The 3 Biggest Weightroom Spotting Fails — and How to Avoid Them

Don’t leave your gym buddy hanging. Here’s everything you need to know about spotting common lifts and avoiding costly mistakes.

By Ben Emminger

Published June 19, 2023

Imagine this: You’re going about your routine training session, tracking your totals and keeping to yourself when suddenly, a fellow gym-goer asks you to spot them as they go for a max bench press attempt. To help keep the peace, you accept, but in your head, you’re rattled at the thought of holding this patron’s safety in your hands. If you mess up, there’s a lot that can go wrong — for both the lifter and yourself.

Spotting a fellow athlete, or requesting a spot from a fellow gym-goer, can seem intimidating, but if done correctly, it can be a simple skill set that’s a helpful addition to your gym bag. Knowing how to spot a heavy lift can help you maintain the gym’s safety, and can even lend itself to higher totals for all involved parties along the way.

Now, not every lift is going to require a spotter, but there are some common exercises you should be prepared for when entering a gym — specifically, the bench press, back squat and dumbbell press. Before we get into these movements, though, it helps to understand the upsides of a proper spot — and the downsides of an improper one.

3 Benefits of Proper Spotting

1. Improved Training Safety

Naturally, one of the biggest benefits of practicing proper spotting form is the heightened sense of safety. A “safe lift” is one where the athlete feels comfortable under the weight, so spotting can mean different things to different individuals. While your job as a spotter may just be to stand present in the moment, you still need to understand how to engage the weight if the load becomes unstable. Understanding what to do when a lift begins to fail can help prevent injuries to the lifter — and you.

2. Increased Confidence

Sometimes, a spotter is only necessary to set the mind at ease when tackling a heavy PR. Having that safety net at your disposal can help alleviate any self doubt, allowing you to focus on moving the weight with unmitigated energy. Knowing your spotter is there to grab the bar if something goes awry can unlock unmatched output.

A good comparison would be to look at your confidence when adding weight to, say, your cable rows. The machine is there to sustain any breaks in your form, so moving the pin down to a new PR is a snap. By contrast, think about jumping up in weight when it comes to the back squat — odds are you’re at least a little worried about how you’ll be able to control the weight throughout the exercise.

3. Room for Heightened Workout Intensity

As a spotter, you’re not only there to help prevent injuries, but you can also serve as a pathway to boosted training intensity, too. By taking some of the weight off the lifter’s plate and enabling them to push through a few extra reps past their perceived failure, you can help them reach a new peak. These assisted lifts are what’s known as “forced reps,” and they can be excellent tools in establishing confidence and giving your muscle-building regimen an added layer of effectiveness.

3 Biggest Spotting Fails

Fail 1: Spotting too Early

One of the most common mistakes when spotting is jumping in for a helping hand when no help is needed. Doing so can annoy your partner trying to work through a sticking point, and can even cause imbalance that puts them and yourself at risk of injury.

Solution: Communicate and Guard Appropriately

Before the weight leaves the rack establish how and when you should be looking to lend a hand. If your partner is going for a set amount of reps, take note before jumping in for a helping hand. Also, make sure you know the difference between a challenging rep and a failed rep — if the bar or weight begins to move in the opposite direction, it’s probably time to jump in.

Fail 2: Being Inattentive

Training mishaps can happen in an instant, and if your mind is more focused on your smartphone or the nearest machine that just became available, you could be leaving your training partner high and dry. This also leaves you at the mercy of any bailed weight, because if your partner needs to take their training safety into their own hands, do you think they’re going to care about dropping weight on your toes over dropping it on their own face?

Solution: Focus, Focus, Focus

The best way to stay alert is by treating the lift as your own. Follow your partner’s movement throughout each rep, keeping your distance while staying close enough to hop in if instability takes over. Talking them through the tough reps and counting them out loud can help you stay focused and motivate them to hit a new high.

