How to spot a squat

You can spot a squat either with one person or by having two persons ready to assist. In any case, for maximum safety, you should make sure the squat is being performed in a squat rack with the safety bars properly set up.

Introduction

Squatting can be an intimidating exercise because if you can't lift the weight, you'll get crushed by it and risk injury.

Although it's a basic yet very effective exercise, knowing how to spot a squat is equally as important.

Usually, spotting a bench press or something simple as barbell curls (it can be really handy to spot something as barbell curls if you want to do reps beyond muscle failure!) is quite simple: just help the lifter to lift up the weight.

But spotting a squat can be a bit trickier because your body needs to follow along with the movement of the squatter and you need to take care not to push the squatter forward when you're assisting him/her.

In this article, I'm going to discuss how to spot a squat.

How to spot a squat (single spotter)

The most common way of spotting a squat is to stand behind the person that's squatting, and assist them when needed. Let's see what to watch out for when spotting a squat as a single spotter.

Stand behind and close to the person you’re spotting

When spotting a squat, beginner spotters often make the mistake of standing too far from the person they're squatting. This makes it not only harder to provide adequate assistance when you're required to do so (i.e., assisting the person with a barbell loaded with lots of weight), but you'll also lose your balance more easily when you're trying to spot a squat, resulting in subpar assistance or even bringing the squatter out of his/her balance as well!

Always stand close to the person, without interfering with their movements.

Also make sure you're standing rock solid, with your feet shoulder-width apart, and without any distractions.

Make sure you're focused as well... so no smartphone in your hand, no filming, and no chatting with fellow gym goers for as long as you're spotting the squat.

Squat along with the person

Another common mistake beginner spotters make, is standing there like a statue and watching how the squatter is performing the lift.

You not only need to stand close to the squatter, but you need to squat along as well! Now, you don't have to squat ALL the way down with the squatter, but you definitely need to perform a half-squat if you want to be ready all the time to assist adequately when required, no matter at what depth the squatter currently is.

Keep your hands near

Either position your hands around the lats of your subject or keep your hands near the bar. If you are going to keep your hands near the bar, then you don´t necessarily have to squat that far down along. Don't place your hands on the lats or on the barbell, unless you actively need to assist the person to complete the rep. Just make sure your hands are in position at all times, so you can grab the person or barbell straight away when assistance is required.

Assist by pushing up

If you see that the person is struggling to push up the barbell during the concentric phase of the exercise, then it's time to come to the rescue! This is also the most critical point in spotting a squat, and you need to take special care as to how you are going to assist the person.

If you're going to assist the squatter by providing support to his/her lats, then make sure you're pushing with your hands straight up against the lats. What usually happens is that the spotter unconsciously also pushes the squatter to the front, bringing them out of balance during the concentric phase.

On the other hand, are you going to support the barbell, then when the need arises to provide assistance during the concentric phase, make sure you're pushing the barbell with your hands straight up as well.

How to spot a squat (two spotters)

You can also spot a squat with 2 persons instead of just one. This makes spotting not only easier but also much safer for everyone involved. The only disadvantage is that you need two persons, and therefore it's not as practical as having a single spotter. Let's see how you can spot a squat with 2 persons.

Both spotters stand at each end of the barbell

The major difference here is that each spotter stands outside the squat rack, at the end of the barbell.

Stand close to the path of travel of the barbell. Stand with your feet again shoulder width apart, with the barbell in the middle (i.e., aligned with the center of your body).

Make sure you're not positioning yourself directly under the barbell, so in case the barbell unexpectedly falls (for example, the squatter faints), it doesn't fall straight on you.

Again, make sure you as a spotter are focused and have both of your hands-free and ready to hold the barbell. Take care of distractions and don't chat with friends when spotting a squat (or any other lift, for that matter). The safety of the spotter is in your hands!

Both spotters squat down along with the person that’s being spotted

This again is the same as spotting a squat with a single person. Make sure you're squatting down with the end of the barbell, and stay ready to assist whenever you are required to do so.

Keep your hands near the barbell

Hold both of your hands together, as if you want to grab the end barbell from below, but don't grab or touch the barbell yet. Assuming that the person that's squatting is around the same height as both spotters, then each spotter's hands should be held around shoulder height because that's the height at which the barbell rests on the shoulders/back of the squatter.

Assist by pushing straight up

If you see the person struggling to push the barbell back up, then it's time for both of the spotters to assist the squat!

At this point, grab the barbell with both of your hands and push straight up by using your leg muscles (that's why you had to squat along with the barbell path).

Don't push the barbell up using your shoulder muscles.

Conclusion

The most important thing when spotting a squatter is to stand close, squat along with the person, and when required assist by applying force straight up, taking special care to not push the person forward. It's often easier to spot a squat with 2 spotters, but you can't have always 2 spotters available to help with a squat. Besides, when using 2 persons to spot a squat, it's also important both persons cooperate and assist in the same manner. Finally, no matter if you're spotting a squat alone or with 2 persons, it's best to always have the safety bars on the squat rack (if available) properly set up for maximum safety.