We all have either spotted or have been the recipient of a spot while training heavy in the gym.  The most important purpose of a spotter is to prevent injury, so who is to blame when injury does occur?  On the one hand, the “lifter” is usually attempting to lift an amount of weight that he or she is not 100% sure of being able to accomplish.  On the other hand, the spotter should be able to provide enough support (at the very least) to prevent something physically catastrophic from happening.  Now back to the question at hand … “who is at fault?”  A good friend of mine found himself at the crossroads of this unfortunate circumstance about a month ago.

They were training chest that day and were on the very last movement … chest flyes.  If you are not familiar with this chest movement, it can be quite dangerous as the proper range of motion requires a good amount of pectoral stretch.  In fact, it is always a good idea to have a spotter close by to prevent gravity from snapping a muscle or dislocating a shoulder or elbow joint.  Any any rate, Mark’s friend ended up suffering a partial pectoral tear.  Mark thought that his training partner was grunting so he let him fight through.  His partner was actually giving a vague but vocal signal to take the weight and return it to the safety position.  So who is to blame in this scenario?  I have been spotted probably hundreds, if not thousands of times, in my lifetime.  I have also been injured at least a dozen times from “bad” or improper spots.  For the record, I HAVE NEVER BLAMED MY TRAINING PARTNER OR EXPECTED HIM/HER TO PROVIDE RETRIBUTION OF ANY KIND FOLLOWING A TRAINING MISHAP! Folks … when you train heavy, you are taking a calculated risk.  Just because you have a spotter does not erase that risk.  It might make you a tad more confident or safe, but it does not guarantee utmost safety … PERIOD.

Mark’s training partner not only blames him for the mishap, but also wants him to pay for the surgical procedure.  I told him that it was in his good nature to want to be there to protect his training partner, but it does not make him any more liable than his training partner for taking the risk in the first place.  Like the old cliche, “SHIT HAPPENS!” … It does and will continue to happen.  I know that I have preached about the need to train heavy in order to achieve exceptional muscularity.  I have also preached about training smart by knowing and accepting your physical limitations.  As a general rule of thumb, I never expect my training partner to assist with more than 25% of the lift.  That means, I never give up on my end and I should at the very least be able to control the negative or eccentric portion of the movement.  If you cannot exhibit negative resistance so that the bar does not bounce off of your chest, then you have absolutely no business trying to perform the positive … PERIOD!  Your muscles will always be stronger than your tendons … bouncing through a negative only increases the workload due to gravity, and also puts your tendons and ligaments at risk for trauma.

In closing, when you play hard, you must accept that you will fall hard at times … it just comes with the territory.  Does this mean you should not train hard or heavy?  Absolutely not.  Anything can happen with anything that you wish to do.  There are risks to everything.  Take it from me my friends, living life to the fullest is about taking risks (calculated or not).  I write often about challenges and how I enjoy overcoming them.  It makes me work harder, try harder, come back harder.  Guess what my friends?  When you take on a challenge, you are taking a risk.  Where am I going with this?  When you engage a challenge, one of two things will happen.  You will either succeed and bask in the sunlight or you will crumble from agony of defeat.  You most certainly will continue to find something else to conquer after each victory.  Why wouldn’t you want to get up and get after it again after a defeat.  Risks … win or lose, injury or not, they make us strive for excellence.