The Tragic Death of Justyn Vicky Should NOT Have Happened (How to Prevent it)
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- Bodybuilder Justyn Vicky recently suffered a tragic accident under the barbell that, sadly, ultimately proved to be fatal.
While attempting to squat 210kg (463lbs) Justyn became stuck underneath the barbell. His spotters were unable to lift him back up, and he had no safety pins underneath of him. Ultimately, the bar rolled forward on top of Justyn's neck and head which caused an injury to the neck region that proved to be fatal.
There were several factors that led to this tragic outcome, namely the lack of safety pins and the use of human spotters. These two things came together in a perfect storm with catastrophic consequences for Justyn.
As sad as this tragedy was and is, the even sadder fact is that it was also 100% preventable if proper and basic safety precautions had been put into place. We deal with life threatening weights every single time we step foot into the gym. So along with that, we should use these LIFE SAVING safety protocols every single time we are there as well.
Do not allow yourself to become complacent in the weight room when it comes to safety. It only takes ONCE to cause something tragic like this to happen, and this sad tragedy should serve as a cautionary tale and a reminder to all of us to take weight room safety very very seriously at all times.
The goal here with this video today is to arm all of you guys with the knowledge needed to make sure that something totally preventable like this accident does not happen again. Be safe guys. Rest in peace, Justyn Vicky.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The preventable Justyn Vicky tragedy
2:50 Squatting with no safeties
4:59 The problem with human spotters
9:44 A sad cautionary tale
#JustynVicky #bodybuilding #GymAccident #enkirielitefitness - Розваги
Storytime:
In 2020 there was that guy in my gym, who always squatted until he failed the concentric and dumped the bar on the safetys.
He was quite renowned for doing that.
Once he decided to do so outside of the rack.
As always he trained to concentric failure but suddenly noticed he had no safety to drop the weight onto.
So instead of bailing like shown in the video, he yelled across the gym for my help, because we were the only 2 people there.
I immediately told him to bail, but he insisted on me helping him on the way up.
Because of the dire situation, I didn't think for too long and put my elbows under his armpits and stood up with him.
He successfully stood all the way up and decided to drop the bar afterward.
I was still standing behind him and basically got the bar crashing in my elbows Zercher style.
Long story short I was lucky and my spine is fine now. My left rotator cuff, both elbows, and left hamstring aren't.
Though I was operated on immediately my left Semomebranosis tendon is so long now, that it looks contracted in a fully stretched-out position and basically is functionless.
Suffice it to say my physical condition is not what it once was.
Please use the safety bars!
Its dangerous for all parties involved. Precisely why this is not something we should allow to be practiced any longer.
That's so fucked up, what a fucking idiot. I'm so sorry this happened to you dude.
I almost failed on a squat while squatting outside the bar and I almost got injured so I said fuck that and I started using the safety pins when I'm by myself and always do weights I know that I can lift. If I feel I can't lift it for at least 2 reps I won't even attempt it. Never been injured and been lifting since high school. I believe in the leave a few reps in the tank ideology and still make gains.
@@EnkiriElite don't even get it, it's like hearing about some super wealthy celebrity get caught driving drunk or high, they can afford a driver but it's no fucking way, like it's too good to pass up
@@EnkiriElite Steroids killed him, so sick and tired of seeing so many people die from steroids...
I'd like to put out there as well, a lot of our 50% and "warm up weights" are still heavy enough to be lethal upon a freak accident happening. Don't weight until "it gets heavy bro" to set your safeties.
Only times I have ever gotten injured under the bar have been with submaximal warm-up weights!
yup I treat my wm's as seriously as workweights. gotta thank ed coan for spreading that golden nugget
This was such a tragedy…..😢
Forgetting about the bad spotters, I was surprised to see he wasn’t squatting inside a squat rack with safeties in place at an appropriate height. That simple measure would have prevented this tragedy by itself.
Terribly sad that this happened, and sending my deepest condolences to Justyn’s family & friends in this difficult time.
When I was younger I used to do 4-5 sets of 350-375 lbs for anywhere from 6-12 reps. I will tell you right now the number one reason this happened and it isn't because he wasn't within the Squat rack or any of that. He had the bar resting forward on his neck, way too far forward. You place the bar on the rear of neck, really on top of the Shoulder Blades, that way encase you need to bail out for whatever reason the weight rolls off your back when you let go. He was so far forward in his placement of the bar that instead of rolling backwards harmlessly it rolled forward internally decapitating him.
