I am a very active 29 year old and full of energy while at the gym. I always have a natural shake in my hands but deal with it. My problem is that I have no clue how to control it while lifting, especially over my chest. I’m good with the amount of weights/ reps and not even tired when it happens. I feel like it’s holding me back from my full lifting potential because I don’t trust myself. It doesn’t matter if I eat a lot or a little in a day, I’ll still shake. Can anyone give me advice on safe ways to lift without a spotter? Thank you!
Any reason you have to BB bench press? Dumbbells are safer and do are dips and pushups and unless you’re entering a powerlifting comp there’s no absolute need for bemching.
If you must do bench then can you do it in a rack? If your pins don’t set to the right height, then motorcycle tie downs are very precise, very quick to set up and relatively cheap (especially if you get 250kg ones).
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My goal is to gain muscle tone. I don’t think I’ll be powerlifting anytime soon HA! Anyways the only reason I have it in my head to bench is because my trainer has me do it and sees how bad my hands shake. He even has me lay on the bench and use Dumbbells. The shake also gets bad with push-ups. I get through my sets but don’t feel like I’ve done my full potential. I use what he teaches me when I’m at home in my gym but don’t trust or push myself.
Often complete newbs have the shakes on BB and DB pressing and it gets better with practice but if it’s a natural shake then that is unlikely.
If you’re benching below 40kg and have a closed grip (ie. thumbs around the bar), then you’re not likely to get into a predicament which is going to hurt you.
I’d still look at alternatives myself…
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I’m pretty sure it’s just a natural shake that is worse when I workout. Before lifting weights I was still lifting really heavy things on the farm and sometimes the same as the guys. I appreciate your advice as always and am going to see what alternatives work for me. Your very helpful!
I am no expert but maybe have the wrists, forearm, and hand checked from a ART specialist/Chiropractor. If you are taking modern medications it can cause the shakes.
Good thoughts! No I am not taking medications but could see how that would have been a possibility.
My hands shook pretty bad when I was first picking up the dumbbells. I was in very poor shape at the time.
It went away after a few weeks. Now the weights shake when I’m around.
drops the mic
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HAHA… You are hilarious and I appreciate the laugh! I guess I need to be tougher and maybe one day the weights will shake for me too 
I have a close associate who suffered from the same thing, when he started working out any free weight he pressed, his hand shook badly. I told him to try focus on gripping it harder, I mean I never suffered from this issue so it was more of a bullshit response because I was tired of his excuses. But a few training sessions later it was all better. He said he focused on grip training throughout the day and it gave him more stability when using free weights.
Edit: He said he bought some crushing grip thing from rouge fitness.
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Just stick with it and they will.
I’ve seen other obvious gym noobs have shaky hands when doing pressing movements, so you and I are not the only ones. If it doesn’t hurt or significantly hinder your workouts I wouldn’t worry too much about it for now.
If it doesn’t get better with more time under the bar you may want to have it checked out.
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It’s a good possibility that I need to focus more on my grip. I am focusing a lot on doing the reps correctly that I don’t think about it. I’ll try that and see if it helps. I am willing to do whatever and am not making bullshit excuses but want to get the most from my workouts. I’ll also look into Rouge Fitness and see what I find. Thank you so much for your helpful advice!!
I really worry about asking a stupid question. I am just excited to learn and gain confidence with my workouts. Thank you for your positive advice and I look forward to more!!
One thing that helps me if I ever want to really squeeze something is to grip from the shoulder. It sounds weird, but instead of just squeezing your hand around the bar start that pressure in your shoulder.
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Thank you for the advice. I’m pretty sure I get what your meaning and am willing to try whatever! I really hope it gives me better control. I’ll be lifting tomorrow night so fingers crossed.
The advantage to doing it for bench I’d that it’ll encourage you to bend the bar which will bring your lats into it.
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a bit of a shake is fairly standard for people new to weightlifting, particularly when pressing dumbbells.
You’ll probably find your bar path is all to hell for the first little while, too.
Don’t stress; it improves.
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I greatly appreciate your encouragement!! As soon as I know I’m doing a crap job lifting I get so pissed. I need to not expect so much from myself but always have and probably will. I need to change my way of thinking.
you wouldn’t pick up a violin and expect to play Vivaldi straight away; lifting’s no different.
(Yes, I did just mention Vivaldi. I’m an altogether more sophisticated meathead than the rest of this uncouth rabble.)
I’ve had female clients who shook so bad and were so all over the place that I had to hold their wrists through entire sets of dumbbell presses, so don’t worry about it. It gets better quickly.
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Very impressive with the Vivaldi reference 
I’m a huge fan of classical to relax! I’ll see if my trainer will help support me a little more until I get stronger.