Pec injury/strain 8 weeks out from meet

[elVarouza]

Background:

6'1" 225lbs 23yrs old.
Squat: 405x2
Bench: 330x1
Press: 200x1
Deadlift: 512x1

About 3 weeks ago I was going for 285x5x5 bench on the texas method volume day. I got 5/5/5/4. During the sets my left pec felt tighter than usual but nothing seemed wrong or injured otherwise. However, for the following two weeks my left pec was extremely sore. I've hit 300x4 and couldn't even get 300x1 on the intensity day following the 285. I've since been able to barely get 295x1 and 275x3. I hit those three days ago.

The soreness is concentrated in my left pec in the armpit. I'm pretty sure it's my pec and not my shoulder. Oddly, chinups make my pec feel very sore during and after the reps.

I have a meet coming up at the end of July and this is really frustrating. I've never had anything like this happen before and I don't know how to approach it. Please let me know of any suggestions and if you need more info from me.

[Tom Campitelli]

Sounds like you've got a small muscle tear. Even though you have experienced a performance regression, you are not far from where you were, so it's seems unlikely that something terrible has happened. You will probably need to back off a little as it heals. Chins may need to take a back seat for a time.