Old pec tear....

[MBasic]

Background: I tore my pec benching about 6 years ago benching (I'm 43 y.o. now: 217bw, 5'10"). Per the Doc/MRI: Tendon was OK/intact. They said it was just the muscle and I didn't need surgery. I didn't know anything really about strength training or rehab then. After about a month layoff, I rehabbed it myself, doing real light chest exercises, reps of 20, etc. For about the last 5 years or so, I have avoided flat heavy normal grip benching. I would do heavy barbell incline presses instead . . .not feeling "safe" to try flat benching. I worked up to a 235 5x5 on inclines. I would only do close grip flat benches as an accessory.

Just Recently, last 2-3 months: I started a normal flat bench workout recently based on the TM program. I started off w/ 225 5x5 VD / 245x5rm ID. Real easy start, felt as if I was "leaving some on the table". I do really no other upper body accessory lifts, because I'm currently progressing just fine, and there's no time for anything else. I've worked up to a 255 5x5 VD / 270 5rm ID. The last few ID's I've been playing w/ 275 w/ 'easy' doubles and triples, preparing to try a 275 5rm.
No pain, tweaks, aches, nothing . . .just some minor DOMS after VD typically.

BUT, now I'm noticing a tender spot, in my 'dent' from the tear on my pec.
AND, I notice a small bruise about the size of nickle/quarter right at the same spot. I saw the bruise first, then starting pushing in there, I can feel the tenderness now.

Do think I should Stop and reset or what? Do I have a long term problem?
How careful should I be with this? Do tears re-tear at the same spot . . .

Any advice would be appreciated.
Mike

[Tom Campitelli]

I don't have a good answer for you. I don't have much experience with pec tears. I do know that once you have torn a muscle, it can be susceptible to a tear in the same spot in the future. It is possible that this is a minor tweak and everything will be fine. It is also possible that this should be treated with care. We'll see if some of the others have input.

[MBasic]

I don't have a good answer for you. I don't have much experience with pec tears. I do know that once you have torn a muscle, it can be susceptible to a tear in the same spot in the future. It is possible that this is a minor tweak and everything will be fine. It is also possible that this should be treated with care. We'll see if some of the others have input.

I went into my next VD for bench very cautions; 135x5 OK; 175x4 could feel "it" . . .so I am screwed I guess. Its wierd in the fact that I never felt a rip or 'ouch' during my LAST workout, doing actual reps. I just noticed the hematoma (bruise; whatever the hell its called) . . .I'm what the hell is this, started pushing around in there and could feel it was kinda fucked up. Lately, I've been more focused on presses anyways....oh well. Thanks

[Tom Campitelli]

I don't know that you are screwed. This could be scar tissue that is bothering you, not a new tear. If that's the case, it may feel funny for a while. However, once again, I am doing to defer to some folks who have more experience with pec tears.

[John Petrizzo]

MBasic,

I have some experience rehabbing people post tendon repairs (pec, biceps, quad, achilles, etc), and in my opinion the bruising is a sign of further damage to the muscle. I have worked on people before and heard and felt an audible "pop" from scar tissue breaking up, but have never seen bruising associated with that. My guess is that you do have some old scar tissue in there, but if that was what you aggravated by benching, you would not have the associated bruising.

One of our other coaches, Nick D'Agostino, sustained a similar pec injury a few years back. His tendon is fully intact, but he suffered a grade 1 tear of the muscle belly away from the tendon. No surgery. He has to pay close attention to his bench volume. When he competes in PL competitions, his pec tends to bother him more due to having to emphasize the bench press in his training. Presses don't bother him at all.

I don't think you need to avoid benching completely, but a TM set-up is probably just too much volume for your pec to handle. Try pressing on VD and ID, and doing a couple sets of benches on your light day (maybe ramping to one top set of five?). Either way, I think the press should probably be your primary upper body lift with the bench press and chins being used to supplement it.

I hope that helps, I will ask Nick to comment as well.

[Tom Campitelli]

Gracias, John.

[MBasic]

Yes, I'll focus more on pressing....
I've decided to just do light benching (4x10) for a while, start over at 135# and go up from there.

Thanks to both John & Tom for your help.