Ooops, I did it again ...

Hey-

A couple years ago I invited a group of the kids that I was working with on the football team to come lift weights with me at the high school in the evenings. I was coaching football, baseball and wrestling at that time and had a few followers and keys to the weight room. So, soon a small group of beginners were meeting regularly to lift and be initiated into the informal "Church of the Hardcore Athlete".  

Then one night a janitor came in and asked me "Hey, what the hell are all these kids doing running in the hallways?" I quickly said, "There ain't no kids run'n in the hall!" Anyway, it went back and forth for a few minutes and accomplished nothing but raising my blood pressure and pissing everyone off. Then when he complained to the school admin, the Athletic Director felt the need to talk to me about being nice to janitors cause "they're just looking out for the school"... hum!

Well, Monday night after 3 hours of wrestling practices I decided to lift in the school weight room instead of at home in my garage. Its been sorta cold in the garage and school weight room was warm and inviting. So, I racked up four bars (power rack, flat bench, inclined bench and floor) and rotated thru a few sets on each by myself. It was a little after 8pm when an old janitor came in and said, "So, who's making all the noise in here?" I smiled and laughed and said, "Ooh, its just me!"

He wasn't laugh'n when he said, "Where's your spotter?" I thought, ... Damn, he's right! But by chance, I was doing power cleans and presses at the time that he came in ... so, quick on my feet, I said, "Ooh, you don't use a spotter when doing olympic lifts!" and pointed to the bar on the floor. He came back with, "I thought everyone was suppose to have a spotter when they were lifting in here." I stuck with my story and tried to muster my poker face. I convinced him that I know what I'm doing.

He left and I finished my final sets, but as I drove home in the cold dark that night I told myself that he was right this time. I'm old enough to know how much weight to use when I'm lifting by myself, but I can't help from feeling bad about teaching the kids to lift with a spotter and then getting caught without one. I'm often lifting by myself early in the mornings or late late at night and I tend to use 70, 80 or sometimes 90 percent of my 1repmax when I'm by myself.

Anyway, I expect that I'll have to explain myself to the AD again. I guess that I'll stick with my story on the oly lifts at the school and try harder to be nice to the janitors.  

Good luck in your training,

-DeulDetention

   I train by myself all the time but,I have my own power rack.I learned the hard way.I was squatting off of some concete blocks one day.When I tried to rack it they toppled,leaving me praying to the all mighty.Somehow I shrugged off the bar and escaped serious injury.Now I make sure,even though my rack is quite safe,someone is within earshot to call EMS.On a lighter note one time while doing push presses I missed a lift and the weight got seriously stuck in the ground.I literally had to tie a strap to it and break it free with my truck.Needless to say,Iwas done for the day.

When your garage gym workout starts to look like an episode of Viva La Bam, then you have gone too far!

"You must cut down a tree with a herring!"

The problem here is more a matter of how people deal with rules than it is about safety.  The rule shouldn't be to use a spotter:  it should be to lift safely, but this isn't as trivial to define.

The need for spotters is obviated in the Olympic lifts ("can you spot me on this snatch?") or with proper use of safety equipment (e.g., power racks).  I personally feel safer with a power rack than with 99% of the people who have spotted me in commercial gyms.

Kids need supervision in training because they'll do some of the dumbest, most dangerous stuff imaginable if they're not being watched by someone with authority.  Requiring spotters is inferior to requiring cognizant supervision:  if a kid's using a power rack correctly, he/she is safer than with a spotter, but only proper supervision can ensure that he/she uses the rack and sets it up properly.

-Wayne

Back when I was powerlifting, I found myself on a holiday in the gym with only one other guy there who was not what I would call a "strength athlete".  I was going to hit 565 for a set of 5 on the squat and usually had my training partner to spot.  I called over and asked him to "spot me" and he came over and looked at me, looked at the weight, and said, "All I can do is call 911 if that thing falls on you".  Another time, I was doing close grips recently in my home gym in my basement and I told my wife, who was upstairs watching that damn trading spaces show (that show has cost me more weekends, "oh, honey, let's paint the living room, I got this great idea off Trading Spaces"...but I digress.)  Ok, so I get pinned and yell for her.....nothing.  So I roll this thing on my lap (like I did a million times then I was a kid and felt it necessary to max out every single workout....boy was I stupid...but I digress again).  So the next time I tell her to come down and watch me and I get pinned again (ironically, the only two times I've gotten pinned in a long time) and I say, "OK, take it".....nothing...."OK, I TAKE IT" a little louder....nothing....(by now I could have rolled it off)....finally, "TAKE THIS MOTHER F*&%ER OFF ME"....to which she runs around and starts pulling plates off one end instead of helping me up with it.... then yells at me for cussing at her, stomps up stairs, and is PO'ed at me the rest of the night.  From now on, I'll use the power rack, stick to overheads, or just die.