World's most worthless spotters

[BM OUT]

No,Im saying it REALLY SUCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HalloweenMan]

The spotting SUCKED!!!!There should ALWAYS be a guy with his hands under the lifters armpits in the back.Side spotters are useless,especially if they aren't alert.This same exact thing happened to me at the 2004 IPA nationals.The back spotter was spotting with his hands over the bar,I lost my balance with 850 and started stepping back and my leg went in and the weight crushed me to the ground shattering my knee car and rupturing the patella tendon.Had the spotter been under me,he could have grabbed me and put me back in the racks.Shitty spotting leads to injuries.

is this the billy mimnaugh who has a contest pic in MD a few months ago?

[BM OUT]

Yeah,unfortunately.This year I decided that I was going to compete at over 235 no matter what.Well,no matter what meant a smooth bloated bodybuilder.I won the NEW ENGLANDS masters in 95 and I was really shreaded but lost an amazing amount of size,in fact my legs ended up looking like I hadnt trained them.So this year I was determined to be bigger.HUGE mistake.Oh well,live and learn.The other problem was that my knee injury really only got better enough to really hit them hard the last 2 months before the show and they looked shitty.Hopefully with a full year and a half of solid leg training they will grow better.I did look better three weeks after that show at the New ENGLANDS BUT STILL TOO SMOOTH.

[Steve Pulcinella]

Billy, I agree with you on that. In retrospect we should have had more spotters. Maybe we could have caught that bar, maybe we couldn't have. It wasn't a max weight for the guy though. Plus if you watch again, He was still backing up with the weight when he dumped it so a back spotter with his hands under his armpits would have had a real bad day too. It was just an unfortunate accident and these things happen.

The spotting SUCKED!!!!There should ALWAYS be a guy with his hands under the lifters armpits in the back.Side spotters are useless,especially if they aren't alert.This same exact thing happened to me at the 2004 IPA nationals.The back spotter was spotting with his hands over the bar,I lost my balance with 850 and started stepping back and my leg went in and the weight crushed me to the ground shattering my knee car and rupturing the patella tendon.Had the spotter been under me,he could have grabbed me and put me back in the racks.Shitty spotting leads to injuries.

[onlyme]

unless in competition use a power rack with the safety bars.  I didn't watch the video cause I can't stand watching shit break.  I have seen my share of broken arms while I armwrestled and cause 2 myself and I can't stand the sound or site.  I always turn away when something looks like its going to break

[MAXX]

unless in competition use a power rack with the safety bars.  I didn't watch the video cause I can't stand watching shit break.  I have seen my share of broken arms while I armwrestled and cause 2 myself and I can't stand the sound or site.  I always turn away when something looks like its going to break

bet it's hardcore not to use safety rack 

[Livewire]

bet it's hardcore not to use safety rack 

hahaha yeah, shattered legs and long hospital stays are hardcore too.

[Wombat]

it was a freak accident and no amount of spotting(unless their were 4 to 6 guys ready for this to happen) would have helped...

I always wonder about people who have had things like this happen...With everyone sue happy in the world, did this guy end up being cool about it or did he lawyer up and try to get some money? Just curious...

[Mr. Cortisol]

I always wonder about people who have had things like this happen...With everyone sue happy in the world, did this guy end up being cool about it or did he lawyer up and try to get some money? Just curious...

good question.  people sue over dry cleaning and any other silly thing.

he signs a gym disclaimer, sure.  can you sue youre spotters for failing?

[Steve Pulcinella]

The day someone sues over faulty spotting is the day we all living in a Bally's evironment where we all just do cardio. He didn't sue anyone after this accident. His insurance covered him and he's just a good guy like that. It's just like riding riding a motorcycle, everyone knows it's risks going in.

[Vince G, CSN MFT]

I instictively tried to grab the bar and the other guy ran for the hills. I don't know which one of us is dumber. Like I said 700lb squats are common at our gym because we are big on training strongmen and powerlifters. This is the first time we have had this happen.

Yeah, this video has been posted here about 10 times now.

Anytime I do squats of any weights, I do it a power rack with safety bars in case something like that happens.  Its still free weight regardless and if I drop it or my knee buckles, the weight doesn't fall on me. 

If he had used that then the only injury he would have had was a knee injury.  BTW, lazy ass spotters.  Worthless and not in a good position to help him out.  I'd never train at a gym like that

[G o a t b o y]

I'd never train at a gym like that

When have you ever trained at a gym, period? 

[eastcoastbbman]

Anytime I do squats of any weights, I do it a power rack with safety bars in case something like that happens.  Its still free weight regardless and if I drop it or my knee buckles, the weight doesn't fall on me. 

If he had used that then the only injury he would have had was a knee injury.  BTW, lazy ass spotters.  Worthless and not in a good position to help him out.  I'd never train at a gym like that

wow!!! i really think you may have the getbig record for the highest number of assanine things said in one post!!

[Steve Pulcinella]

As much as you don't agree with it powerlifters don't like to squat in power racks usually. They like to mimic the meet conditions by working off of similar racks that they have in meets. And you're right I was really lazy spotting him. I should have rallied up more energy and caught a 700lb bar falling at 30ft per second. What was I thinking?

Just so you don't think i newbie at this I have been around powerlifting and strongman since the early 80's I have lifted, spotted, trained, ran my own meets and have never had anyone else fall like that under my watch. I was an unfortunate accident.

Anytime I do squats of any weights, I do it a power rack with safety bars in case something like that happens.  Its still free weight regardless and if I drop it or my knee buckles, the weight doesn't fall on me. 

