Benching and Pec Tears: A Training Tip

Sesshomaru · Nov 10, 2008

A lot of you guys have gotten pec tears or know someone whos had one. Despite even using what may be good form, it happens. In some cases, the problem may not be the form but the imbalance resulting from imbalanced training or overuse of your synergists or stabilizers, which can undermine your tissue quality and its ability to withstand heavy loads or heavy volume.

From Eric Cressey's blog:

Q: Is there any reason why there is such a big incidence of pec tears during benching in comparison to shoulder/triceps/lat tears, especially if powerlifting style is supposed to de-emphasize the use of the pecs?

A: Research at Indiana University found that cross-sectional area of the subscapularis is the best predictor of powerlifting performance, believe it or not.

If you're getting that much hypertrophy of the subscapularis, it's doing a lot of work - and for a small muscle. Ask any manual therapist, and they'll tell you that subscapularis is always balled up - and frequently shuts down due to repetitive microtrauma.

Shut subscapularis down, and pec major will work overtime as an internal rotator of the humerus. Reference Shirley Sahrmann's work; if you see an strained/tight muscle, look for an underactive synergist.

You'll also get a humeral anterior glide, and additional tightness/restrictions on infraspinatus/teres minor.

So, the name of the game is to activate subscapularis, and also improve the length and tissue quality of your external rotators.

PHIL HERNON · Nov 10, 2008

GREAT

I WILL DO IT! .............HOW DO I DO IT?

ironone1 · Nov 10, 2008

I know the external rotators (rear delts) is the key. I get soreness there from a heavy bench workout. It is sore now and I worry about retearing it if I still go heavy.

TJB · Nov 11, 2008

Subscapularis muscle activity during selected rehabilitation exercises

Auteur(s) / Author(s)
DECKER Michael J. (1) ; TOKISH John M. (1) ; ELLIS Henry B. (1) ; TORRY Michael R. (1) ; HAWKINS Richard J. (1) ;

Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) Steadman-Hawkins Sports Medicine Foundation, Vail, Colorado, ETATS-UNIS

Résumé / Abstract

Background: The upper and lower portions of the subscapularis muscle are independently innervated and activated.

Hypothesis: Upper and lower portions of the subscapularis muscle demonstrate different activation levels and require different exercises for rehabilitation. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Methods: Fifteen healthy subjects performed seven shoulder-strengthening exercises. Electromyographic data were collected from the latissimus dorsi, teres major, pectoralis major, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, and upper and lower subscapularis muscles.

Results: Upper subscapularis muscle activity was greater than lower subscapularis muscle activity for all exercises except for internal rotation with 0° of humeral abduction. The push-up plus and diagonal exercises consistently stressed the upper and lower subscapularis muscles to the greatest extent.

Conclusions: Humeral abduction was found to have a strong influence on the selective activation of the upper versus the lower subscapularis muscle and thus supported the design of different exercise continuums. In addition, the push-up plus and diagonal exercises were found to be superior to traditional internal rotation exercises for activating both functional portions of the subscapularis muscle.

Clinical Relevance: Our results showing that the upper and lower portions of the subscapularis muscle are functionally independent may affect training or rehabilitation protocols for the rotator cuff muscles.

Revue / Journal Title
American journal of sports medicine ISSN 0363-5465 CODEN AJSMDO
Source / Source
2003, vol. 31, no1, pp. 126-134 [9 page(s) (article)] (33 ref.)