Have you ever experienced chest strain from low bar squat?
I have been dealing with an issue in my right pec that I think is sourced from a specific day I was LBBSing. I felt like I may have overcorrected my elbows cue and strained too hard squeezing upper back and holding elbows downed. This was in November. I was able to work back up slowly back to 315 but somehow irritated it again: this time I think during LBBS while doing pin squats. That was a few weeks ago and still feel that “tenderness” in my pec even on warn Ups and am fearful of exerting real effort past 80 percent.
so with that background probably my real question is: how do you toe the line between discomfort in getting back to form?
for example, on my sets today I could get through bench of 245x4 fairly easily but still had a bit of nagging discomfort (just not intolerable or necessarily painful). At what point do you think that discomfort is being “conditioned” and when weight should be dropped to a point of no discomfort.
Some additional notes:
running PLII just restarted week 1
incline close grip bench press has no right pec discomfort (strangely - even when going heavy (275 felt fine the week prior)
wider flat bench grips irritatesmore than narrow grip
no issues squat/deadlift
any other programming suggestions to workout around would also be greatly appreciated. It stinks because I feel like I bench seriously could blow up so much if I didn’t have this nagging issue
I’ve never personally had pec pain from squatting, but definitely my shoulder. I’m wondering if you’re holding the bar a bit too low or with a grip that is hard for you to train. I don’t think you should feel anything in your pec when squatting. Shoulder sensitivity seems more possible/probable. I’d have to take a look at your squat to check it out.
Regarding pain during training, my rule of thumb is that it shouldn’t get worse with training, e.g. more pain, soreness, and so on during or after training. I also arbitrarily draw the line at ~ 4 out of 10. I also like doing some direct work for areas where there’s pain for desensitization.
I would definitely want to clean your squat up, attack your discomfort aggressively, and get you back on the road to gainzZz. If you need more specific help, we’re here.
Thank you for the advice. To clarify, my squat actually has no pain, it’s the bench press where I feel sensitive. Perhaps it was an aggregation of a previous injury, but I never actually felt anything on squat, it was only after I went to bench press afterwards and felt the pec discomfort. I was able to work up before so I’ll give another go. Today I did tempo bench 245x5 and it felt ok just mild discomfort (maybe a 2/10). I will cut singles and just stick to back off sets for the time being on bench days.
Thanks again - this is free advice you give out here and it’s so much appreciated (I promise I make it up though by buying templates, supplements and hopefully attending another seminar soon)
