Mind Games

[Eric]

Today I had a spotter (an experienced lifter) who placed his hands under the bar while I was doing bench press (all of the spotters I've had had only touched the bar when I was stuck). I ended up lifting more than I thought I was capable of and I asked him if he had helped lift the weight on any of the reps (because I was convinced that he must have) and his response was that he only helped on the last rep of my final set and that he feels the same way when he has a spotter. I found this really hard to belive but I know that he wouldn't lie to me to make me feel good about my lifts. Has anyone else experienced this?

[kakoshirazi]

The answer is simple. The fact that he really believes he provided no help, does not mean he didn't. That's why in an official competition, if the spotter's hand even barely comes in contact with the bar, that lift won't count.

[kakoshirazi]

The answer is simple. The fact that he really believes he provided no help, does not mean he didn't. That's why in an official competition, if the spotter's hand even barely comes in contact with the bar, that lift won't count.

in case I wasn't clear. What I meant is that even if you provide a very gentle upward touch, not even a pull, it still gives a significant help to the bench presser.

[oi_joe]

stand on scales, and then place your hand on a table, and see how much weight comes off, even with a slight touch.

[Eric]

stand on scales, and then place your hand on a table, and see how much weight comes off, even with a slight touch.

The difference between this situation and the situation with a spotter is that the table is fixed so it has to support the weight while a spotter has control over whether or not any force is applied. In my case the only thing that came into contact with the bar was the spotter's index fingers. If that changes the weight at all it'd probably be less than 1 lb, certainly no more than 2 lbs...which is probably about the average variation in weight between different brands of plates.

[oi_joe]

solve the problem, next time ask him not to touch the bar unless its needed, he shouldn't spot that way anyway, its off putting, and also begs the question you have asked.

[Young Athlete]

Today I had a spotter (an experienced lifter) who placed his hands under the bar while I was doing bench press (all of the spotters I've had had only touched the bar when I was stuck). I ended up lifting more than I thought I was capable of and I asked him if he had helped lift the weight on any of the reps (because I was convinced that he must have) and his response was that he only helped on the last rep of my final set and that he feels the same way when he has a spotter. I found this really hard to belive but I know that he wouldn't lie to me to make me feel good about my lifts. Has anyone else experienced this?

Same here yes it convinces your mind you can and when later on you go to do it yourself you can or else that is how it worked for me

[GetOutOfMyFace]

"Spotting relies partially on the placebo effect, whereby simply touching underneath a bar is enough to trick a person into believing that they are lifting a weight supported by their training partner which in turn may allow them to push one or two more repetitions beyond which they were normally capable and lower their hesitance to continue lifting, feeling safer with a spotter." - Arnold Schwarzenegger's New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding

[Mehdi]

"Spotting relies partially on the placebo effect, whereby simply touching underneath a bar is enough to trick a person into believing that they are lifting a weight supported by their training partner which in turn may allow them to push one or two more repetitions beyond which they were normally capable and lower their hesitance to continue lifting, feeling safer with a spotter." - Arnold Schwarzenegger's New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding

Please quote any source but that book.

[oi_joe]

my placebo is, even if you think you can't just lower the weight and then you have too lift it lol. i don't know if thats a placebo, but sometimes it works, i do enjoy it though when the bar stops, and stays there of a few seconds, i think body says no, until it realises the bar has no where to go bar on top of me and then says ok, lets lift once more.

[Love_Deadlifts]

"Spotting relies partially on the placebo effect, whereby simply touching underneath a bar is enough to trick a person into believing that they are lifting a weight supported by their training partner which in turn may allow them to push one or two more repetitions beyond which they were normally capable and lower their hesitance to continue lifting, feeling safer with a spotter." - Arnold Schwarzenegger's New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding

Please quote any source but that book.

Well the placebo effect is a pretty well documented phenomenon, it is certainly possible that it applies to weightlifting as well.

[Eric]

Well there's no doubt that there's a huge mental factor when it comes to strength training. For a while I was squatting without a rack (so failure meant dropping the bar on the floor, which always freaked me out). My working sets were stuck around 235 lbs which made no sense to me when compared to my other lifts. Now that I have a rack my squat has increased 50 lbs in a couple of weeks and shows no sign of stopping...to the point where I expect to be able to do 315 for 5x5 within two months or so...that's a huge change for just a little increase in confidence.

[GetOutOfMyFace]

Please quote any source but that book.

i think schwarzenegger knows a little about the subject than you do.

[Young Athlete]

Please quote any source but that book.

i think schwarzenegger knows a little about the subject than you do.

Schwarzenegger was using 70's body building techniques........... He must of known a lot?

Compared today's highly scientific strength training studies his theories are weak. If something like this were true it would of been studied not to say it's not true. Seriously instead of just thinking that you can do more because someone is there to hold you hand through it is bull crap.... Seriously it's though you just feel you can push yourself harder since there is someone else to help you if you are in trouble duh...

[GetOutOfMyFace]

Compared today's highly scientific strength training studies his theories are weak.

the book was published in 1998. good one.