Chest problems.....help

[deftones11]

I'm having a problem. My left lower pectoral closer to the armpit is irritated. It bothers me on flat barbell and now a little bit on everything. It feels tight and sore. It's been this way for a little less than a month. My shoulders do not hurt at all. I think I might have overstrained my chest in my rush to get back into the grove. For about 3-4 weeks I was going heavy on the bench with low reps and a lot of sets about 6 sets not including warmups. Now I just want to know how to fix my chest. I don't think it's torn I just think its strained a little and irritated. I try to stretch it now frequently but it's tight. I don't want to take too much time off but I guess u could afford a week, maybe two. I'll just train front felts I guess. It sucks cause my chest is pretty weak already. What's going on guys?

 

[AUK96]

I've had this occurr

a few times. It was always after heavy flat BB benching. Lay off it now and only do light excercises where you do not feel the strain and give it time. I'm glad I did for all I know it was a Pec tear waiting to happen. I was able to do light inclines without much issues and it did take at least 4 weeks to get back to 100%. It sucks but is 100x better than a tear.
Don't forget...do what it took me too long to figure out. Drop flat BB benching now for declines.

 

[jm425]

Sounds like you strained it. I've strained my left pec twice before. I would advise you to take a week off from chest and when you go to training, go light for a few weeks. You really should stay away from low reps on chest and focus on moderate to higher reps. 10-20 rep range. It's easier on the tendons in your chest which is what sounds like is strained. This may sound like broscience but I assure you it works to some degree. Doing a lot of body weight pushups helps strengthen the tendons in your shoulders and chest.

 

[Bobby Biceps]

I strained my left pec doing spastic reps trying to show off when I was young. My armpit and inner arm had pretty significant bruising for about a week. I didn't train chest for a month. When I started back it was with pushups, then feet elevated pushups , then dips and finally back to light weights. You already know it was lots of sets of low reps that caused this. Give it plenty of rest, don't be in a big hurry to train it again, the race is long. Then start back gradually and don't repeat the type of training that got you injured. Good luck.

 

[Delta]

I'm having a problem. My left lower pectoral closer to the armpit is irritated. It bothers me on flat barbell and now a little bit on everything. It feels tight and sore. It's been this way for a little less than a month. My shoulders do not hurt at all. I think I might have overstrained my chest in my rush to get back into the grove. For about 3-4 weeks I was going heavy on the bench with low reps and a lot of sets about 6 sets not including warmups. Now I just want to know how to fix my chest. I don't think it's torn I just think its strained a little and irritated. I try to stretch it now frequently but it's tight. I don't want to take too much time off but I guess u could afford a week, maybe two. I'll just train front felts I guess. It sucks cause my chest is pretty weak already. What's going on guys?

Sounds like you strained your chest. Been there, done that. Lay off pressing for a while, focus on other areas. Better let it heal than to tear it, don't you think ?

Do some light machine flies (I really mean light, otherwise you'll just be irritating the area ) or pec-dec just to get some blood in there. Ice your pec 2x day, once after training upper body, and again while resting. Try to massage the area, or get someone to do it. And don't stretch, this will cause more inflamation. For now just focus on making the pain go away.

Eventually when inflamation goes away you can start training again, but don't rush in to heavy stuff, take your time and ease back into it.

Also avoid movements who are currently irritating the area ( i.e if flat bench hurts, switch to declines, etc.) after you do your rehab.

 

[jaltb4k]

Sounds like you strained it. I've strained my left pec twice before. I would advise you to take a week off from chest and when you go to training, go light for a few weeks. You really should stay away from low reps on chest and focus on moderate to higher reps. 10-20 rep range. It's easier on the tendons in your chest which is what sounds like is strained. This may sound like broscience but I assure you it works to some degree. Doing a lot of body weight pushups helps strengthen the tendons in your shoulders and chest.

this happened to me about 2 months ago. i decided i was going to do 6 or so reps with heavy weight....halfway through i realized something was WRONG. i have always been terrified of tearing a pec. i didnt work chest for 2 weeks. the third week went back in and started with 15-20 reps and didnt go up in weight.3 more weeks of this and im now able to do the same heavy weight as before...but i tamed it down to prevent it from happening again

 

[jm425]

this happened to me about 2 months ago. i decided i was going to do 6 or so reps with heavy weight....halfway through i realized something was WRONG. i have always been terrified of tearing a pec. i didnt work chest for 2 weeks. the third week went back in and started with 15-20 reps and didnt go up in weight.3 more weeks of this and im now able to do the same heavy weight as before...but i tamed it down to prevent it from happening again

If you strain it once the area becomes more prone to injury even if you come back 100%. Site injections of hgh and igf-lr3 works wonders for recovery time. Also, it's funny but everybody injures their pec on the flat bench. Never once have I ever come across someone that messed up their chest doing inclines or declines. What I do now is I go lighter on flat and do higher reps on flat bench whether it be bb or db and I haven't had problems with my left pec since.

 

[jaltb4k]

i am scared to death of a pec inj! calves....no problem. pecs just seem wrong.lol! that is good to hear,ive decided after that to keep reps to a minimum of 12 for flat bench. i didnt think about it being prone to injury in the future. learn something new everyday

 

[cthompson]

Happens too me with barbell flat bench. Strain my pec minor. Find a good chiropractor that does art therapy. It will speed up recovery

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jm425]

i am scared to death of a pec inj! calves....no problem. pecs just seem wrong.lol! that is good to hear,ive decided after that to keep reps to a minimum of 12 for flat bench. i didnt think about it being prone to injury in the future. learn something new everyday

Pec injs. are not bad at all with slin pins bro. It's only 1/2 inch deep and tiny. Hgh and igf are also water based, so it's not a big deal if you accidentally pin into your vein believe me I've done it couple times, lol. Now if your talking about pinning oil, then yeah I'm scared too, lol.