When you initiate a Squat, first dig your Shoulder Blades and Traps into the Bar behind the top of your Neck. You should not be using the top of your spine to anchor the Bar, or like Justin have it even further forward on to your actual neck. Then before unracking once you have it snug in your upper back you should be Chin up looking at least 45 Degrees upwards towards the Ceiling. If it's your own Gym environment put something on the wall to fixate your eyes on that's above you. I used to stare at a Clock up high on the Wall. This prevents you from rounding forwards, and locks you into the proper position. When you squat you don't want your body folding like a lawn chair, you want to almost be sitting backwards into a chair. If you do this, when you start to fail a lift you can just let go and the weight will fall harmlessly to the floor.
The way to know you have it right is your position should be like going to sit on a chair, if your back is rounded forward and not arched like your going to sit in a chair your form is garbage. You should almost be falling backwards when you squat, that's why a good way to teach people to squat is to place a bench or seat below them on a smith machine, you should almost be going to sit down, watch him squat that weight again his back is fully rounded and the weight is forward on his neck, that's why it snaps his neck, no ones neck can support that much weight on it, you don't rest the bar on your actual neck.
This isn't an ego post or anything it's literally hoping I can help save someone from Injury, Squat used to be my specialty my body is built for it, my form was so good I was often asked to teach and help people squat. With that in mind, some people's frames just aren't good for Squatting, if that's the case don't do them, Squats are great but if done poorly can lead to severe Injuries because of the nature of the lift. Please be safe.
@7:22 Your Bar position is money. You have it placed snugly behind the top of the spine and dug into the top of your Should Blades and Trap. If you ran into trouble from this position all you would need to do is let go and the weight rolls of your back at worst causing a minor bruise, or maybe a irritated tend in your arm. The second part of this is remaining Chin up, and looking upwards. Instinct makes you want to put your head down to catch your breath and secure the weight however this could at certain point in the motion allow the bar to come forward, always chin up and what happened to Justin will never, ever happen to you.
If you watch Justin's lift, and he did it on other lifts, the bar placement is past the top of the Spine, on the actual Neck C-Vertibrae and his head is facing down looking at the floor. This all wrong and this is why this happened to him. Even with the Safety Bars his neck may have snapped before catching the bars. Poor form killed Justin, it's sad to say but I hope others use it as a lesson, Squats are great, literally a whole body exercise.. nothing like it, but it comes with risks.. it's a serious lift.
This is for everybody, if your ever going to solo Spot a Squat, you insert your arm inside their torso and place your hand on their upper chest to force proper form and prevent forward motion. Squat with them, it's a difficult way to spot but it does work, however none of that matters if the bar position is wrong. So if your the spotter and you notice that bar is way too far forward you need to prevent them from unracking the weight and say something. If they give you a hard time, bring up Justin Vicky because that's how he died, that bar should have never been that far forward.
So true. That bar looks too high! Unnecessary loss of life@@rcmunro22
When I was 19, I was going down for my 5th rep with a 500 lbs squat. The first four reps were easy. I was squatting outside the rack. Suddenly, my low back "popped" and I bent in half. Luckily I had 3 good spotters who saved my life. I ended up going to the ER in an ambulance to get evaluated. Luckily, I had just strained my lower back and was back in the gym in a month. I've now been lifting for almost 40 years and can still get a 400+ lbs single in my fifties.
After my accident, I NEVER squatted outside a rack or without safety pins correctly placed again. I was big when I was 19 (6', 260 lbs) but 500 lbs bent me in half like I was made of silly putty.
Never squat outside a rack without properly placed safety pins.
Dude that spotter is never gonna get over that ptsd and guilt...
It was his dad.
Thank you for not showing the actual footage for the sake of views, teaching people how to avoid this is the important message, you nailed it
Thanks man. Let's spread the word.
That is the actual footage though. I don't get it.
@@chuck7648 I guess he means that the actual moment of death isn't shown, just the events leading up to it? I don't know; I haven't seen the full video to compare.
yeah in the full footage you can see the neck getting pressed down by the bar
@@dvsavocs5290Don't see it guys its really disturbing.
Great message. You conveyed your thoughts very well.
Squatting without safety pins is like driving without a seatbelt. Most of the time nothing happens but why risk it. I've failed squat attempts. It doesn't feel good, but thank god for the safety bars.
Except safety pins are even more useful in a failed squat than a seatbelt is in a collision.
Thank you SOOOOO much for this video. As an experienced lifter myself, I was fully aware within hours of Justin's tragic death that this was a 100% avoidable tragedy. Out of respect for Justin, nobody originally posted something like this. But it is ESSENTIAL that a video like yours become widely disseminated on the internet -- especially the absolute need to use catch-pins when squating ANY weight at all! I really hope thousands of lifters watch this video so that future squatting tagedies like Justin's might be prevented.
