Starting out - do you need a spotter?

[Howdidthathappen1]

So I've previously dabbled a bit in the weights section in the gym and now I've signed up to a 'learn to lift' course with a pt who is very hench!
During the initial chat she mentioned that in order to continue with weights you need to have a spotter with you everytime for safety and to check your form.
Is this true!?? I get that if you try too heavy too quick you could get into bother but I don't have a gym buddy who I can go with all the time. My gym doesn't have one of those boxes with the safety bar for doing heavy squats and she seemed to be pushing that I need to join the one she is at.

Oh and thanks for any beginner tips offered!!?!

I have been doing a learn to lift course on and off since February (mostly off due to the lockdowns, but I got enough sessions in to be comfortable with the form. Also my PT is prepared to check my form over Zoom or I send videos for him to check). I deadlift and use a squat rack without a spotter. I will front squat without a spotter but will not back squat unless I have either a spotter or a rack. I will press overhead without a spotter but only weights I am totally sure I can do easily. In fact I wouldn't attempt any kind of PB unsupervised except for a deadlift.

I'm not sure a gym buddy would add much unless they knew a bit about weights, to be honest.

Basically same as Irked

Pay attention to your firm and don't increase too much too soon

I work with a PT, but he always encourages me to work out on my own. I don't bench press, but I squat & deadlift (and boy has this week been great - back to lifting the heavy shit!)

I feel pretty safe on my own with deadlifts - so I train at around 75% of my 1 RPM (so around 60-70 kg). Back squats I tend to train on my own a bit lighter at most 40kg which is around 2 thirds of my 1RPM. I use a squat rack, and go slowly & carefully & feel quite safe.

But I've spent a lot of time with a trainer who has an eagle eye for technique. I like that - if I focus on my technique properly , I can lift quite heavy.

Lift light to get the movement right and only when you are certain of proper technique, go heavier.
It is easy to compensate with your back, neck, elbows and you can hurt yourself. Use a mirror, and if none available where you are in the gym, use your phone to record yourself and check the video after one repetition.

Thanks all. The gym im at doesnt seem to have a squat rack - its a v cheap chain gym- which is the thing that concerns me. Maybe I'll need to look around others after Christmas.

I personally don't use a smith machine nor a squat rack. I prefer free weight, dumbbells or barbell
The movement is more natural and more challenging, while being softer on joints. It is a matter of preference, but you don't need one, is what I am trying to say

I once tried a Smith machine and really did not like it - it put me in an unnatural position. But a squat rack means you can squat between two lower bars which will catch or hold the barbell if you fail or slip in a squat. I have needed that once or twice, when back squatting over 60kg.

Ah ok. I thought a squat rack would be safer. I know from previous experience a Smith rack definitely doesn't work for me.
I'll work through the course in the new year and will probably be back with more questions!

What do you call a "squat rack" ? I use a stand on which I load the barbell and then move away from. And this even the cheap as chips gym will have one. You can't not have one.
Then you have the cage type, called power rack or half rack where you perform the exercise in it.
Here is a picture

@LeGrandBleu - not even cheap as chips gyms will necessarily have any kind of rack/stand for a bar. My gym is pretty high end but the demographic using it means that it really does not cater for much in the way of free weights. We finally got a half rack and one olympic bar just before the first lock down. The only reason I can (sometimes) get hold of bumper plates for deadlifts from the floor is because one of the PTs has brought his own in but they are kept locked away unless you ask nicely to borrow them.

I am not (yet) able to get the bar off my back without using a stand or rack, hence why I won't back squat without some sort of equipment.

I hate Smith machines for anything like their intended purpose. The only thing I use them for is inverted rows and incline press ups. But they're very good for those.