Strength aficionados tend to form close bonds, and it’s tough to get closer than your powerlifting crew; after all, we need spotters for those heavy squats and bench presses, right?
And when you go REALLY heavy, you need more than one spotter at your back — or even one at either side. So when champion powerlifter Dmitriy Inzarkin worked up to 365 kilograms in training recently, he knew he needed five strong spotters. The fact that one of those spotters had just come out of the shower was no excuse to skirt safe lifting, which led to one of the funnier in-gym scenes we’ve seen in recent months.
Image: Dmitriy Inzarkin
Take a look at the spotter to Dmitriy’s righthand side (toward the left of the frame looking at the video).
There’s raw powerlifting, then there’s raw spotting — and this guy has it nailed.
The IPF actually reposted the video on their own account to poke light fun at it. It shows how lifters are there when their friends need it most — even if there’s not even time to towel off.
From the IPF Instagram account:
Dimitry Inzarkin of Russia squats 365kg in preparation for the #ipf Open World Championships.
How committed is your spotting crew? Dimitry’s side spotter is fresh out of the shower here. Now THAT is committment. [sic]