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My entire body lifts when I shake. Why?

Shanamana

Shanamana

New member
Hi guys, noob here. I've been seriously lifting (mostly compound workouts) only for a few months now, but I'm by no means skinny or weak, and yet even when I'm squatting just the barbell alone for example, my whole body shakes. It's most noticeable in my core, arms, and knees.

This has always been the case by the way, even when I would lift in high school.

I suppose the obvious answer would be that I'm very weak, but I highly doubt it's that (but could be). Any thoughts on why this is? Are there others who would shake in the past but managed to overcome it? Any tips on what muscles I should perhaps target to resolve this problem?

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Could be due to new stimuli to the Central Nervous System. That would particularly happen with free weight moments/weight your not used to doing.

Yes, you can improve this through using more free weight movements (at least through my experience)
 
Weak is a very relative term.

Some guys will always shake when doing a heavy lift, but if you shake while doing all lifting that is something special. If it doesn't hurt you though I wouldn't let it deter you.
 
Im assuming has to do with CNS always happens on my bench when im fatigued or just hurting from training heavier the load my arms shake like crazy.
 
I wouldn't be worried about it... I actually think it's amazing that your entire body lifts when you shake
 
Hyde said:
Weak is a very relative term.

Some guys will always shake when doing a heavy lift, but if you shake while doing all lifting that is something special. If it doesn't hurt you though I wouldn't let it deter you.
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Yes, it's the case with all lifting unfortunately, heavy or not. Still haven't quite figured out why it happens and sure it's a little embarrassing when others see a big guy shake when lifting just the bar alone, but it's nothing that'll deter me.
 
Yeah 5 seconds is poor. It signifies that you use your brain too much for balance.

The majority of neural processes for balancing can transacted between motoneurons and spinal ganglion. When you learn a new movement that requires balance, in the beginning controlling your body is very cerebral but, as you practice & 'learn' the movement, control of the movement is taken over by the autonomic system, aka the afore mentioned interactions between motoneurons & spinal ganglion.

I am pretty sure the shaking will disappear with time, as you learn and develop a 'feel' for the movements, and there are exercises you can perform daily to improve your overall balance and proprioception ( like practicing standing on one foot with your eyes closed; BW squats on a bosu board; split squats; slow descent paused squats ). Learning to breathe and brace your core properly are also very important as this help solidify points of reference for internal cuing and also obviously very healthy for the spine.
 
BennyMagoo79 said:
Yeah 5 seconds is poor. It signifies that you use your brain too much for balance.

The majority of neural processes for balancing can transacted between motoneurons and spinal ganglion. When you learn a new movement that requires balance, in the beginning controlling your body is very cerebral but, as you practice & 'learn' the movement, control of the movement is taken over by the autonomic system, aka the afore mentioned interactions between motoneurons & spinal ganglion.

I am pretty sure the shaking will disappear with time, as you learn and develop a 'feel' for the movements, and there are exercises you can perform daily to improve your overall balance and proprioception ( like practicing standing on one foot with your eyes closed; BW squats on a bosu board; split squats; slow descent paused squats ). Learning to breathe and brace your core properly are also very important as this help solidify points of reference for internal cuing and also obviously very healthy for the spine.
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So it's a balancing issue then. That was genuinely fascinating and insightful and i'll definitely start doing research to see how I can work on correcting it. I can't thank you enough, great post.
 
In my experience with balance training, under 3 seconds is poor balnce. 4 or 5 seconds is relatively typical for the general population, but not for athletes. 9+ we start getting into solid balance.

And the shaking is related to motor unit coordination. Pace your reps and lower the weights. This improves even in the elderly untrained population.

Also, I'm not disagreeing with the balance or core stabilzation suggestions. Just adding some of my experience is all.
 
Shanamana said:
I just tried and not very well. Maybe 5 seconds or so, shaking a bit. What does that signify?
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Does your body lift as well when your eyes are closed and you start shaking??? Wait if your eyes are closed I guess you wouldn't actually know if your lifting or not... Still I also find this amazing
 
Godstrength said:
Does your body lift as well when your eyes are closed and you start shaking??? Wait if your eyes are closed I guess you wouldn't actually know if your lifting or not... Still I also find this amazing
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He doesn't need balance if he can levitate!
 
BennyMagoo79 said:
Hey mate how did you go with the shaking?
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Hey pal thank you for following up. Per your suggestion I did try split squats to maybe gradually improve by balance but even with no weight it was so frustrating and difficult that I gave up. I spoke to my doctor about it and he gave me a medication called Propranolol for people who have Essential Tremors or seizures and tbh it has noticeably helped, but they also extremely relax my body and make me sleepy so I think I'm going to stop taking them. So I suppose I'd have to say it remains unresolved unfortunately.
 
Thinking out loud...
Have you tried any natural supplements, like magnesium or B complex vites?
Do you use much caffeine or soft drinks?
 
PaulBlack said:
Thinking out loud...
Have you tried any natural supplements, like magnesium or B complex vites?
Do you use much caffeine or soft drinks?
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I tried the vitamin and mineral route. I even had one of those genome tests done to see what supplements work best with me, so I tried the best kinds of expensive specially formulated B vitamins and magnesium. Wasn't ever a coffee drinker but cut out soft drinks completely too. None of those things worked unfortunately.
 
BennyMagoo79 said:
Im sorry to hear that man. I hope you find a better solution than inhibitory drugs.
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Do you think meds like that increase cortisol or in any way negatively effect workouts? I haven't found an answer about the cortisol thing anywhere and you may not know but I thought I'd ask.
 
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