Fail 3: Grabbing the Barbell

This fail applies to spotting the back squat and can potentially lead to even more injuries than just a failed rep. Athletes performing a squat often grip the bar tightly to help ensure stability across their frame, so jerking the bar back up can put unnecessary strain across the wrists, arms and shoulders. Additionally, grabbing the barbell can cause your partner to drop the weight unannounced. That means you could be in for a ride as the weight travels down toward the safety pins, potentially leading to you injuring yourself.

Solution: Support the Body, Not the Bar

When your assistance is needed in a squat rep, aim to lift the weight in tandem with your partner by grabbing them around the shoulders and underneath at the armpits. This brings your frame close to theirs to help stabilize the back and spine while also giving added support to prevent forward roll. Plus, putting two bodies on the weight at once helps share the strain as you get the barbell back to a racked position.

Spotting 3 Common Lifts

1. How to Spot the Bench Press

The bench press is a traditional “max out” exercise, meaning more athletes are prone to lifting their heaviest totals in this movement. As such, you’re likely to see more spots with this exercise than others, so understanding how to assist when the time comes is key.

If requested, help the athlete un-rack the weight by gripping the barbell close to center inside of your partner’s grip. Wait for their readiness and move the bar over the center of their chest to set up a proper starting position.
Let go of the barbell and keep your hands near the bar.
Follow the barbell plane up and down with each completed rep while still lending some breathing room to your partner’s workout.
If assistance is needed, grasp the barbell with a mixed grip (one palm facing inward and one facing outward) and pull the bar back upward to the racked position. A mixed grip can help strengthen your control of the weight.
For forced reps at the end of a set, grab the barbell with the same mixed grip. Rather than applying all your energy, though, simply give enough assistance to allow the bar to move while still keeping a majority of the weight on your partner.

2. How to Spot the Back Squat

man and woman preparing to do squats in a gym

The squat is also a heavier exercise, but also involves more technique. As such, failure is more common in this lift than others, so before you even begin to spot an athlete in the squat, always take the proper safety precautions. Make sure your barbell is equipped with collars to keep the weights in place during movement, and confirm your power rack’s safety pins or straps are adjusted to the proper height in case a bail is necessary.

Once the lifter un-racks the weight and gets into their starting position, get into your spotting stance with your feet wider than theirs and your arms bent toward their midsection.
Keep enough space between your partner so they can comfortably complete a rep without bumping into you.
Perform each rep with your partner, following them through their descent and upward push. Keep focus on sticking points to ensure you’re ready to hop in for assistance if necessary.
If help is required, assist by wrapping your arms under your partner’s armpits and across the shoulders, lifting in-tandem to place the barbell back into the racked position.
Do not grab hold of the bar, as this can cause your partner to drop the weight from their back and require a hefty catch on your end.

Editor’s Note: If your lifting partner cannot stand with the weight and is stuck in the hole of their squat, it’s best to have them bail the weight entirely by dumping it forward or backward onto the safety pins. This helps eliminate any awkward strains for both parties while keeping things safe.

3. How to Spot the Dumbbell Press

mature man in his 50s trains in the weights and dumbbell lifting to stimulate the chest in the gym to improve his strength performance 40 year old woman in the background, trains biceps

Dumbbell presses can be excellent for range of motion and muscle activation but bring with them unique challenges due to the dual-weight setup. Because each dumbbell can move independently throughout a movement, it’s vital to have your spotting form locked in. The following tips can be helpful when spotting any type of dumbbell press including flat, incline and overhead variations.

Begin by communicating with your partner on whether they want assistance with getting the dumbbells into position. If requested, stand behind your partner and be ready to steady the dumbbells when they rock them up from their knees into the starting position.
Follow your partner’s rep through the entire movement and keep your hands ready to assist at the wrist rather than the elbow. Elbows can buckle inward during a failed lift, leaving the weight at the mercy of your partner’s wrist strength.
If assistance is needed, grab at the wrist to shore up the joint and slowly help lower the dumbbells to a more ideal dropping height.
As always, stay in communication with your partner to ensure both parties are safe throughout training.
For forced reps, you can lend a hand by pressing your partner’s arms upwards underneath the elbow. This can give a little extra support and guidance for those final straining reps, but keep your eyes on the weights to ensure stability.

How-To’s & Explainers, Training & Recovery