The Earthquake Bench Press - The Hardest Type Of Bench Press Ever ?

Take a look at the Earthquake Bar. It’s made out of bamboo and every lateral move is amplified by the springiness of the bar and the hanging weight. You really work your stabilizers on this one! It made a splash onto the fitness scene a while back, but hasn’t generated THAT much attention throughout the internet, despite a number of renowned professionals using it as a staple of their weekly gym routines.

What is the earthquake bench press ?

It’s simply a bench press done with a flexible bamboo bar that amplifies lateral movement. It will make you stabilizing muscles really struggle while you push the weight up.

I have to admit, the first time I saw a video with The Earthquake Bar I thought it was probably a little over hyped. I assumed the people that were struggling with it probably trained on machines a lot, and therefore, were just weak.

Machines are locked in a fixed movement pattern that you cannot deviate from. Because of this your stabilizing muscles aren’t needed. So when you go to an exercise such as a barbell or a dumbbell (which is unstable) that is not locked in a fixed position, your stabilizers get worked.

USI is pretty much completely free weights based (barbells, dumbbells, cables, rings). Because of this, I figured that myself, along with some of my stronger athletes/clients, would not struggle with The Earthquake Bar like I saw others doing in these videos.

I was wrong AND I was right. Some of us did a lot better than I’ve seen others do in videos. Some did just as bad. But all got worked hard and felt the benefits right away.

This bar works your stabilizers like no other by delivering oscillating kinetic energy into the joint. It’s phenomenal for rehabbing rotator cuff injuries and other strains, such as the triceps.

Goran Reljic, an MMA fighter was in town for a few weeks and trained at USI. While here he told me about a shoulder problem he’d been having. He had some pain in the anterior delt and couldn’t straighten his arm overhead and have it inline with the side of his head.

After some mobility work along with training with the Earthquake Bar his shoulder pain was pretty much gone and he could completely straighten his arm overhead again. – Chris Grayson UrbanStrength