What is the most important part of safely benching?
Don’t use collars.This is stupid. It’s only two plates, but if the bencher loses form, burps, etc. he might staple himself to the bench. If he had no collar clips, a twist helps dump the plates on one side before he starts having difficulty breathing and blacks out. It’s not elegant, but it will save your life. With clips, he has to find some way to get free against a full weight of bar and plates that he just failed against. This is how people die in the bench press.Even if you have a spotter, don’t use collars. Honestly, most spotters are atrocious. If you completely lose power against the bar, your spotter might simply watch you get crushed while trying to deadlift a weight that’s far in front of him.Why do powerlifting competitions use collars? Because they typically have multiple qualified spotters who can share the weight of the bar.As a bit of a secondary tip: this is why if you’re benching by yourself, it helps to have a good arch and pins. The arch raises the touch point of the lift and if you have pins or safety catches you can raise them to just below this point. Worst case, if you fail a lift, you cut your arch and the bar is caught on the pins.
What are some techniques to avoid injury when weightlifting without a spotter?
Hi Ron:For thye new weight trainers, it is best to work with a strength training coach. I did. I learned the basics from a coach and it helped me in the long run.Currently, I lift weights alone. I don’t have a spotter. I prefer to train alone. For safety reasons, the only barbell movement I don’t touch while alone is the classic bench. I don’t like to get stuck under the weight, alone at home. LOLSo as for Squats, I don’t need a spotter either. I have been weightlifting for a decade, and I know my way around the weights.If I don’t feel comfortable under a squat rack, I know how to release safely.The deadlift doesn't need a spotter at all. The assistant exercises also conducted without need a partner.Then there is the Olympic Lifts. Oly lifting is an art and a skill-based sport. There is no room for a spotter. For Overhead pressing, I use a pair of stackable weightlifting boxes lift and drop and no need for spotters. The Snatch and Clean and Jerk performed solo. WL is a safe sport.If you are referring to injuries from gym machines, I don’t use them, a personal trainer can come handy, and I recommend the new trainers to learn all safety measures to avoid injuries.The best strategy to prevent injuries is to perfect your technique before you begin lifting heavy loads, equally important to learn exercise safety, eat properly and sleep a lot. (recovery)I also recommend all new trainers to engage with compound exercises to build a foundation first. It reduces injuries doing isolation or body part training.I hope I provide some clues.
What is one small life change you have made recently to better your health?
I stopped drinking alcohol daily.I was a daily drinker for more than 10 years. I drank one to three drinks a day, always between the hours of about 3–6 p.m.I went 3 weeks without any alcohol last fall (2017), but then picked up the habit again.So early this year I decided to go 30 days without alcohol.I ended up going 63 days.I then had some wine at dinner to celebrate my son’s 13th birthday.For me to break the habit of drinking daily, the biggest key was to cancel my wine club memberships and not have any wine in the house. That made it easier to follow through even if I had a weak moment.I still enjoy red wine, but on a much more limited basis.And if I do buy wine to bring home, I only get one or two bottles. (I used to get wine by the case.)Benefits to not drinking daily:Freedom: I don’t feel the need to have a drink every day. It’s no longer something I think about every day.Energy: I don’t wake up groggy any more. I feel more awake in the mornings.Skin: I had a patch of red skin at the base of my nose on one side of my face that I could not get to go away… until I stopped drinking daily. It’s cleared up now and hasn’t come back.Savings: Drinking isn’t cheap. I spend much less on alcohol now.EDIT: Here is the article that inspired me to go a month without alcohol.And here is a new study published in April that says drinking more than five drinks a week will shorten your life expectancy. This has provided additional motivation for me to restrict my drinking.
What is the best kind and type of dumbbells?
The absolute best? I'd go with Watson or Eleiko. Their dumbbells (at least Watson does) come with both regular and thick-grip sized handles. More importantly, they're built with revolving sleeves, which decrease shear force on the wrists and elbows (whereas fixed dumbbells resist torque). Indeed, the overall design is as ergonomically optimal as possible. And they're well-made: A 25 kg or pound dumbbell will be exactly 25 kg or pounds, no more, no less. They also offer smaller increments (i.e., .5kg). And, they're extremely durable.Now, they are expensive, so does all that really make a major difference in training versus other quality gear (Troy, York, etc.)? If you're a hardcore pro-bodybuillder or olympic athlete, then you'd definitely probably notice a difference after a while.