Having a spotter

It’s well-documented that training in front of people tends to improve strength performance [1, 2]. This likely is because of a concept known as the “audience effect” [3]. In the case of strength training, when people lift in front of an audience, they seem to perform better.
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But luckily, you don’t have to arrange an entire audience for your next bench press Personal Record. A recent study found that something as simple as having a spotter watching you perform the bench press enhances bench press strength [3]. The participants of this study also felt more confident going into the bench press when they were assigned a spotter.
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You may have had this experience before yourself as well. Having someone to spot you just in case something goes wrong makes the lift feel safer and maybe push for those extra 1-2 reps. Just make sure it’s a good spotter that doesn’t do all the lifting for you lol.
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References:
1. PMID: 12741867
2. PMID: 27182362
3. PMID: 29590086