 

[deftones11]

I'm going to try illiminating flat bench for now. And going higher reps. Try incline press more

 

[GreyScale36]

I'm having a problem. My left lower pectoral closer to the armpit is irritated. It bothers me on flat barbell and now a little bit on everything. It feels tight and sore. It's been this way for a little less than a month. My shoulders do not hurt at all. I think I might have overstrained my chest in my rush to get back into the grove. For about 3-4 weeks I was going heavy on the bench with low reps and a lot of sets about 6 sets not including warmups. Now I just want to know how to fix my chest. I don't think it's torn I just think its strained a little and irritated. I try to stretch it now frequently but it's tight. I don't want to take too much time off but I guess u could afford a week, maybe two. I'll just train front felts I guess. It sucks cause my chest is pretty weak already. What's going on guys?

Flat barbell bench presses are not the culprit. The problem lies with lowering the bar so far down that they end up forcing & retracting the rotators, which in turn, over stretches the pec minor/major tendons connected to the ribs closest to the armpit region. Rest up & when fully healed. . .try benching from the floor [floor presses], they stop the rotators from retracting & limits the over stretch a great deal.

 

[jm425]

Flat barbell bench presses are not the culprit. The problem lies with lowering the bar so far down that they end up forcing & retracting the rotators, which in turn, over stretches the pec minor/major tendons connected to the ribs closest to the armpit region. Rest up & when fully healed. . .try benching from the floor [floor presses], they stop the rotators from retracting & limits the over stretch a great deal.

I disagree. I never let the bar touch my chest ever when I do presses for my chest whether it be decline, flat or incline and I still strained my left pec twice on the flat bench. If what you are saying is true, we would all suffer horrific pec tendon injuries from dumbbells presses which stretch below our chest level when we lower the dumbbell.

 

[deftones11]

Flat barbell bench presses are not the culprit. The problem lies with lowering the bar so far down that they end up forcing & retracting the rotators, which in turn, over stretches the pec minor/major tendons connected to the ribs closest to the armpit region. Rest up & when fully healed. . .try benching from the floor [floor presses], they stop the rotators from retracting & limits the over stretch a great deal.

This could help though. I have pretty long arms which had always made bench difficult. I'll take a few weeks off and then start with some floor presses or just not going so low. I've always thought those guys that don't touch their chest are just cheating but now I see it could cause problems for some, including me.

 

[GreyScale36]

I disagree. I never let the bar touch my chest ever when I do presses for my chest whether it be decline, flat or incline and I still strained my left pec twice on the flat bench. If what you are saying is true, we would all suffer horrific pec tendon injuries from dumbbells presses which stretch below our chest level when we lower the dumbbell.

Dumbbell & barbell presses are all performed lying on the floor. . .including JM presses, close grip presses, skull crushers & even decline presses [lifting the pelvis off the floor]. I've had my fair share of pressing problems - not really built for it as I'm considered shoulder dominant - but, for the past couple years floor presses seem to do the job. . .but that's just my personal view.

 

[jm425]

Dumbbell & barbell presses are all performed lying on the floor. . .including JM presses, close grip presses, skull crushers & even decline presses [lifting the pelvis off the floor]. I've had my fair share of pressing problems - not really built for it as I'm considered shoulder dominant - but, for the past couple years floor presses seem to do the job. . .but that's just my personal view.

I am shoulder dominant as well which could be the cause of the pec injuries, I don't know for sure. I think we use our shoulders more for pressing movements therefore we don't put enough tension in our chest and when we go too heavy since our tendons in our chest aren't strong enough, it's more prone to strains and tears. It's just a theory though.

 

[deftones11]

I am shoulder dominant as well which could be the cause of the pec injuries, I don't know for sure. I think we use our shoulders more for pressing movements therefore we don't put enough tension in our chest and when we go too heavy since our tendons in our chest aren't strong enough, it's more prone to strains and tears. It's just a theory though.

Sounds reasonable

 

[deftones11]

Dude this is fucked guys. It's painful to stretch now. Even doing push-ups. But I swear I didn't tear anything, I would have known when it happened. It's got to be some kind of repetitive strain. God I hope I can heal it fast cause I'm 3 weeks into a cycle and I want to train chest ahhhhh

 

[jm425]

Dude this is fucked guys. It's painful to stretch now. Even doing push-ups. But I swear I didn't tear anything, I would have known when it happened. It's got to be some kind of repetitive strain. God I hope I can heal it fast cause I'm 3 weeks into a cycle and I want to train chest ahhhhh

If you tore it you would know. It would be all bruised and you would barely be able to move your arm. You strained it pretty good. Lay off of it for a week or 2 and when you get back, only go super light on it for a few weeks. Trust me bro, I've had the same injury as you and I use this protocol and it works. If you can get gh and igf, or one or the other. It would speed up recovery significantly.

 

[OneLastShot]

Start your workout with Incline presses and keep your back flat on the bench - I had a slow chest also and that cured the problem. If it still hurts, try pre-exaustion exercises and then move to the incline.