Thank you so much for ths video , it gave a lot of tips and ideas for safe keeping and preventing tragedies like vicky had.
Use safeties and warm up properly guys and gals. You can mess up your whole body with a failed squat
I didn't know this happened! What a terrible accident... RIP
Great work on spreading all this knowledge!
I tell people this all the time
Nobody listens
Even with a tragedy
Like this people still won't listen
Smh
RIP
This video makes me deeply saddened. I recently suffered a neck injury and have to take 6-8 weeks off from lifting. I also injured myself rushing to do a squat.
I had safety bars however and was able to finish the rep but put it down quickly and realized the damage was done.
I got out cheap but it could have been me because I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.
I realized resting the bar on the back of the neck is a no no at ALL costs.
I learned the hard way.
This video I saw after and I realized just how much weight room safety is important and before all this a friend of mine told me not to use the safety bars and let another person spot me. After I heal, I will go back to the gym but no way will I ever lift without safety bars.
It’s a shame people have to die before some learn this lesson including me to an extent.
Safety above all!
RIP to Justin and his family.
We’re a community. Let’s all help each other.
Your video presentation is very good on this tragedy-and I wholeheartedly agree that squatting outside of safety racks are "accidents" awaiting the right moment to "happen".
I see these practises in my own gym, with trainees whom appear to want an audience as they squat 'free standing'.
Condolences to Justin Vicky's family. This tragedy should NOT have happened!
Sad :( keep safe, my bros, take care and practice safe sets ❤
I'm literally shaking. I'm so sorry 😭
you can literally see the moment he is internally decapitated
NOBODY should have to die in a gym like this. Its honestly crazy to me that this happens. And what you said is 100% true, having a spotter behind you specifically is probably more dangerous than not having pins set up in your squat rack. Not being able to ditch the bar behind you seems to make things 100x worse. PLEASE use your pins people!
Great video Alec. I had a squatting incident a few years ago to where the bar rolled further up my traps to my lower neck as I was coming out of the hole. I wasn't using the safety spotters but fortunately I was able to shoot my hips up and back quick enough and duck my head while pushing the weight forward. Needless to say that was the last time I squatted without safeties regardless of weight. Thank God nothing worse happened to me but I feel terrible for this Justyn situation and his family.
goddamit, i hate that a life was cut short so early because of something so ridiculous, so sad. Be safe out there bros, we're not invincible even though the act of lifting weights makes us feel as such. Take care of yourselves, take the time to learn and improve. And be safe at all times. Rest in peace, Justyn.
Your idea of pin/dead-benching in powerlifting competitions is brilliant.
As a side note, I think it would have been approapriate for you to show videos of your missed attempts and how they were managed safely, rather than showing just successful attempts (which I'm not sure that you included).
That's just a minor criticism; your comments were valuable.
I wish I had some but I scrapped this video together too quickly to find it! I hope the message gets across, and if glad you enjoyed it!
@@EnkiriElite it sure did! Take care man!
Thank you for this video, it should be shared. I have never understood why people do this while two feet away from safeties. It makes me cringe. It's just unnecessary, I always set the safety arms.
People sometimes forget that they're working with 100,200,300 kilograms of WEIGHT.
If you fail on deadlifts, you just drop the bar and you're safe, but on squats it's a different story without safety bars. Not to mention failing a bench press without any safety bars or a spotter
Lots of people out there benching without safeties or spotters. I did too in the past but I never pushed it that hard. Even so you can get killed on a routine lift.
@@anabolicamaranth7140 i make sure to always bench in a squat rack. Been doing it for years and you can even set up the bar height to match better with your arm length.
yeah pretty crazy that literally no gyms have safety racks on benches and no company even builds them like that. Surprised more people aren't injured doing bench
With the bench it's incredibly simple though, you just bench without the cuffs on the barbell and when you fail you tilt the bar to one side, dumping the weight. I've had to do this a number of times, but it is effortless.
This is exactly my thoughts as well. I have never seen a spotter actually successful spot someone on a heavy squat, I have always thought they were useless and made things worse.
I have no idea why it’s so widespread to have squat spotters when it’s so clear that the mechanics required to actually save a failed squat attempt is virtually impossible for anyone to do, except I guess for much lighter weights or when spotting newly beginners.