If he had used that then the only injury he would have had was a knee injury.  BTW, lazy ass spotters.  Worthless and not in a good position to help him out.  I'd never train at a gym like that

[G o a t b o y]

As much as you don't agree with it powerlifters don't like to squat in power racks usually. They like to mimic the meet conditions by working off of similar racks that they have in meets. And you're right I was really lazy spotting him. I should have rallied up more energy and caught a 700lb bar falling at 30ft per second. What was I thinking?

Just so you don't think i newbie at this I have been around powerlifting and strongman since the early 80's I have lifted, spotted, trained, ran my own meets and have never had anyone else fall like that under my watch. I was an unfortunate accident.

*snif, snif*   


G o a t b o y  smells defensiveness and damage control! 


Possible meltdown potential here...   we'll see where it goes.   

[eastcoastbbman]

As much as you don't agree with it powerlifters don't like to squat in power racks usually. They like to mimic the meet conditions by working off of similar racks that they have in meets. And you're right I was really lazy spotting him. I should have rallied up more energy and caught a 700lb bar falling at 30ft per second. What was I thinking?

Just so you don't think i newbie at this I have been around powerlifting and strongman since the early 80's I have lifted, spotted, trained, ran my own meets and have never had anyone else fall like that under my watch. I was an unfortunate accident.

steve. you are a world class strongman and highland games competitor. youve been doing this since the early 80's. you really dont have to justify yourself to a man with a physique the density of pudding. i would love to see what this genius wouldve done if he were standing there when that bar started to fall. i love all these monday morning quarterbacks.

[Brutal_1]

As much as you don't agree with it powerlifters don't like to squat in power racks usually. They like to mimic the meet conditions by working off of similar racks that they have in meets. And you're right I was really lazy spotting him. I should have rallied up more energy and caught a 700lb bar falling at 30ft per second. What was I thinking?

Just so you don't think i newbie at this I have been around powerlifting and strongman since the early 80's I have lifted, spotted, trained, ran my own meets and have never had anyone else fall like that under my watch. I was an unfortunate accident.

Question:

Aren't you just reaffirming the title of this thread then?  Seriously, you're basically saying that the fat man squatting shouldn't have even bothered getting you two guys to spot, right?

What's the point of having spotters that can't curl seven hundred pounds....hence the title of this thread 


Spotters on squat?! 

[eastcoastbbman]

Question:

Aren't you just reaffirming the title of this thread then?  Seriously, you're basically saying that the fat man squatting shouldn't have even bothered getting you two guys to spot, right?

What's the point of having spotters that can't curl seven hundred pounds....hence the title of this thread 


Spotters on squat?! 

boy, i really, really, really, really hope that post was a joke.

[kiwiol]

Look, just because you Swedes speak better english than us doesn't mean you have to break our balls about it. 

Hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steve Pulcinella]

let me educate some of you on how spotting works in powerlifting. In a meet, as a lifter, you are instructed to stay with the bar. That way the spotters can have a fighting chance at saving you and the bar incase of a missed lift. If you drop the bar off of your back in a meet the spotters are not expected to catch a falling bar.

Question:

Aren't you just reaffirming the title of this thread then?  Seriously, you're basically saying that the fat man squatting shouldn't have even bothered getting you two guys to spot, right?

What's the point of having spotters that can't curl seven hundred pounds....hence the title of this thread 


Spotters on squat?! 

[BM OUT]

I agree with Steve here.Ive been to meets where the lifter is falling and just dumps the bar on the spotters,thats as bad ,or worse,then bad spotting.My only point is this.If you have a back spotter,its much safer then just two side spotters.A back spotter can get his arms around the lifter,and if the lifter stays with the bar,they can both negotiate the weight back in the racks.However,in this case,perhaps even a back spotter couldn't have stopped it.As far as guys saying the lifter can feel if something isn't right.Thats a load of crap.When your a strong lifter,even if you think someting isn't right,in your mind you still think "I can do it".When I was falling with 850 and my knee was exploding,all the way to the ground I kept thinking "if I can just get my balance I can still get it".Thats the mentality of a lifter.

[CQ]

Bit off topic, but I have a guy at my gym a huge big fat powerlifter type who has been training forever, he is basically the only big bencher at the gym. He puts up some pretty impressive numbers. But why does he constantly ask me to spot him on the bench? What does he think I am going to do if he reaches failure with some huge amount of weight? Use my brutal 11" arms to swiftly curl the bar up? I hate when he asks

[Vince G, CSN MFT]

As much as you don't agree with it powerlifters don't like to squat in power racks usually. They like to mimic the meet conditions by working off of similar racks that they have in meets. And you're right I was really lazy spotting him. I should have rallied up more energy and caught a 700lb bar falling at 30ft per second. What was I thinking?

Just so you don't think i newbie at this I have been around powerlifting and strongman since the early 80's I have lifted, spotted, trained, ran my own meets and have never had anyone else fall like that under my watch. I was an unfortunate accident.

They can still mimic the meet conditions in a power cage just as well, its just more safer in the event something like this happens.  If his knee did give out, let it be AT A SQUAT MEET, not at some training session.  And that one guy who ran away...wtf...if they see someone's knee buckle then they should help him get the weight off.  He was already on the floor screaming in pain and he was still wasn't in the picture.


Point being is that he would have substained less injuries if he was training on the right equipment and its the trainer that is responsible for the client's safety.  Even Onlyme for all people stated the same thing I did about using a Power Cage and that's just not suppose to happen.  You need to go back and read your personal training manual because that should not have happenned

[musclehedz]

Stupid powerlifters.

[240 is Back]

CQ,

The big powerlifter just wants a reason to talk to you.  Bench spotting is a good icebreaker!