Why is my bench so shaky

[Calipso]

Didn't get enough sleep last night but aside from that everything was ok

This is a back off set with 185 after doing 220x4 and I can't help but feel like I'm doing horribly wrong here. Granted this was a bad workout but wow I never realized that my form was that ugly especially on the way up.

Considering cutting back on weight and doing a SSesque program

http://youtu.be/AHP_ZzoVo-w

[0001Delta]

Your form looks ok to me brother. Don't sweat it if you feel shaky, perfecting the bench comes with time.

What bar are you using?

[Imprezivr6]

I think it is multi faceted. That bench looks low. I would try a few things and see what works out best.

1. Drive your heels down. You can set your feet in the same position, but try and actively touch your heels to the floor.

2. You could try and widen your feet, this will create a more stable base. Those low, narrow benches make footing tough, so widening it out will help.

3. you can move your feet forward slightly so you are flat footed.

4. Take a BIG ass breath right before you unrack, tighten your abs, and squeeze your glutes.

You have an overall lack of tightness. I am really thinking it is highly related to your lower body, but getting tight overall is key.

What are you thinking mentally, with regards to your legs? I like to use the cue of trying to push yourself off the edge of the bench(backwards). This will typically create a nice solid "base" between your upper back, and where your ass touches the bench.

HTH-

[53greystreet]

From that angle your bar path looks pretty good but as Imprez pointed out, overall lack of tightness. Watch the "so you think you can bench series" on EFS, which I think are linked in the stickies. That low bench is certainly not doing you any favors. I do not know how anyone benches on those low shitty benches. I have been very spoiled by my EFS bench.

[MyTMouse]

I think it is multi faceted. That bench looks low. I would try a few things and see what works out best.

1. Drive your heels down. You can set your feet in the same position, but try and actively touch your heels to the floor.

2. You could try and widen your feet, this will create a more stable base. Those low, narrow benches make footing tough, so widening it out will help.

3. you can move your feet forward slightly so you are flat footed.

4. Take a BIG ass breath right before you unrack, tighten your abs, and squeeze your glutes.

You have an overall lack of tightness. I am really thinking it is highly related to your lower body, but getting tight overall is key.

What are you thinking mentally, with regards to your legs? I like to use the cue of trying to push yourself off the edge of the bench(backwards). This will typically create a nice solid "base" between your upper back, and where your ass touches the bench.

HTH-

I agree very strongly with all of the above here. I used to have similar problems, especially using those low, narrow benches that we find so often in gyms these days.

I want to also add a few things that helped me personally. They may be worth a try for you.

1. With very light weight, warm up the joints used in the movement independently (elbows, and shoulders, and maybe even your wrists if they lack flexibility), before you ever even touch the bench for a "warm up set". Sometimes what keeps us from "getting tight" like the guys are saying is that we in subtle fashion "squirm" to make up for flexibility issues in the joints.

2. Also, what worked for me was taking my grip out just a bit wider. That helped me feel more stable. I still bench wide these days, but I have worked with clients and other lifters that went out wide to get comfortable, and then worked their way back to a closer grip because they could generate more power with that grip. So try going wide and getting more comfortable and stable with the movement, and then work your grip back in closer if you find that you can push more that way.

There are lots of experienced lifters here, so if our suggestions dont work, I'm sure someone will approach with more.

[Calipso]

Your form looks ok to me brother. Don't sweat it if you feel shaky, perfecting the bench comes with time.

What bar are you using?

I have no idea but out of all the bars my gym has i like this one the best for any barbell lift.

I think it is multi faceted. That bench looks low. I would try a few things and see what works out best.

1. Drive your heels down. You can set your feet in the same position, but try and actively touch your heels to the floor.

2. You could try and widen your feet, this will create a more stable base. Those low, narrow benches make footing tough, so widening it out will help.

3. you can move your feet forward slightly so you are flat footed.

4. Take a BIG ass breath right before you unrack, tighten your abs, and squeeze your glutes.

You have an overall lack of tightness. I am really thinking it is highly related to your lower body, but getting tight overall is key.

What are you thinking mentally, with regards to your legs? I like to use the cue of trying to push yourself off the edge of the bench(backwards). This will typically create a nice solid "base" between your upper back, and where your ass touches the bench.

HTH-

Im actually not thinking anything with regards to legs until the bar touches my chest and I'm pushing it back up.. kinda thinking about pushing into the ground as hard as possible to get some energy moving into the bar? Im going to film again on thursday with a lighter weight for reps and see how that goes... But i do see why you think that its lower body related since the upper body seems ok.

From that angle your bar path looks pretty good but as Imprez pointed out, overall lack of tightness. Watch the "so you think you can bench series" on EFS, which I think are linked in the stickies. That low bench is certainly not doing you any favors. I do not know how anyone benches on those low shitty benches. I have been very spoiled by my EFS bench.

I live about 30 minutes away from ironsport gym... i might pick up a membership there since almost all of their equipment is from EFS.

I agree very strongly with all of the above here. I used to have similar problems, especially using those low, narrow benches that we find so often in gyms these days.

I want to also add a few things that helped me personally. They may be worth a try for you.