Anything above 275lbs imo spotters really have no place in overseeing a squat, and even then pins or bailing are just vastly superior.
spotters can work, but you need 2. one at either end of the bar. the hug type single spotter is stupid and less helpful than just relying on the safetys or dumping the bar.
squatting requires 2 spotters (one occupying each side of the bar) as per powerlifting set ups
Well this is just objectively and subjectively a weird post with a bad message. Spotting a squat is a safety thing, and you can never be too safe when going up heavy
Using powerlifting setups, you need 3. One behind, 2 on each side. Regardless, it doesn't 'require' 2 or 3, one is perfectly fine if you're not absolute maxing yourself.@@frankchen4229
Well said
Hmm, that is weird that they don't use the rack in competition squat lifts, that is very dangerous for all involved.
Thank you for not posting the footage man, I saw it once and I can’t watch it again.
Thanks, Alec! You are one of the best!
Thanks man. Just trying to spread basic lifting safety knowledge. Everyone should be lifting inside a rack
i dont understand why people squat heavy without safety pins when they are in the squat rack. takes less then a minute to set up
I don't know if it's location-specific, but most gyms where I live would have at least several kinds of mostly useless ass-pumping machines, but might not have a single squat safety rack. The best you can typically hope for is to have a simple walk-in squat rack. It means, unless you go to the gym very early in the morning, you have to manage a 20-40 minutes queue, making you wonder whether the gym owners are nostalgic for their Soviet youth and the sight of queues just makes them feel young again.
You would think that gym owners would add safety racks for liability reasons.
That's unfortunate. My advice is always going to be to find another gym If possible. Barring that, buy a darn rack! It only costs a few hundred dollars for a quality one and you can't put a price tag on keeping yourself safe during an inherently dangerous activity like this. Especially one that is predicated upon *consistently* exposing yourself to said risk.
Same case here, most gyms around where I live don't have quality racks, the best you usually find is a rack with non-adjustable pins; better than nothing, but still not optimal.
I honestly wouldn't do any heavy squats without safeties, not worth it
When I was younger I used to do 4-5 sets of 350-375 lbs for anywhere from 6-12 reps. I will tell you right now the number one reason this happened and it isn't because he wasn't within the Squat rack or any of that. He had the bar resting forward on his neck, way too far forward. You place the bar on the rear of neck, really on top of the Shoulder Blades, that way encase you need to bail out for whatever reason the weight rolls off your back when you let go. He was so far forward in his placement of the bar that instead of rolling backwards harmlessly it rolled forward internally decapitating him.
When you initiate a Squat, first dig your Shoulder Blades and Traps into the Bar behind the top of your Neck. You should not be using the top of your spine to anchor the Bar, or like Justin have it even further forward on to your actual neck. Then before unracking once you have it snug in your upper back you should be Chin up looking at least 45 Degrees upwards towards the Ceiling. If it's your own Gym environment put something on the wall to fixate your eyes on that's above you. I used to stare at a Clock up high on the Wall. This prevents you from rounding forwards, and locks you into the proper position. When you squat you don't want your body folding like a lawn chair, you want to almost be sitting backwards into a chair. If you do this, when you start to fail a lift you can just let go and the weight will fall harmlessly to the floor.
The way to know you have it right is your position should be like going to sit on a chair, if your back is rounded forward and not arched like your going to sit in a chair your form is garbage. You should almost be falling backwards when you squat, that's why a good way to teach people to squat is to place a bench or seat below them on a smith machine, you should almost be going to sit down, watch him squat that weight again his back is fully rounded and the weight is forward on his neck, that's why it snaps his neck, no ones neck can support that much weight on it, you don't rest the bar on your actual neck.
This isn't an ego post or anything it's literally hoping I can help save someone from Injury, Squat used to be my specialty my body is built for it, my form was so good I was often asked to teach and help people squat. With that in mind, some people's frames just aren't good for Squatting, if that's the case don't do them, Squats are great but if done poorly can lead to severe Injuries because of the nature of the lift. Please be safe.
Good video
That was a real tragedy.. rip poor soul. Maybe front squats are safer when training solo
Excellent points made. I was a spotter at a Powerlifting America meet this spring and was center fielder when one guy missed a 706 lb squat. Luckily he was a skilled lifter and I also had 2 spotters on each side and it was fine. Support the lifter at the chest, not the bar. Another really dangerous point is the rerack. We had a couple close call at that point. It ain’t over until the bar is securely back in the uprights. Being a spotter was a lot more stressful and intense than competing but it was fun.
was hoping you would cover this tragic incident for your safety advice alone. been working with hand-me-down weights for years, and am going to be slowly getting into heavier work in the not too distant future. so, though an unpleasant subject, i appreciate you covering it.
Be safe brother
That's sad and crazy. Stupid risk. I only squat with dumbbells never like the weight on my neck delts . Totally preventable. Terrible 😔
I once asked my then six-year-old daughter to spot me on a bench press, and even though didn't quite work out because she freaked out when the lift started going wrong, she was better situated and better prepared to spot me on the lift than this guy's spotter was. It's that tragic and that preventable.
