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Thread: pec injury from chin ups?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Posts
    264

    Default pec injury from chin ups?

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    I recently got a home chin up bar, and I have been doing 2-4 sets spaced throughout the day for the last week or so and making progress. Yesterday I had to stop a set due to sudden pain and weakness, roughly in my right front armpit area. I have never had a pec injury before but that is what it feels like. I tried getting into a pushup position to see if I could still do pushups, but even getting onto my hands and knees caused pain.

    I doubt it is a very serious injury--no visible bruising or swelling, the pain is moderate, it feels like the kind of thing I can come back from in a matter of weeks.

    Questions:

    1) Have I diagnosed this right? Seems a bit odd to injury a pec during a pulling movement.
    2) Why did this happen? Increased volume of chin ups, or doing them without warmup (just doing a set when I thought about it)? How can I avoid this when using my home chin up bar in the future?
    3) Any advice on coming back from it?

    Thanks.

    Tom

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Wichita Falls, Texas
    Posts
    2,414

    Default

    The latissimus dorsi and teres Major both insert in, essentially, the same place on the humerus as the pectoralis major. It could be either of them, but, the specific movements that increase pain would tell you which of these, if any of them, are injured. In reality, the fact that it seems to be relatively self-limiting most likely absolves you of any responsibility to garner an accurate diagnosis. For situations like this: my armpit hurts is as specific as you need to be.
    2) Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Increasing strength has been shown to have a protective effect against musculoskeletal injuries, but virtually all other “injury prevention” strategies don’t seem to have much scientific support. Progressive exposure to stress is the key here.
    3) just keep training. Progress as quickly as pain allows you to do without exacerbating the injury.

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