starting strength gym
Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Working around persistent bicep pain

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    25

    Default Working around persistent bicep pain

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
    • starting strength seminar jume 2024
    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    Hope this post finds you all as well as possible on an injury board!

    My situation:

    46 y.o. lifter (advanced novice; using a template from Barbell Prescription)
    BW: 205 lb
    Height 5'10"
    Training:

    Day A: Squat 3x5 @ 255lb (still adding 2.5lb each Day A workout), Barbell Row 3x8 @135 (still adding 1lb per Day A workout), Press 3x5 @ 124 (still adding 1lb each Day A workout)

    Day B: Squat 3x5 @ 80% of Day A, Deadlift 1x5 @ 290 (still adding 2.5 each Day B workout), Bench (THIS IS THE QUESTION)

    Chins (usually on day in between or at end of workouts):
    Day 1: 2 sets of unassisted chins (currently 5 reps), plus 3 sets of 4 negatives on a three-count
    Day 2: 3 sets of assisted chins (currently 8 reps)

    Pushing the prowler and Airdyne bike 2x per week.

    THE PROBLEM: I have persistent, severe pain in my left bicep (feels like the inside part of my bicep, from where it attaches under my arm all the way down to my elbow). It manifests primarily on the ECCENTRIC portion of the bench press, to the point where I feel I cannot control weights in excess of about 135lb. Using the pin bench helps SOME. I have been to an orthopedic doctor, but it was not helpful (negative xray, told me to stop pressing and bench pressing forever). Since I have no or minimal pain on the other lifts, I have continued them.

    I thought this might be a situation of biceps tendinopathy. A was also having similar pain during the squat, until I fixed my grip (primarily needed to carry the bar a tad lower, squeeze my upper back harder, and widen my hand placement a bit (this relieved all squat pain). But I think that over time (as squat weight increased) the biceps problem became worse. I've also been doing other suggested biceps tendinopathy work (the chins, hammer curls at high reps for 3 sets).

    About three weeks ago, I stopped benching. At that time, my bench press was 3x5 @150, but I could not progress--the pain on the eccentric movement was too great, and its residual effect prevented me from deadlifting. Yesterday, I started back with 135 (3x5), and the pain was diminished but still present. I suspect that with increasing weights, it will again manifest.

    Any ideas on how to manage this situation? Perhaps moving exclusively to pin bench until this resolves? Using lower weights/higher reps? Based on progress (albeit slow) on other lifts, I plan to keep doing what I'm doing on those.

    Thanks for any suggestions.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Long Island, NY
    Posts
    1,208

    Default

    This is most likely still a squat grip problem. The primary thing you need to do here is to make sure you are feeling the weight of the bar on your back and not in your hands as you are descending. You should post a video on the technique forum. From a programming perspective, I would start benching as the first exercise and see if the pain is as intense. Other strategies include decreasing the squat and bench frequency and/or making the light day a high bar squat. I've also had good success with an A/B split paring squat and press together and deadlift and bench together.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •