Lifting for strength without a partner...

[gretak911]

How many of you guys/girls train alone? Due to my schedule I usually lift around 9:00pm and I haven't been able to keep a steady training partner. Chest and maybe shoulders are the two exercises I feel at a disadvantage in becasue of the lack of a spotter allowing me that extra rep or two. Aside from Dumbells (Which I use frequently) can anyone offer any tips that I may have overlooked to help in my strength training?

 

[Liftbig]

you can do rack lockouts for both chest and shoulders. or hang the bar in chains and do it that way. no spotter needed really

 

[pwr_machine]

I often train alone. It's do or die!

 

[Devastation]

I virtually always lift alone

 

[revexrevex]

I mostly train alone as well. You can make enormous progress without a spotter. For example exercises such as

Remember if you have a power rack, you will never need a spotter. Even bench press can be done by yourself by positioning the pins just below your chest level. If you fail you can let the air out of your stomach and roll down the bar so you can get out. For squats no partner is kinda better, because there is a sense of urgency that you have to squat that weight or otherwise you will have to take off all the plates to put the bar back. Improvise, Adapt and Survive

 

[hellboy]

For chest there's always dumbells!
For squats just be sure your bail out bars are set correctly.
A power rack is really your best all around option.

 

[Parabellum]

I workout alone 100% eof the time. The power rack is my best friend.

 

[circusgirl]

I don't have a training partner because I vary my workout days based on whether or not I feel overtrained, whether or not I need to work late, whether or not my husband wants to go to a restaurant etc.

However, if I need a spot for bench, I just ask someone in the gym to help. Mind you, most BBers have no problem lifting the weight I bench with their little fingers so finding someone who can lift the weight off if there is a problem is not hard for me .

If there isn't anyone from my lifting club around to spot me on squats, I use one of the power racks. I prefer to squat with a spotter as I know there is no danger of me falling over on the way up like you can if you lose your footing or balance in a power rack - I can go super intense. But I wouldn't ask anyone for a squat spot unless I was sure they knew what they were doing. Also, a good spotter can call depth and tell you if you were too low or too high. I'm relatively new to PL so I'm still experimenting with getting enough depth to keep IPF happy (these guys have super-trigger-happy judges. Way it should be I s'pose).

I don't find that I need a training partner to push myself super hard. I just tell myself, "you are goin UP dammit" when looking at the bar. I try to get angry at the bar and view it as something getting between me and what I want. I also visualise some of the people who have irritated me in my life and imagine as I come up in any one of the lits that the barbell is smacking them in the chin as it comes up .

 

[War Against Iron]

I usually lift alone and have made great gains doing so

 

[quez82]

i like it and i dont because too many guys bullshit as you work out with them .. then again i like to work with free weights and being pushed those extra sets is kinda nice