1. With very light weight, warm up the joints used in the movement independently (elbows, and shoulders, and maybe even your wrists if they lack flexibility), before you ever even touch the bench for a "warm up set". Sometimes what keeps us from "getting tight" like the guys are saying is that we in subtle fashion "squirm" to make up for flexibility issues in the joints.

2. Also, what worked for me was taking my grip out just a bit wider. That helped me feel more stable. I still bench wide these days, but I have worked with clients and other lifters that went out wide to get comfortable, and then worked their way back to a closer grip because they could generate more power with that grip. So try going wide and getting more comfortable and stable with the movement, and then work your grip back in closer if you find that you can push more that way.

There are lots of experienced lifters here, so if our suggestions dont work, I'm sure someone will approach with more.

How wide would you suggest? I'm currently going pinkies on rings, and it took quite a bit of effort to work up to that.

[53greystreet]

Go to Ironsport, it would be worth commuting 5x that long. Finding real gyms these days is difficult and rare, living that close to Ironsport is a goldmine

[Imprezivr6]

Go to Ironsport, it would be worth commuting 5x that long. Finding real gyms these days is difficult and rare, living that close to Ironsport is a goldmine

For real. I drive about 30 min to go to my gym, and I have an LA fitness 1 mile from my house..lol

Im actually not thinking anything with regards to legs until the bar touches my chest and I'm pushing it back up.. kinda thinking about pushing into the ground as hard as possible to get some energy moving into the bar? Im going to film again on thursday with a lighter weight for reps and see how that goes... But i do see why you think that its lower body related since the upper body seems ok.




How wide would you suggest? I'm currently going pinkies on rings, and it took quite a bit of effort to work up to that.

You should be thinking something. It should be part of your mental checklist as you set up. The setup is a pretty personal thing and we all will build our own little routine, but I would get up on your traps/set your shoulders, get nice and tight in the upper body, then drive your feet into the ground. Again, instead of thinking through the floor, think about pushing back like you are trying to push yourself off the bench. This backward force, with the fact your shoulders are plated, will make your body rigid. Then BIG BREATH, flex abs, and lift off. You might have to widen your feet a bit as well on this low bench.

I personally also try and use one breath on 5 reps an under, which will take some time to be able to do, but try and hold your breath for 2-3 reps or so to start. This will help maintain tightness.

As for grip width, it is hard to use the rings as a universal guide because most of the commercial gym bars I have seen, the rings are spaced differently than a power bar. Pinkies on rings is a decent grip width for a raw bencher honestly, pending the rings are the same distance apart as say a texas PB.

[rainjack]

I'm needing and EFS bench for my home gym to make it 100% EliteFTS equipped. I'm not bragging. Wait. Yes I am.

[rainjack]

Like others have said - try to drive your heels down through the floor, and stay tight. Not just your legs and abs, but your lats as well. Your grip should be trying to pull the bar apart from the middle out. This will tighten your lats.

I am by no means an accomplished bencher. Hell, I'm not even a decent bencher. I attended a Learn To Train Seminar and what I wrote is what Dave Tate was yelling at me. I converted to p90X the next week.

[RobbHensel]

Also.if you are shaky I think its also CNS relayed because I shake like hell when I get burnt out

[nexa]

You turd you even had Steve help your bench out at one point in 2012. Go there and learn!

[MyTMouse]

Yes, benching width is subjective. On standard olympic bars, I end up with my middle finger or index finger on the rings, depending on how I get comfortable that day. But that varies with my bodyweight, and I've very broad across the shoulders. You may already be out as wide as you can be and still be comfortable. I just wanted to give you one more avenue to explore.

[trulysmoked]

you definitely need to be tighter, i'm not sure if you have powerlifting or bodybuilding goals but tightness is important either way. i'm going to disagree with a few of the previous posters about moving your foot placement wider or forward and am going to suggest that you bring them back under you, creating a greater angle between your heel and the ground. i train on a low bench like the one in your video and it works great for me. but about the shakiness, i've found that whenever i give 100%, like nothing left in me on my bench sets with a lot of leg drive, i am shaking on any pressing movements after it so i wouldn't really say its anything abnormal. i just take it as a sign that i'm doing something right.

while i found dave tate's how to bench series helpful, this little gem is the one that helped me more:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVSxpx6X53Y[/YOUTUBE]

only thing i've changed is putting my feet narrower underneath me like dave tate had in his how to bench series, other than that its great.

edit: after rewatching the video the other thing i've changed is that i press to about between my nipple line and bottom of my sternum. also i realized i forgot to answer the part about hand position when benching, grab the bar at a position where on both sides of your arm in relation to the bar its a 90 degree angle. your arms should be 100% straight up when you bring the bar down to where you want it to be, thats how you figure out hand position. if you have to push your elbows out to touch the bar to where you want to touch it, too narrow. if you have to over tuck your elbows to touch, too wide. your elbows should be able to come straight down and straight up (minus a bit of flare if you're having trouble locking it out). when your wrists and elbows are in line all the way throughout the movement, you're generating the most power to push that bar back up.

[Calipso]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOFb...ature=youtu.be

Tired to change my setup a little bit according to the so you think you can bench videos

This felt a little better but my feet felt really awkward