Eh...
@@HOORAY4BOOTAY5 ?
6 year old kid shouldn't be a spotter in my opinion
@@stevegeorge6880 Guuuh? Your 6 old daughter? 😥
@@HOORAY4BOOTAY5 it wasn't a Max effort but just a regular working set where I might need a little help on the last rep. It also wasn't so much weight that I couldn't roll It off in the event of a failure which is what I ultimately did.
Not to mention as I’ve heard others point out the spotter wasn’t spotting correctly. He was in possibility the worst mechanical position possible to help him with the weight. Typically the spotter has their arms underneath and over the chest to get a secure hold and be able to recruit larger muscles in the legs in the event of a failed lift, as opposed to trying to front raise the weight with your shoulders. Although proper spotting should be done in conjunction with the use of safety pins and inside the cage. And it appears this spotting technique was commonly done this way before this tragedy. I personally believe many even experienced lifters have misconceptions about spotting and safety and would benefit from reevaluating them even if you have been spotting for years.
Yea, I have no idea why you’d squat without safeties in place. It adds nothing to the movement and pretty much prevents any fatal accidents like this from happening.
100% agree. Squat spotters are just stupid, and I learned to bail out backward in my first year training intuitively because it just makes the most sense. You're so right, you put the guy behind you and yourself in danger...WHHHY?
A couple of months ago I tried a 125kg squat. First time I tried that weight. I wasn't able to do that, but the safety pins saved my life, because that's what they're meant to.
wtf man you said you wouldn't show it but it's like 4x in a row neck snap clips lol
Important video
I did weightlifting a couple years ago and one of the most important things to learn was how to bail out of a squat
Yes, it's quite common thing. And in weightlifting it's necessary to learn how to bail safely from the snatch and the clean and jerk. However, there is no reason that weightlifter have to do their heavy squat work outside the safety of the rack. *they just do* because that is part of the culture. But that's silly imo. I used to think it was cool when i was younger, but now I realize that is foolish.
The classic lifts are different because they cannot be done inside a rack to begin with, plus they are generally a little bit lighter.
@@EnkiriElite There's just no way to make a snatch or clean and jerk safe. You take on some risk when you decide to weightlift. That is a personal choice.
@@EnkiriElite I agree
@@cheeks7050 statistically WL is safer than PL
@@frankchen4229 Statistically your risk of having a bar drop on you from above goes up when your sport involves throwing a bar above yourself. Ask Kevin Ogar.
Unfortunately a lot of the influencers don't lead by example, i rarely see them squatting inside a rack with safeties (properly) set. Also, when you're doing low bar it can be quite challenging to bail the lift. Personally i always squat with safeties, it literally takes like 15 seconds to set up.
I've been training for years and ALWAYS adjust the safeties to the correct height BEFORE I do anything else. It's habitual at this point.
My personal protocol for safety on heavy compounds is as follows:
-If it is a weight I have 100% confidence in because it's rep work or a submax single with reps in the tank, I don't fret about spotting arms or spotters.
-If the weight I'm lifting is in the territory of PRs or just close enough that I'm nervous:
Bench Press - ask someone to spot me, tell them my expectations before we start so we are on the same page.
Squat - spotter arms/safeties ALWAYS. The kind of coordinated effort it takes to spot a failed squat is too much to expect of fellow gym-goers, especially as your numbers start to go up.
Deadlift - nothing. I've yet to get to the point where I am close to passing out personally. If that happens I'll start having a guy behind me in case I do pass out.
That's pretty much it. Proper load management takes care of 90% of the risk of lifting imo, and the other 10% where you're either lifting within reason of your abilities but it's still heavy enough to pose potential problems, or you're hitting a yolo ego lift, just be safe with preparations for the worst. There's nothing bad ass in being more hurt than you had to be by the weights.
Even with light weights, it's good to build good habits.
they executed him if you pay attention you can see both his spotters ensure the apply guillotine pressure onto his neck, the one behind him pushed off the bar while applying that pressure & the other covered on the left pushed it forward.
It’s so sad and so unnecessary. He didn’t need to die; safety is paramount when lifting weights. I’ve missed plenty of lifts, sometimes going for a pr, but sometimes even with a weight I’ve done before. Some days you’re just off in a way, it happens, but at least you’ll live to lift another day if you take the proper precautions. May this poor, young man rest in peace.
I pretty muched watched this without looking at the screen. I can't stand to watch stuff like that
sad af ... i watched an olympic competition where a lifter passed out with the bar overhead ... i thought that can't be safe, but she tried the lift again after 2 minutes and passed out again!
