Good cueing can be done by both a head coach and spotters. In order to provide good cues you need to know several things; first are the technical errors that a lifter tends to make during the lift, second is a knowledge of the lift in general. When you know the errors that a lifter tends to make you can help them out by gently reminding them to correct their position before the get into it, yelling is the best means of this. For example if a lifter’s knees come in on the squat “knees out” is a common cue to prevent this. If a sport constantly reminds a lifter of the corrections they need to make, they will be more likely to make and keep making the change. If all the spotters focus on giving cues at the appropriate times then the lifter will have all of their technical bases covered.

Timing cues properly is an art that you have to learn through practice and knowledge of the individual that you are cueing. Some cues, such as “heels” (to correct forward movement of the bar can
be repeated constantly throughout the lift. Another cue that keeps the lifter balanced correctly is “back” often used when box squatting; this cue can be repeated constantly during the decent of the squat in order for the lifter to achieve the proper knee angle while on the box. A cue such as “head up” (to correct a lifter who is looking down) might only need to be stated once, assuming that the lifter responds to it.

Remember that each spotter in the lifting group will be rotating through the work and you will have to mentally re-tune yourself to the cues needed by each lifter. Through constant reinforcement all of the lifters in the group can improve.

Learning how to spot other lifters is a vitally important skill. It takes you from being an almost useless member of the gym to an asset. To be clear, by spotting I mean both being there to help in the event of a missed attempt and providing good cues while someone is lifting.

The physical aspect of being a spotter, helping with missed attempts, is an important skill to learn so that you and the athletes training with you can practice maximal attempts in a safe environment. An untrained spotter is a danger to both themselves and others. Generally speaking the lifts that require physical intervention from spotters are the squat and benchpress. This is not to say that spotters can’t be useful during other lifts; however your role as a spotter may be limited to cueing, covered in the second half of this blog post.

In both the squat and benchpress there are optimally 3 spotters. Two of the spotters stand on either side of the barbell to help lift the bar by the plates. The third spotter stands behind the lifter in the squat and on behind the rack in the benchpress. In the squat the third spotter has the job of supporting the lifters body in the event of a failure. The arms of the spotter reach around the lifter and touch the chest. Typically a spotter will hold their hands around the lifter but not touching the chest unless the lift is failed. In the bench press the third spotter stands ready to grab the bar in the event of failure.

It is important to note that the spotters should not touch the bar or lifter unless the attempt has clearly failed or is about to fail. The best way to judge this is bar movement. If the bar stops moving completely or begins to move backwards then spotters are needed. Otherwise the spotters should stick to cueing and get their workout in when it’s their turn to work. Look in any collegiate or commercial gym and you will see the two man benchpress workout. One works their ego while the other works their traps. Don’t let that be you.

Good cueing can be done by both a head coach and spotters. In order to provide good cues…