Chest injury

[cobraR]

Well, I've been out of the gym since september 1st, and it's starting to get to me. I was doing chest that day, and i had barely stretched. I started off with flat barbell bench. 135x10, 185x10, 225x8. The whole time i felt like the area between my chest and shoulder was tight and stiff (because it was not streched and probably overworked). Then i decide to jump to 275, and on the 3rd rep, as i was going down, i couldve sworn i heard a ripping sound, even though my spotter didnt hear it. However, i felt like my pec muscle was pulling away from my shoulder...if that makes any sense. Weirdly enough, i put up the bar back on the rack...

As soon as i got up, i felt a dull pain in that general area, and i left the gym. There was no bruising or swelling of the area, but i iced it for 2 days anyways. A few days after i tried doing a push up and it was literally impossible because of the sharp pain in the tendon between the pec and shoulder. It is now the 18th, and i can do 1 push up, but i still feel a small pain in that area, not as bad though.

I don't think i tore anything, but i may have strained or pulled that muscle/tendon. How much longer do i have to wait before i can train my chest (lightly)? Is there anything i can do to speed up the process?

Thanks.

 

[sportsfan4110]

That same thing happened to me just a couple of months ago. I know what you mean by the tear you felt in your pec. it hurts bad. two week after i injured it i tried to do chest and it didn't feel any better so i decided to take two full months off of doing anything that involved chest. i didn't even do skullcrushers because i felt a little pain in it. neways after two full months of no chest i decided to try a light workout and i didn't feel any pain in my chest at all. i did that for three weeks (gradually going heavier every workout) and on the fourth week i went all out. my chest got a little weaker but now the strenght has come back. i do a lot of stretching and warming up and i no longer do barbell bench press because i have heard other people doing the same thing and now i only use dumbells.
Just take some time off and rest your chest. you may need longer than two months or you may need less time but just listen to your body and when you feel ready to do chest again try it with light weight and gradually go heavier.
Hope this help and hope your chest heals quickly.

 

[cobraR]

Wow two months is a pretty long time. It's been 2.5 weeks for me, i just hope i can start it back up lightly on the october 1st.

 

[Joshua86]

Your best friend at this point is going to be rest. You can ice the area if pain and inflammation become a problem. If you are going to ice the area down, don't apply the cold source for more than 20 minutes at a time. A general rule of thumb for icing is 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, and repeat if needed. Also, if inflammation is a problem, you can try to elevate the injured area above heart level, which helps to reduce swelling.

Being that you can still contract the muscle to an extent is a good sign, because more severe muscle tears essentially prevent you from doing this and would result in severe pain if attempted. In other words, if the tear was severe, you'd know about it by now. Mild tears/pulls are accompanied by pain and decreased range of motion, but not to the point as to prevent mobility (as noted in more serious injuries).

Rest, rest, rest!! You should rest the affected area until you don't notice the pain anymore when you contract those muscles. If there is still pain when you're resting, then you definitely don't want to try overexerting in the gym. Once the pain is pretty much gone, you could start back with your training slowly. You can still do other exercises in the meantime, but any exercise that involves those affected muscle groups should be avoided (which might be hard to do). It might suck having to sit out for a while, but it'll sure beat the hell out of re-injuring yourself, which would force you to sit out even longer. I remember I had sprung my wrist once, and had to stop doing any exercise that involved my wrist. It sucked because I was extremely limited in what I could do in the gym, but had I been more stubborn and tried to keep working out with that injury, the consequences would have sucked even more!

Just for the record, I'm not a doctor, so if a doctor ever tells you anything different, take their advice. If the pain doesn't subside after a while, you should probably see a physician or physical therapist. Good luck with everything though!

 

[crazilyfter42]

Like everyone else has said rest is key here. Its unfortunate that you can't work that area of the body but its the only way for it to properly heal. When I tore my pec it took me 5 months to be able to do chest again. Even with all that time off it is still a burden for me now and probably always will be.

 

[John Smeton]

did you see a Doctor?

Sounds like you tore it. Man I had to take six months off so far of upper body because of a left elbow being in extreme pain on upper body exercises. Like unbearable I cant even do this exercise. My arms have shunk, my upper body has gotten smaller. I have handle it ; and it is not fun watching yourself shrink. and watching the tape measure get smaller. What i did I kept protein at least a gram or more, and did what i could legs. abs and cardio and did them hard. hope that helps man i know how it can be, its just not the same and Im sure you can handle it.