UNEVEN BENCH PRESS? Don't know what's causing it. PLEASE HELP

Uneven bench press. ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM.?! It basically affects every pushing exercise and its extremely frustrating.

[pasaerc]

100% respect. I had the exact same issue. Tried fixing it for a couple months. Then found a vid on pretending to pull the bar apart as you press... it forces you to keep your shoulder blades more evenly retracted. I saw instant improvement. Squeeze the hell out of the bar, and pretend you're trying to bend it. It has the side effect of straightening out your wrists too, which activates the triceps more.

[rrurban]

This is caused from scapula winging on one side, specifically a weak infraspinatus and anterior seratus. Search YouTube for intraspinatus and anterior seratus exercises. One of your shoulders isnt extending out enough when you lay flat, and if you pay attention the front delt on the weak side isnt getting worked likenthe other side and the triceps on the weak side will be overdeveloped compared to the strong side

[Stekaren]

can be many factors. here are the common reasons;
1. your hand grip on the bar is not parallell
2. the bar is not equally straight when you lift it off the platform, check with your fingers the distance outside of the barbell to the left and right so it is in the center of the platform
3. do not use reference point in the ceiling because if it is not straight it will cause you to adapt to the ceilings angle which will make your body shift to a side on the bench ( you want to be lying straight on the bench evenly on both sides)

if you have none of these problems, then it is most likely:
1. you are locking your shoulderblades unevenly. think about it. if you lock your left and right shoulderblade but you lock your left shoulderblade more than the right due to mentality issue (you have improper mental technique, bad habit which you think is right but is not, hard to break habit), then your right arm will be "longer" than your left arm and therefore you will shift the weight to the left side of your body and the barbell will be diagonally angled to the left.
2. you are releasing one of the shoulderblade after you move the barbell of the platform which will in result in an uneven shoulderblade locking and make your barbell non linear and shift diagonally to one side.

3. AN ISSUE CAUSING THE ABOVE can be that one shoulder blade is tighter than the other making it shorter, but it should not be a problem IF you are locking your shoulder blades equally. think about it, if you are tighter on left shoulderblade than right , you can still lock them (right shoulderblade can be locked equally as much and follow the tight left shoulder blade).

focus on stretching the tight shoulderblade (left or right)

IF YOU DONT HAVE THESE PROBLEMS (WHICH I DOUBT REALLY HARD)
Strong strong strong triceps + chest + shoulder on left side
and
very very very underdeveloped triceps+ chest + shoulder on right side, focus on that side. do not to this if all of the other shit mentioned above are not tested.

HOW TO FIX THIS SHIT:

1. FLOOR PRESS. dont focus on weights. start with the barbell only. lock the shoulderblades then move the barbell. now go slowly up and down and try to focus on landing with your elbow simultaneously on the ground, when you do that, you know that the barbell is straight and not shifting diagonally to one side like in the video. train on this and film your progress. then increase weights and try on a regular bench press platform


I wish you good luck reading this. I had to do my research and my knowledge in biomechanics helped me understand this shit faster. good luck guys!

[jayz]

I have this exact problem.. It's so frustrating because my right arm always rises higher and comes down sooner. It almost makes it seem like the right side of my body is stronger but it's the total opposite... The left pec and tricep are stronger and bigger. It pretty much ruins everything, can't do pushups or bench press... It even happens with dumbbells. The right always goes farther up... I am also a pretty skinny guy so I feel like it's holding me back a lot. It's so frustrating especially the next day when my left pec is sore and the right feels like it wasn't worked at all.... I've seen people start weight lifting way after me get results faster when i'm here basically stuck in the beginning because I can't even bench correctly.

[edoardopuglisi]

You probably have my same problem bro. I played guitar for 8 years and my right scapula it's f*cked up, always tends to rotate internally. When I press in the lockout I tend to internally rotate my right scapula and that's terrible to see and to feel. Some guys told me to stretch the pecs with pull-aparts, also reinforcing the upper back (it should lock your scapulas). I don't know if this works, but I'll share it anyway hoping it can help.

[krisnatantra]

I have the same problem, i have a lot of muscle imbalances. My left traps is bigger than my right, my left chest is bigger than my right chest, and so on. I'm not even a left handed. So i went to the doctor, i have a scoliosis, so yeah, that is my story and still happening right now.

[omardz]

Uneven lats may cause this try front and back lat spread posing pictures and see if you have a dominant side try to even it out.

[silverbackfitnesspl]

Have exactly the same, it's getting better through physio but focus on your rotator cuff muscles. For me personal most of the movements I initiated with my left trap cause I didn't felt my rotator cuff muscles maybe that could be your problem too and if so focus on the serratus muscle it keeps your shoulder blade down

[average]

my bench press look extacly the same, i think i have the same problem. how are you know? how do You feel with dumbbells? thx

[hernancortes]

same problem but the left side is higher than the right

[FaZeShotty]

I sprained my right arm years ago and it never healed right so now it looks kinda uneven with my left arm. So that fucks me up when I’m doing bench press. Sometimes I do get in normal bench presses in but most times my arms will feel uneven with the bar which makes me stop in the middle of my reps.

[zany]

Hi, did u solve this situation?i have same problem right now, i wolud appreciate some tips if possible

[alexdary]

I have the same issue but mine dips down the other way and only seems to be uneven on the way up like when I’m locking out my elbows

[chestnutsev]

Got the same problem I tried doing smith machine to correct it but as I lowered it my left side which is the side I tilt down on barbell bench starts to rise up .

[Reeereeeonthabea]

Dude i have the same issue but with push ups and dips someone please help

[michaelvitale]

Look up PRI or postural restoration institute