Today’s rant brought to you by the Cleveland Clinic… which\u00a0sent me\u00a0the following well-intentioned, but\u00a0muddled\u00a0“safety tip”\u00a0this morning.<\/p>\n
See if you can spot the problem:<\/p>\n
\nGym Safety Tip: Using Barbells? A Spotter is a Must!<\/h3>\n
Do not use barbells at home unless you have a spotter. Many people with a hectic schedule feel it is best to make a quick trip into the basement to lift weights.<\/p>\n
If that is the case, go for dumbbells, calisthenics, machines, pulleys, balls or bands for resistance training. Lifting heavier free weights, such as barbells, at home without a spotter increases your risk of having a traumatic injury.<\/p>\n
In 2009, former University of Southern California football star Stafon Johnson suffered critical injuries when a barbell smashed onto his throat and larynx. At the time, he was doing a routine bench press with a spotter. Experts suggest that had he not had a spotter, the injuries would have been even more life threatening. In this instance, this was a high level athlete doing his regular lifting routine with a spotter. Many people do this at home alone in their basements.<\/p>\n
Accidents can happen. Safety precautions should be implemented to prevent potentially tragic outcomes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I have to ask… has the author of the above ever even picked up a barbell before… let alone worked out with one?<\/p>\n
First of all, let’s define our terms.\u00a0There’s more to “lifting weights” than just bench pressing. Likewise,\u00a0“barbell” can refer to a range of bars with different lengths, weights and uses. Does the person who wrote this “tip”\u00a0really believe that a\u00a0spot\u00a0is needed to do\u00a0EZ-bar curls safely? Or upright rows with a fixed-weight barbell? They’re “barbells,” too.<\/p>\n
Ok, I “get” that s\/he is referring to a standard or Olympic barbell. This – of course – leads us to the second point: even\u00a0these longer, heavier bars\u00a0are useful for a lot more than just bench pressing. Yes, benching can<\/em> be hazardous when done solo… but I certainly don’t need (and have never used) a spotter for barbell shrugs, deadlifts, curls, rows, cleans or front\/Zercher squats. Sure,\u00a0you can get hurt\u00a0doing these exercises too, but I don’t see how that\u00a0might\u00a0be mitigated\u00a0by switching to dumbbells.<\/p>\n
So increased “risk of having a traumatic injury” and “barbell” don’t automatically go together. As the Stafon Johnson example implies, it depends on the exercise.\u00a0But even higher-risk\u00a0barbell bench presses\u00a0can still be done solo\u00a0if a\u00a0power rack is used. Lee Hayward\u00a0demonstrates how it’s done:<\/p>\n
[youtube:http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pCOo3RtKu1E]<\/p>\n
And yes, the folks I know with well-equipped home gyms own power racks – they’re expensive, but worth the investment. I use ’em all the time in the gym. And if I had room for a home gym,\u00a0one would be\u00a0at the top of\u00a0my list of “must haves.” And\u00a0if the\u00a0Stafon Johnson example is anything to go by,\u00a0he’d have been better off using one, too. If nothing else,\u00a0a power rack is\u00a0more capable of supporting\u00a0a\u00a0heavily-loaded bar than many spotters are.<\/p>\n
Now, I’m not knocking the idea of\u00a0using a spotter, per se. For one thing, a spotter can\u00a0help improve your performance.\u00a0And if an injury does occur,\u00a0it’s good to have\u00a0someone\u00a0on hand\u00a0to\u00a0help you out. But these considerations are hardly\u00a0unique to barbell work\u00a0– at home or in a commercial gym.\u00a0The notion that a spotter is needed to ensure the safety of\u00a0every barbell exercise done\u00a0in a home gym\u00a0–\u00a0just because it’s done with a barbell<\/strong>\u00a0– is absurd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today’s rant brought to you by the Cleveland Clinic… which\u00a0sent me\u00a0the following well-intentioned, but\u00a0muddled\u00a0“safety tip”\u00a0this morning. See if you can spot the problem: Gym Safety Tip: Using Barbells? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,19,28],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4857\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}