A Free-Spotter Review

Up until I saw a review by Matt Smith on Powerlifting Watch, I had never heard of the Free Spotter free weight self spotting system. Sherman Gallay made a post asking if there were gyms out there that would like to try one out. I thought, this would be something my gym could field test rather easily and I would give him a straight forward review of his product. He e-mailed me back saying a Free-spotter was on its way.

When I got it, I must admit, I was very skeptical. It, of course, came unassembled and I thought to myself, this will be a total pain to put together but, the directions were clear and easy to follow and I put it together in a very short period of time.

I tied the guide ropes to the top of my power rack as directed using a bowline knot. I tied the loop on the bowline big enough so it would let me move the ropes on the rack brace where I needed it. This is especially handy when putting the spotter away when the rack needs to be in use for something else.

Now on to the testing. I squatted for the first run. I put 315 on the bar and did a few reps. The rope, with the weights installed, never got in my way like I was concerned they would. After a couple of reps, I stopped half way down with a start and released my grip on the spotter and it stopped the weight cold. I went on to do decline presses, seated military presses and bench presses. The unit work without issue and was very smooth. The biggest test was to see just how much weight I could put on it. I put the bar down to waist level and left it free floating. While this made it difficult initially to load, I wanted to not only put the stress on the free spotter with all the weight I intended to load but, see what would happen with an uneven load just in case. I started with 100’s on each side and then on with 45’s. I would put two 45’s on each side at a time. I did this until I had 785 loaded and then went to 35’s. I loaded 3 pairs and a pair of 2.5’s and let it hang. I then unloaded the weight and there was never an issue. The unit held the weight no problem.

The great news is, there is never a reason anyone would need to train with a grand while training alone. The Free-spotter more than proved to me that is was more than a viable piece of gym equipment that was readily able to handle anything thrown at it. Anyone that has to train alone or a gym that needs a solid performing machine, this is the piece of gear for you. You do not have the range of motion restrictions of a Smith Machine that cost a great deal more. I highly recommend this piece of equipment.

Wade Johnson

Here are a few links of the Free-Spotter in use as I was testing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvqFv9rbvkk
Incline

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAz0qpRAT8Y
Squat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-_O-YUCbnA
Decline

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0th0D33XGGc
Put away

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY0RvolJXQQ
Load