for me. And wrists is a little bit safer. Now, don't touch the elbows. Don't touch the wrists until they need your help. You don't want to help more than necessary. You just want to wait for when they are getting stuck. It's also

important when you are spotting dumbbells to push the weight straight up. You don't want it to be moving toward or away from their body. Now if somebody wants some help getting into a starting position on a dumbbell press, you do it by handing them each dumbbell one at a time, and you use both hands and you grab the weights themselves. You leave the handles free for them to grab. So you put one into position, put the other into position, and then they're ready to go. And some people like to be handed weights at the top or bottom of the exercise. So think of a dumbbell bench press. They're lying down on the bench. Their arms could be all the way extended, or they could be like at the bottom of the press

and ask for the weights in either of those positions. As for me, I don't bother asking for any help getting the dumbbells into the starting position. I prefer to deadlift them up and then sit down, have them on my thighs. And then if I'm dumbbell bench pressing, for example, rolling back and kind of kicking them one after the other and just getting myself into a starting position, even with heavy weights, I find that it doesn't cost that much energy. It's not that difficult if you practice it a little bit. So that's what I do. I don't ask for any spotting in the start of the exercise. Okay. So let's talk about spotting a squat, a barbell squat,

front squat, or back squat. All the basic advice I shared with you applies the same. However, in this case, you want to make sure that you're spotting the lifter, not the bar. And you do that by placing your arms under the lifter's arms as they are squatting. You don't have to touch their arms. You just have your arms at the side of their body under their arms, and you are squatting down with them, or you are just hinging at your hips to go down with them, keeping your arms in that position. And you just need to be ready to hook across their chest if they need help. So you're going to hook the chest, and then you're going to help squat up with them. And the reason you want to do that is it allows you to simultaneously take weight off

and help them maintain proper form so they don't get hurt. And the hooked position also particularly helps with the squat because as we get fatigued, we tend to collapse forward and that places our back in a compromised position. And so with someone behind us, arms hooked around our chest, helping us keep our chest up and then helping us squat the weight up, which of course then takes the load off. We're able to safely finish our set. And I'll just say this again, try not to make any contact whatsoever, sides of their body, their arms, unless you're needed. Just try to shadow them in each rep and try to just stay out of the way. And also make sure that you're in place when they are unracking the bar and then you stay

in place until it's racked. And that's all there really is to good spotting. So short and sweet today. And as for what else is coming this week, I have another installment of the book club coming up where I share my top five takeaways from a fantastic business book, particularly an entrepreneurship book called Ready, Fire, Aim. And then another Q&A where I'm talking about ecthysterone, fasting and muscle loss, and lessons to teach my kids. All right, well, that's it for this episode. I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and you don't mind doing me a favor, please do leave a quick review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to me from in whichever app you're listening to me in,

because that not only convinces people that they should check out the show, it also increases search visibility and thus it helps more people find their way to me and learn how to get fitter, leaner, stronger, healthier, and happier as well. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then simply subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any new stuff. And if you didn't like something about the show, please do shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com, just muscle, F-O-R, life.com, and share your thoughts on how I can do this better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback,

even if it is criticism. I'm open to it. And of course, you can email me if you have positive feedback as well, or if you have questions really relating to anything that you think I could help you with, definitely send me an email. That is the best way to get ahold of me, mikeatmuscleforlife.com. And that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode, and I hope to hear from you soon.