Even with light weights.
I've tipped forward once (causing the bar the be dumped forward and pulling me with it obviously) with 130Kg x3 Back squat, when my Max was 190Kg and I could do 140Kg x10 quite easily.
If I wasn't squatting with safeties, I too might have been terribly injured or killed. Most people wouldn't be taking their 65-70% weights seriously and might be lax with safety pins, but regardless of how strong you are, even 130Kg is more than enough to seriously injure you if things go wrong, or kill you.
A different time, I wanted to Bench 95Kg for 2 singles, at a time where I could Bench 100Kg x5. The unique thing was the new, wide grip. On the unrack, my wrists collapsed forward and back. Luckily, the bar landed on the rack, but had it not, my idiocy to think "95Kg is light weight for singles" could have easily killed me. I had neither safety pins nor a spotter. There's a story about a kid dying Benching 90Kg. It's plenty heavy to kill.
Even 10k can cause serious damage and people are lax with magnitudes higher
1:30 - so not only does his spotter not know anything about spotting, he doesn't even care to put on shoes that at least would help him with solid footing. Standing there in flip-flops like he could casually curl the weight if needed - just like he did when Justyn died. And to think that probably nothing would have happened if Justyn had just gone without the spotter and had just bailed. So tragic and unnecessary.
yea, i never understood why people stand outside the rack.
Thanks for making this video. Needed this wake up call to stop squatting outside of the rack because I’m confident in my bail technique. Also worth mentioning that people pass out from bracing all the time. Just another reason to stay in the rack with safeties set.
It looks like the spotter was in the way so the bar couldn’t roll off his back 😮😢
My gym doesn’t have a rack. So I just don’t ego lift, only pushing PRs on squat, or overhead lifts with small increments. I practice bailing and I only use a spotter on bench where I can’t bail myself. Scary injury
I will never understand not using pins in the rack, that's the point of having a rack.
I'm thinking rackable safety bar inside the rack?
You should have shown a video of you failing a squat with the pins set at correct height
I've dumped weight onto the safety bar before.
This is just Heart breaking :(
Never saw someone squatting with bar in his neck. And head down. Instead of on the traps. And looking up. With chest forward. Upwards. Very strange Technique. And the spotter is even weirder.
Alec, what are your thoughts about benching without safety pins? Is there a point beyond which the 'roll of shame' is no longer an acceptable backup plan?
What happens if you faint? Or tear a pec?
Benching without safety pins or a spotter is insanely irresponsible and causes many more deaths than Squatting without.
@@batataandshawarmalover never considered the pec tear possibility, good point
@@likemy I am in agreement with the other poster on this thread. Just as with squatting, sometimes unpredictable things can happen and the roll of shame is simply not a viable way to safely escape the bar.
Why not just tilt the bar and dump the weight? I've done that quite a few times before when I failed at bench, it's by far the easiest way to escape safely. It's pretty much effortless.
Very tragic, and preventable!
I made a video about this too bc It made me mad that so few people and news outlets reporting on this did not educate people to how safety bars on a power rack would have saved his life 100% The more people educating people to this the better! 💪. I am blown away by people that go out of their way to remove the safety arms completely before they squat or bench in a rack. Same thing for bench press which I highly educate for the use of a power rack vs spotters.
Yes multiple spotters doesn’t solve the problem of inadequate human reaction time when someone could instantly tear a quad fracture a bone etc and cause them to fall at the speed of gravity.
It's all vanity. Some people think the look cooler if they have their friends spot them instead.
@@nerychristian yes I think you’re spot on.
RIP Justyn Vicky RIP my brother 🙏
Bro i jus saw that shit an wow...gym motivation just gone.......😢put your egos away..that kid shoulda had multiple spotters omg
I Back Squat and Barbell Bench at home, but didn't do so until I had a squat rack. For me, a good habit is to double check the height by letting the first warm-up rep down onto the safeties, and lifting that rep from the pins. I then use a brief pause an inch above the pins for taking internal inventory checking that the joints are properly mobile and all the supporting and stabilizing musculature is active. I try to lightly tap the safeties on subsequent reps. This gives consistent depth. It also gives feedback on balance when one side is making contact first. To get a faster stretch/shortening cycle I lower the pins by one and only one click and make the hole just above that. In my experience safeties are a great skill acquisition tool. Using them to dial in technique before a heavy lift might be a good idea. Every warmup rep is a practice rep.
Using safeties to become a better lifter has been good insurance for health.
Even with safeties, for Bench Press I leave the collars off to facilitate plate dumping. In a gym with no safeties I use dumbbells, not a barbell. I don't Incline BB Bench with my neck above the safeties. Dumbbells are safer here.
Didn't mean to write a novel, but I'm 65 years old and would like share a bit of what's kept me going 52 years after I started.
Justin, rest in peace.
This is a *power rack* aka squat cage, not a squat rack.
A squat rack is something completely different, and may or may not help to prevent fatal accidents like this, depending on whether it's the kind with inbuilt safeties or not.
I was 16-17 years old and the gym that i train didnt have squat rack back then(dont know about present). So I was loading the bar at the bench press, take it from there and walk out all the way at the edge of the bench. Guess what, i failed and i fell over with the bar on my neck through the bench and stuck my head between the bench and the bar. Luckily i wasnt as strong and it was only 90 kg so i could throw it off. But oh boy my life flashed before my eyes and i thought at best i will break my nose. Find a better gym, use a rack, and be safe guys. It could be really catastrophic.
Extremely sobering.
"I'm not gonna show the actual video I'm gonna cut it just before it ends even though I've showed most of it already."
Wow what a moral high ground 😂 Well done 👏👏
you're not welcome on my channel
Spotters on squats are useless. Use spotter arms with a rack that's atleast not walmart grade. then maybe you might get spotters, one on each side, not just a guy behind you that's literally able to do nothing if the guy he's spotting has real weight on the bar, without someone still getting injured. Stay safe guys. Rip
what's the spotter even gonna do if the squat goes wrong? gorilla world record biceps curl it?
@@clausiusclapeyron7873 if you are not squatting heavy, the spotter can just hug you under the arms and pull you up, helping you to stand up. It's somewhat useful if you like to finish your session by getting to a failure and beyond with lightweight drop sets.
@@clausiusclapeyron7873an experienced/strong spotter can hug under your arms and provide 100-200lbs of Push. But not more.
When he was pinned at the bottom, an experienced spotter might have been able to Rack Pull the bar off his back, sort of like a Shrug.
When I was new to lifting, it was hard to figure out where to set the safeties bars. It either felt like it prevented me from doing deep enough OR that I would have to bail anyway. Someone making or referencing a video on that would be appreciated for newer lifters.
A part of me also thinks after you get to your bodyweight squat for reps, and unless you're a powerlifter, this is your life and career, or you REALLY care about telling people your numbers, just do hack squats and smith machine squats. That maximizes safety for the recreational lifter. And safety is paramount and freedom from injury is the POINT of lifting.
You also have to set the safeties on Smith Machine.
Same with Hack Squats and Leg Press. Many people get injured because they don't know how to exit after a failed rep.
If it's preventing you from doing squats deep enough just put them a bit lower and then when you fail a rep, just lower yourself (like you would during a rep) and then lean forward and let yourself fall forward and the bar will hit the safeties properly
I do everything in my power rack. Shrugs, finger curls, it doesn’t matter how small the movement is.
I can vividly remember back when I was a teenager and I was doing military press in my parent’s garage with no rack. I suddenly felt extremely light headed as the weight was above my head and felt like I was going to pass out. After that, I stopped doing standing presses until I got a rack.
Any barbell movement that CAN be done in a rack, SHOULD be done in a rack. I hope more fitness professionals speak up about this, excellent video.
I 100% believe it was the spotters fault.
Like watching that video the fucking spotter killed him.... He's not letting the bar roll back!!! He blocked it! And basically forced the fucking bar on his neck!!!!! Spotter should go to jail for SURE
In powerlifting comps the safety bata should be mandatory. It can do a better job than any spoter for squats
I watched some young guys push their 1rm squats in a rack without the safeties in. One of the guys got stuck at the bottom and fell over backwards. Spotter couldn't do a thing. Pretty sure the dude hit his neck on the bar when he fell over...thankfully wasn't seriously injured. I helped them rack the bar and suggested they should use safeties (before they quickly shirked out of the gym). 😅
That has happened to me before. But I was doing squats at home, using a heavier weight than usual. I only had those cheap squat stands with no safety bars. I got stuck at the bottom with around 300lbs. I thought I was going to die. I could feel the pressure on my neck. But luckily I was able to throw the bar back. But the momentum also threw me back, and I hit my neck on the bar. I kind of fractured the base of my skull.
@@nerychristian Ouch!
I love my safety cage
Fully agree, any lifts that are close to max in weight or are max effort should always be done in the rack. Other sets should be as well, as even if you can bail or are stopping prior to failure, there’s a possibility for a slip, or a strain to occur mid lift, regardless of intensity, and yes falling with 135lbs on your back can suck.
I will go even further and say that you simply cannot push to true maximal intensity unless you know you have the failsafe safeties in place. There will always be reservations if you are scared about what might happen in the event of a miss.
When personal training I would teach people how to fail squat or bench
I don’t want to be the annoying guy that brings up high bar squatting in a situation like this, but here we go. This bail shows that you need to know how to bail by shooting the hips forward
I was kinda suprised if anyone knows who "goob" is he was talking about how to spot squats better instead of saying just to squat in power rack
…you literally showed the minute his neck snapped at 1:11 🥴
No, I cut out the majority. I included what I felt was needed for context.
i wished i hadnt watch that. the spotter tho, he literally push it front instead let it roll back. wtf
I'm convinced. Going to start using the safety straps on the monolift that I squat in.
The. Eat way to prevent it is NOT BEING STUPID!!!!! Lift the weights you can. Period.
Working out at home, I used to bail occasionally. However, my squat rack was one of the best purchases ever. One of the first things I noticed was that I could squat in better form on my last reps because I wasn't positioning myself in case I had to bail or squat-morning the bar in order to get it up by any means. Now, I can go to failure with confidence and I drop the bar on the rack all the time with Squats and Front Squats.
100% agree with your ideas on powerlifting. Someone needs to sue the federations to force them to use cages. As a casual viewer, even I have seen plenty of close calls with incredible weights.
Anyway, great video and great warning for the young guys out there. It sucks that a person had to die for us to address this topic. Hopefully, gyms and lifting federations at least learn from this.
What’s the point of back spotters in a squat anyways? They almost certainly can’t help from that position. At the very least they’re a nuisance. It this case, a fatal one. Safeties and/or dump the bar behind.
Easy. Squat in a squat rack with the pins set at the right height to take the Barbell if you fail.
Front squats and zercher squats are inherently safer and not really liable to crush the lifter to death like a back squat. Whether you fall forward (as is natural) or backwards (if you faint for example) the bar isn't in place to pin the spine and break the neck.
More like a deadlift than a backsquat despite being higher up the body because the natural result of a missed lift is it falling to the ground rather than upon the lifter.
Bench and squat: start with the empty bar, and touch the bar to the spotters. Every time, no exceptions
I'm curious to figure out if the spotter can be sued for manslaughter by the family...
That would not be appropriate imo, and would set a reckless precedent. That said they weren't in the US so I don't know how other countries tend to work in that regard.
@@EnkiriElite well it was involuntary, no doubt, but it was extremely negligent. Perhaps criminally so, but I'm not a lawyer and as you said, it also depends on regional laws and jurisdictions.
@@michaellupu2080 no offense to the deceased, but he was fully complicit in what took place. I dibt know the law either and I don't always agree with it. In this case, it would be immoral to punish the spotter for a mistake they were both party to.
@@EnkiriEliteI've come up with an analogy, trying to figure this situation out: imagine a car being driven by a guy who doesn't wear his seatbelt. His buddy is sitting next to him. The driver drives too fast. Suddenly the car reaches an abrupt left turn. The driver tried to swerve the car towards the left, and his buddy, for fear for his own life, tries to help, grabs onto the steering wheel, the driver loses control of the car and crashs; the driver is mortally wounded.
Driving is an inherently dangerous activity, like squating, and driving without a seatbelt (i.e. safeties) and fast (i.e. heavy) makes the activity even more dangerous, likely fatal in a crash.
It's the driver's fault he did not take the proper measures to avoid risk, I agree, but it's hard to argue that the passanger didn't have anything to do with how this metaphorical situation turned out.
No need to make powerlifters squat to pins, but custom pin depth measurement would be ideal.
So IPF has not enough means to hire spotters strong enough to do the job in case of a missed lift? I would sue IPF if that’s the case.
justin has just as much blame as his spotter ffs 🤦🏽♀️
NEVER use one spotter from the rear when squatting heavy. That spotter caused the accident. I see the same guy spotting him the same way in other clips. The spotter is totally clueless and uses a curl grip and holds on to the bar while Justyn squats ..totally stupid and dangerous. For heavy squats use 2 side spotters or the safety rails.
That spotter should feel guilty about Justin's death. Apparently he's Justin's coach too, which makes him all the more liable.
Wow. Wake up call.
Is that not the actual footage of the video in the initial 15 seconds?
Minus the actual accident. His neck bends in a way that it shouldn't bend.
@@EnkiriEliteyou can still see his neck bend a fair bit in the clip you posted
Well he has to show what to not do bro
@@manuag3886as the other poster noted, you at a minimum need the context of justyn falling over and being stuck under the bar for the video to make sense.