starting strength gym
Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 36

Thread: Bench press risk - wife as spotter, no safeties?

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    OH
    Posts
    440

    Default

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
    • starting strength seminar jume 2024
    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    I vouch for the many suggestions of racks, boxes, stands, etc. in absence of a capable or confident spotter. Not dying while benching is the primary concern, but there is something to be said for having the confidence to fail a rep. There's no telling how many last reps of a set I may have left on the table if I thought I might get pinned on a failure.

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Posts
    3,952

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Red Finn View Post
    I think the obvious solution here is two wives.
    The added safety is not worth the headache. Trust me.

  3. #23
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Posts
    2,101

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by sappbe View Post
    I vouch for the many suggestions of racks, boxes, stands, etc. in absence of a capable or confident spotter. Not dying while benching is the primary concern, but there is something to be said for having the confidence to fail a rep. There's no telling how many last reps of a set I may have left on the table if I thought I might get pinned on a failure.
    Are you suggesting that his wife is not a capable or confident spotter? I've had my wife pull missed reps off my chest on several occasions.

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Flower Mound, Texas
    Posts
    83

    Default

    Probably alot of people here like me. I have never ever ever used a spotter for a normal workout. Probably over 20 years, so far lucky. Now wondering if if I have been taking too much risk. I really never felt any angst until now. I feel pretty confident if I have one left in me or not. But now I'm wondering what about some odd injury. I always squat in the rack with pins etc.

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    39

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    Buy a power rack. Really.
    But then my friend might get to say "I was right", and we can't have that can we?


    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Rowe View Post
    I appreciate the question is an academic one and you need to right and perhaps prove your friend wrong. However, seeing as we really aren't going to be able to predict with any reliable accuracy whether this will happen to you, or not, why not at least buy or make something as simple as a pair of saw horses to stand beside your bench? prove your pal wrong by never needing them, and if one day you need them, you'll still be alive to tell him "Bob, to this day I've still never needed those safeties..."
    Yup. Another way to phrase what you said: chances are likely I could lift forever and never need the safeties, but what's $700 or so if I do happen to need them one day?

    Thanks for all the thoughts and feedback everyone. Prior to this discussion I was considering a power rack anyway, just to have a convenient chin-up bar. Now it's settled. I can't remember now why I didn't buy a power rack in the first place.

    Anybody in the Chicago area looking to buy some squat stands?

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    South West UK
    Posts
    187

    Default

    Yup - it's settled, then. You've need a chin-up bar and the one you're buying just happens to have a power rack on the bottom of it. Hopefully your wife is in favour of the power rack too(?), so everyone wins!

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    OH
    Posts
    440

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by hollismb View Post
    Are you suggesting that his wife is not a capable or confident spotter? I've had my wife pull missed reps off my chest on several occasions.
    Assuming you aren't trolling me, I'm not suggesting that. Considering he posted the topic, I would suggest he is suggesting his wife may not be capable and/or he is not confident in her ability. Otherwise he tells his buddy to piss off and he doesn't ask a bunch wangs like us what we think.

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    1

    Default

    For me, the point isn't the 'normal' and regular scenario of a failed rep. In this situation, where the failure is predictable and you can lower the weight in a controlled way, your wife will probably be fine, or you can dump the weight sideways (with no collars) or even the roll of shame.

    But don't listen to anyone who tells you this means you don't need safeties/a power rack.

    The unpredictable situations are the one where you need 2 or more spotters, or a rack, or both. What about if you lose your line, and the bar veers off over your head? You will have no control over it. Could your wife catch it in a 'free fall' in this situation with no help from you? I've spotted a lot of bench presses at my barbell club over time, and something like this has happened even to national record holding lifters there. Not regularly, but it happens.

    It's almost certain that, sooner or later, something like this will happen to you. If you have 2 spotters capable of catching the bar, or a rack, then you'll just shrug and carry on. If not, your wife will be ringing an ambulance.

    I've never been in a serious car accident, but I still wear a seatbelt.

    Buy a rack!

  9. #29
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    16

    Default

    I have a power rack and it has saved me several times with both the squat and bench press when I failed in the last rep, would have been in a bad situation otherwise.

  10. #30
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    The gym, the field.
    Posts
    927

    Default

    starting strength coach development program
    Just be thankful you don't have to get your mom to spot you. Like me.

Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •