when im doing bench presses’ incline, flat, or decline (i use dumbbells or unilateral machines such as hammerstrenght 95% of the time) my left shoulder tends to travel forward when i begin to struggle and take most of the tension off of my chest and ofter causes me to lose balance.
any guess’ what the issue may be…
i not going extremely heavy, 6-10 for controled reps, no bounding or locking of the elbows. stop 1/2-1 inch above chest and stop just short of tricep contraction.
Just sounds like a stability problem from two possible issues. Assuming you’re right handed, your left arm is obviously your inferior arm and as such will fatigue a little faster which would be causing the shoulder to cave. This is especially noticeable on unilateral work since you’re moving two independent objects. If you’re not right handed then obviously this theory goes out the window.
It could also just be a lack of shoulder stability. Some simple stability work (scapular retractions, YTWL, wall slides) to bring up your rhomboids and serratus anterior muscles will help improve shoulder stability. Hope this helps!
ScarZan
thanks for the reply. yes, i am right handed. I think you may be right, i didnt think of something that simple! i just get too frustrated when my chest is still telling me to push but im feeling it in my front delt, that i never paid attention to the obvious!
also do some wall slides, batwings, and face pull these worked wondered for me. especially face pulls, as soon as i built my upper back up i could start to bench press and do dips again. also add in some rotater cuff work, (external rotations)
thanks for the ideas, id much rather hear them from fellow lifters and people with same issues
than the gymrats working their mouths out.
Yea sometimes you want to make things more complicated than they are. Throw in those stability exercises at the end of your workouts to sure up those shoulder stabilizers. Also, try throwing in some barbell work and pushups variations. I’m not a fan of barbells myself but put them in a couple times a month.