Here's a story. Not proud of this one. Every one who has lifted for a while knows that when you need a spotter for a squat, and you are attempting a weight that may give you some problems, you need a good spotter. Well I had the safety pins setup in the rack and had done pretty near all my work sets but still felt real good, I was 2 weeks out from a meet so I decide to do a single. I put on 575, which was heavy for me, I am looking around for a spotter cause I don't like dumping the weight, however there was no one I really knew well. I then saw this guy who was at the gym a lot that I said hi to on passing most of the time. I ask him “Do you know how to spot a squat” he answers “Yes”. So I ask him if has a problem with the weight I was using ...”No”. I look at him and say “ I squat with a wide stance and I sit way back so make sure you do not get to close so my ass can travel back and down” … “Yep, No problem”. I also told him to give me help only if the weight slowed down and was going to stall (I hate assistance on a weight that I am able to get, so don't touch the weight until I stall) .
Getting all pumped up I was pacing back and forth to raise the adrenaline. I get under the weight, get tight, pre-squeeze, lift up and take 2 paces back and plant my feet. I take a big breath pre-tighten again and I sit back. Guess were my ass went … right into the fucking knee of the guy spotting. The guy was standing back but he had his right leg forward and his knee right under my butt. I launched forward when I hit it, I stepped forward, caught my balance and got the weight back up and racked. This is the embarrassing part. I then turned around, the weight room was crowded , and yelled “YOU FUCKING IDIOT, HAVE YOU GOT ANY BRAINS. I TOLD YOU TO STAY BACK WHEN I SQUATED … WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU. GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME … I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ...GO”. Damn ... everything went silent, I looked up and everyone had turned and were looking at me. Buddy took off, and I walked away into the stretching area, to get a handle on my anger. I stretched for a while trying to tamp down my anger as I could have gotten seriously injured. I calmed down, I went back to the rack, pulled off all the weights and put them back. No one came up to me or said anything … they just kept there distance.
Not a proud moment, however every time I think about that instance, I don't regret what I said to the guy as he said he knew how to spot, he also said he understood what I said about sitting back, and he was also aware I was using weight that if things fucked up could hurt me.
After that, if I did not have a spotter who I knew well and trusted ...I didn't take a heavy lift or I took the risk that if I missed I would just dump the weight on the pins, this I have had to do a number of time. Well, isn't that what the pins are for?
Getting all pumped up I was pacing back and forth to raise the adrenaline. I get under the weight, get tight, pre-squeeze, lift up and take 2 paces back and plant my feet. I take a big breath pre-tighten again and I sit back. Guess were my ass went … right into the fucking knee of the guy spotting. The guy was standing back but he had his right leg forward and his knee right under my butt. I launched forward when I hit it, I stepped forward, caught my balance and got the weight back up and racked. This is the embarrassing part. I then turned around, the weight room was crowded , and yelled “YOU FUCKING IDIOT, HAVE YOU GOT ANY BRAINS. I TOLD YOU TO STAY BACK WHEN I SQUATED … WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU. GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME … I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ...GO”. Damn ... everything went silent, I looked up and everyone had turned and were looking at me. Buddy took off, and I walked away into the stretching area, to get a handle on my anger. I stretched for a while trying to tamp down my anger as I could have gotten seriously injured. I calmed down, I went back to the rack, pulled off all the weights and put them back. No one came up to me or said anything … they just kept there distance.
Not a proud moment, however every time I think about that instance, I don't regret what I said to the guy as he said he knew how to spot, he also said he understood what I said about sitting back, and he was also aware I was using weight that if things fucked up could hurt me.
After that, if I did not have a spotter who I knew well and trusted ...I didn't take a heavy lift or I took the risk that if I missed I would just dump the weight on the pins, this I have had to do a number of time. Well, isn't that what the pins are for?