You've Met The Bad Ones
You are certain to have asked someone to spot for you now and again. With some it
works really well. Others you quickly learn never to engage again. Even if they were
advanced, capable even successfully competing athletes, they could not "read"
you. They seemed unable (or maybe unwilling) to understand when you needed
that extra push and encouragement to finish your set. Instead they routinely
shouted "Come on" after your first rep and screamed "Ten more" when you had
already reached near-exhaustion. In other words, they were hardly of any help
to you. On the contrary, they made it more difficult for you by lack of sensitivity
to what you were in need of.

Spotting, or assisting one another as training partners, is a skill! It takes learning
to develop it. We know when we have encountered a bad spotter or joined with
a hopeless training partner. It is frustrating and it feels unproductive and
uninspiring. But when we have the fortune to meet the good ones, we tend to
stop thinking why it is they are so good. The reason is that when things work
well, we relax. We simply enjoy "the good times." However, we would be wise
when this happens to actually reflect on what it is with some spotters and/or
training partners that makes them so exceptional. We can learn a lot from
it. What works well or not so well in training is very often a matter of the mind;
or if you will - it is a matter of training psychology.

Now, Meet The Good Ones
A training relationship usually works best when there is a give and take to and from
both athletes. To train with a beginner may well be rewarding for a time, but the
minute you actually need some input and assistance (and sooner or later you
will) there is none to be had. So, the best training partnerships are the ones
between equals, at least with similar determination, dedication and goal-setting.
The characteristics and attributes of a good training partner, therefore, are the
following:

? He or she is reliable. If you decided to train at 8pm, your training partner will
be there and ready to go (unless something unforeseen and urgent has happened).
? He or she is attentive and focused on you. A training partner does not let the
mind wonder as you are performing your set.
? The training partner is effective and does not waste time during the workout.
He or she drives you on on the basis of knowing what you can and cannot do
and what you need to do to reach a certain goal.
? He or she gives constructive criticism when needed. It is better to say
"You need to improve this" making a suggestion how to do it, rather than
to say "You look like shit" or "You lift like a moron" and then say nothing
about how to improve and make it better!
? A training partner does not help you unnecessarily! For example,
if you need substantial help to finish a set, you don't need a spotter.
You need less weight! A good spotter understands when you need
a steady hand for support to bring the set to a conclusion. You
should both learn the skill of spotting, and you will need to ask each
other how you both like to be assisted! Always ask how many reps are
planned for.

? He or she does not scream at you indiscriminately. You would be
surprised if you knew how often shouting in the gym is jargon, playing
 a role, rather than an actual sound of exhaustion and exertion. If you
as a spotter or training partner shouts as someone is starting out with
the first reps, your timing is really bad and possibly quite disturbing.
If you actually want to assist and help your partner do his or her utmost
by boosting their performance, you shout for example "One more!"
at the end of a set. That is, when you see that your partner is very
close to collapse. Further, you must give feasible instructions. If
you know your training partner needs further reps and he/she has
almost exhausted all available energy, you cannot shout "Ten More!"
and expect that miracles will suddenly occur. You have to consider
what is actually possible. ONLY then will your shouting actually have
an effect.

Strategies: have some!
Occasional training partners might sometimes be a good idea, for the
simple reason that you will always try to impress the other, unaware,
thereby putting an even greater effort into it! You will possibly lift
more than you knew you could or engage greater stamina than
you knew you were capable of. Also, the more you respect this
temporary training partner because his or her achievements,
strength, body type and so on, the greater also the attention
you will pay to excelling when training with him or her! It's a well
-known phenomenon in any context where achievement and
evaluation - real or imagined - is an issue.

However, even if you do decide on and off to train with temporary partners,
you still need a strategy - a long-term strategy, which is worked out between
you and your more permanent training partner. It should contain both short
-term goals and long term goals. To train without a plan and goals of a defined
kind is equal to limited success! When you discuss and plan you both need
to be able to compromise. You might have to give up your pet-routines just
because they do not fit your partner. Flexibility is essential in any relationship.
 When plans and goals falter you have your training partner to discuss them with.
Two minds sometimes think better than one.
However, my own experience in Bodybuilding is that almost all athletes ask
everyone they can find all the essential questions. No surprisingly they
receive different answers from each one they ask. The end result is that the
bodybuilder in need becomes even more confused. Answers always differ
for mainly two reasons:

1) Most importantly, the means by which we train successfully are to a
considerable degree individual. That which works for one bodybuilder
does not necessarily work for another. You usually receive the solution
to a problem that helped the individual you asked. But that is not to say
it will also work for you. You can always try, but never take what is
suggested as an absolute truth!

2) Bodybuilders (and some other athletes) often have favourite procedures
or routines, which are more supersticious than functional with respect to
achievement and development. When I began in Bodybuilding many years
ago, to grow muscle a bodybuilder had to eat raw eggs, yolk and all, red
and raw meat and strange tablets of desiccated liver. Today we know
better, thankfully, and stay away from poultry-carried disease. We see little
value in eating raw meat and ingesting liver tablets as a source of mysterious
muscle building supplements.

Currently, however, harassed by the supplementation industry's aggressive
campaigning, some bodybuilders have become more or less obsessed with
supplements, which as far as Science goes either has an effect that is doubtful
or sometimes no proven effect at all. Supplementation might benefit you,
but you need to know how and why. You need to be able to separate between
what actually is of value and what is probably a waste of money, and never
take at face-value what the supplement industry or other bodybuilders tell you.
The reason is simple - we still believe there is "magic in bottles and pills" found
the nutrition store.

These are some issues, among others, to be discussed between training partners.
Experiment by all means, but don't forget to also evaluate! Few are more suited than
to evaluate progress and strategy as more or less equal training partners!

Note: The illustrations I have used for this article have been found on the
Internet with no known copyright holder. However, should such exist, please
contact the author of this article, and proper credit will be made or the
copyrighted illustration will be removed immediately. Observe also that
this article is the intellectual property of the author of this article. It may
not be reprinted and copied and posted elsewhere in any form without the
written permission of Roland S Persson, PhD (© 2005),
e-mail: BeefQ@bostreammail.com www.bostream.nu/beefq