Speediance Spotter Modes Tested: The One You Should Actually Use

The Post That Started This

Someone in the Speediance community mentioned they do drop sets by manually turning the ring dial mid-set — adjusting the weight as they go. Then they bought the new Bluetooth handles and realized those handles can't adjust weight. No dial. Just on/off. They were disappointed.

That inspired me to actually test the spotter modes on this machine. I'd never used them. I keep them turned off because the way I train doesn't need them. But I wanted to see what they actually do, especially for drop sets.

Here's what I found.

The Safety Story That Nobody Talks About

Before I get into the spotter modes, I need to tell you about the real safety issue — the one that actually hurts people.

I got into a debate online with someone who said free weights are safer than these machines. Their argument: they had a spotter, and free weights are safer with a spotter.

But here's what happened to me with free weights. I was alone in my basement. No spotter. I had 350 pounds on my back doing quarter squats — just getting used to the load, not doing real squats. I went to re-rack, missed the left pin, clipped it, and the weight came down.

I had safety catches. The catches caught the weight. But 350 pounds hitting the catch snapped the bar like a twig. The catch broke. My neck was nowhere near it, thank god. But I realized: I was alone, with 350 pounds on my back, and if anything had gone differently, I could have been seriously hurt.

That person who argued free weights are safer? They maxed out on squats with no spotter mode turned on, no ring clip, facing the wrong direction — and got hurt. They did everything wrong that I learned to do right.

The machine is safer than free weights when you don't have a spotter. Period.

The Attachment Safety Technique

Here's the thing that actually causes injuries on these machines — and it happened to someone who posted about it. They brought the attachment up to them to clip it in. Instead of bringing themselves down to the machine.

I never do this. Here's what I do instead:

When I'm attaching the bar to the cable, I kneel down. I put my knee on the bar. I bring the attachment UP to the bar and clip it in. I don't bring the bar down to me.

Why? Because if I accidentally hit the button while I'm attaching it, the cable comes up fast. If that cable is at 260 pounds and it's headed toward my face — that's a serious injury. I've seen it happen.

Same with the handles. Even though there's less danger, same rule applies. Bring yourself to the machine. Don't bring the machine to you.

I know it sounds overly cautious. But I've made every dumb mistake possible with lifting apparatus. This is the one I learned to avoid.

Spotter Mode 1 vs Spotter Mode 2

Now let's get into the modes themselves.

**Spotter Mode 1:** Sets your next rep to the weight of your prior rep. If it kicks in, it lowers the weight — but only by small increments. It won't lower it fast enough to get a real drop set effect. And it won't turn the weight off even when you're pinned.

I tested this. I held the bar at failure. It just held the weight there. Wouldn't drop it. Wouldn't turn it off. It just held me there, stuck.

**Spotter Mode 2:** This is the one you want. It progressively drops the weight as you hold it. If you can't do another rep, it starts lowering. Hold longer, it lowers more. Keep holding, it drops to the minimum weight — around 16 pounds.

That's what you want in a drop set. That's what you want as a safety feature.

The Drop Set Test

I set up a shoulder press workout for the test. Weight: 15 pounds. Reps: 20. This guaranteed failure — especially at shoulder press, which I don't love and isn't my strongest lift.

Here's what happened with Spotter Mode 2:

- Did 5 reps at 15 pounds

- Started struggling

- Held the bar — it dropped to 90 pounds

- Did more reps

- Held again — dropped to 58 pounds

- Kept going — dropped to 50, then 40s

It was a true drop set. The machine kept reducing the weight as I held it, letting me get more reps than I could have otherwise.

Why I Don't Use Drop Sets

Here's my honest take: drop sets have a massive fatigue cost. They're grueling. After doing them, I was less inspired to do my workouts. The 5-10% hypertrophy gain isn't worth it if it makes you skip sessions.

I tried drop sets on Tonal when they launched that feature. I quit after a week. The fatigue wasn't worth it. I prefer steady progressive overload with consistent volume over time.

Also: you can't track drop sets. The machine shows total volume for the set, but it doesn't show when the drops happened or how many reps you did at each weight level. That's important data for understanding your training. Without it, you're flying blind.

The Real Safety Lesson

If you take one thing from this post, let it be this:

**Face the machine whenever possible.** On exercises like back squats, overhead press, anything where you can face the machine — do it. There's a big button on the screen that can turn the weight off instantly. If you're facing away from the machine, you can't reach it.

The person who got hurt on their squat? They were facing away from the machine. They had no way to turn it off. They had no ring clip. They had no spotter mode on. They did everything wrong.

Turn on Spotter Mode 2 if you want an automatic safety net. Face the machine. Bring yourself to the attachment. These machines are way safer than free weights when you train alone — but only if you use them correctly.