question about chest

22son · Feb 4, 2010

this is pretty ironic since the thread about tearing your pec on flat bench just came up. I had read that yet and was flat benching about 2 weeks ago not that heavy of a weight and i felt sharp pain on my left pec kind of up in the armpit area i quit immediatly. i took a week off of lifting all together and it was feeling better so i started lifting again this week and was going pretty well no pain at all, well tonite i was doing decline bench because i figured that would put less stress on the area again not doing that much weight it was a warmup set i heard a loud pop and had a sharp pain in the same area a lot worse this time. i probably should of took more time off before i i tried to do any kind of bench. my question is did i just stress it really bad. is it just going to hurt for a while like could i lift through it or am i at risk for tearing somthing? i realize this more of a question for a doctor but i wanted your opinion first since i dont have health insurance and since im a student and have a car payment i cant really afford any doctor bills right now. thanks for your help

maldorf · Feb 4, 2010

22son said:
this is pretty ironic since the thread about tearing your pec on flat bench just came up. I had read that yet and was flat benching about 2 weeks ago not that heavy of a weight and i felt sharp pain on my left pec kind of up in the armpit area i quit immediatly. i took a week off of lifting all together and it was feeling better so i started lifting again this week and was going pretty well no pain at all, well tonite i was doing decline bench because i figured that would put less stress on the area again not doing that much weight it was a warmup set i heard a loud pop and had a sharp pain in the same area a lot worse this time. i probably should of took more time off before i i tried to do any kind of bench. my question is did i just stress it really bad. is it just going to hurt for a while like could i lift through it or am i at risk for tearing somthing? i realize this more of a question for a doctor but i wanted your opinion first since i dont have health insurance and since im a student and have a car payment i cant really afford any doctor bills right now. thanks for your help

My advise is to be very conservative. If there isnt any swelling or balck/blue color then it may not be too bad. Problem is you cannot rely soley on there being a bruise, it can be torn and not have one. I would take at least one week off from training your chest, dont stress it at all in any movement. When you go back, start up with dumbells and go really light wieght, doing reps of at least 20 or more. You would want to do them with hands parallel to take some stress off. Just press up and down the dumbells parallel the whole time. Over a period of 2 months or so slowly work your way back up in weight and try barbells again. If you feel any kind of pain when your trying to rehab, stop and change what youre doing. If even the dumbell presses hurt in when you lift them in the fashion I discuss here youll need to find something else to try. Machines work ok sometimes too. If the pain is consistent even on light weights no matter what you do, then of course lay off for more time.
I tore my quads several times and did this methodology to rehab myself. I had those nasty muscle tears where you can hear your muscle rip like a wet t-shirt. My buddy that was half way across the room could hear it. He thought I had torn my shorts because it happend when I was down in the hole. I had no bruising with eitther of my quad tears. I think the one might have happened in the IT band, which is connective tissue and wouldnt bleed anyhow. So its possible to tear things other than muscle, and they may not bleed.

I might add that the one tear I had happend right around where I was pretty sore and swollen from an injection several days before that. I think that swelling played a role.

22son · Feb 4, 2010

thanks i appreciate the help...i will give that a try. another question since there is no bruising or swelling of anykind should i still be icing it or adding heat or should i just leave it alone.

maldorf · Feb 4, 2010

22son said:
thanks i appreciate the help...i will give that a try. another question since there is no bruising or swelling of anykind should i still be icing it or adding heat or should i just leave it alone.

they always say to ice it for like the first 48 hrs or so. I would ice it after lifting too, to bring down swelling if you have any inkling of pain. Moist heat works well after the first few days if you do it before you lift.

jalsmiley · Feb 4, 2010

22son said:
thanks i appreciate the help...i will give that a try. another question since there is no bruising or swelling of anykind should i still be icing it or adding heat or should i just leave it alone.

do a visual inspection comparing it to your other side...hold you arm over head and feel and look in mirror, hold it out to side and do the same....feel the structure of the tendon and muscle that runs from pec major into your armpit...a loud pop? doesnt sound good man...anytime i heard loud pop it was full rupture of my pec tendon and the other time in gym i heard pop it was a dudes tricep tendon full rupture.