Have you been bench pressing and your spotter told you one side is coming up faster than the other?
There are multiple reasons why your bench press might be uneven. This article will cover some of the common culprits!
Uneven bench press causes
- Asymmetrical setup
- Muscular imbalances in your upper body
- Joint mobility
Fixing Uneven bench press
Asymmetrical setup
The first factor to assess would be your setup. Make sure you are setting up on the bench in a symmetrical manner. You can take video or have a training partner help you assess this. Additionally, make sure your grip placement is also even. Using the rings on the barbell is often a good marker to help with this.
Improve strength on the bench press with leg drive
Muscular imbalances in your upper body
Often times when using a barbell the strongest muscles will take over during the movement. Muscular imbalances in your upper body, chest, and shoulders can lead to an uneven bench press. Try doing unilateral dumbbell exercises and bench to help fix your muscular imbalances.
Joint Mobility
You may lack the proper joint mobility in your shoulders or one shoulder might be worse off than the other.
When bench pressing your shoulder joint is responsible for:
- Shoulder flexion: e.g. front delt raise
- Shoulder horizontal flexion: e.g. pec fly
- Shoulder external rotation: e.g. pulling your arm back to throw a ball
If any of these movements are tighter on one side it can cause an uneven bench press.
You can consult the help of a professional like a physiotherapist to diagnose and assess these and other factors that are causing your uneven bench press.
