Mid-grade? Pec Strain

I was doing my first set of warmups (after the empty bar) with 135. On the first rep, just as the bar touched my chest, I felt a nice tear in my left pec. It bruised up, but there was no snap like I'd "lost" my pec.

Rip once said the Starr protocol didn't really work for chest muscles. I am paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect of, "This [method] works for everything except pec strains and tears. Chest muscles just act differently for some reason."

If that's the case, what is the best protocol for rehabbing a mid-grade pec strain? Do we wait longer?

Also, this is affecting my ability to get into the low bar position. I don't mind training high bar for a bit, but I've never really done it that much. What kind of weight reduction is pretty typical for high bar? 10%? 20%?

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Originally Posted by Frank_B

I was doing my first set of warmups (after the empty bar) with 135. On the first rep, just as the bar touched my chest, I felt a nice tear in my left pec. It bruised up, but there was no snap like I'd "lost" my pec.

Rip once said the Starr protocol didn't really work for chest muscles. I am paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect of, "This [method] works for everything except pec strains and tears. Chest muscles just act differently for some reason."

If that's the case, what is the best protocol for rehabbing a mid-grade pec strain? Do we wait longer?

Also, this is affecting my ability to get into the low bar position. I don't mind training high bar for a bit, but I've never really done it that much. What kind of weight reduction is pretty typical for high bar? 10%? 20%?

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I've found, in both clinical practice and personal experience, that heavy doubles / triples work really well for rehabbing acute muscle strains. If at all possible, would not recommend jumping to high bar just yet. I'd first attempt using a position of increased wrist extension (with wrist wraps), and then a safety squat bar when you are unable to get under the bar correctly. Many issues to consider when immediately switching from low bar to high bar.

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Originally Posted by Will Morris

I've found, in both clinical practice and personal experience, that heavy doubles / triples work really well for rehabbing acute muscle strains. If at all possible, would not recommend jumping to high bar just yet. I'd first attempt using a position of increased wrist extension (with wrist wraps), and then a safety squat bar when you are unable to get under the bar correctly. Many issues to consider when immediately switching from low bar to high bar.

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Thanks Will. I overheard pressed yesterday, and wasn’t quite sure what the protocol might be so I stuck around 70% of max but did sets of 5. I think the strain/tear was towards the upper part of the pec so the press definitely targeted it. I’m certain the press did it some good as today I’ve noticed a pretty remarkable reduction in pain and the tenderness is greatly diminished.

I’ll bench tomorrow and do my normal weight for a set of 5, but only do 2-3 reps, if I understand correctly.

Also, I decided to give it the old college try on the squat bar and widened my grip a little bit to accommodate. That was all that was really needed, and I was able to squat my full weight for 3x5 no issues. I’ll definitely continue low bar, but also keep your high bar advice in mind!

Thanks for the input!