Distal Bicep Tendon Pain During Bench Press

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
1

I recently started having left bicep pain during the bench press when doing RPE 8 singles on Bridge 3.0.

Pain is below my bicep but before the crotch of my forearm.

Last year I had my right distal biceps tendon re-attached after doing something dumb. The surgeon said something about this injury being genetic and it’s common for people to wind up tearing the other. I didn’t put much thought into this because of the nature of my injury. Now with this pain I’m wondering if there’s something to it.

I only feel the pain when doing the heavy single, which sometimes winds up being more of a 9 than 8.

My thought is to reduce the weight by about 10%, where I’m completely pain free and start making smaller weight increases from there.

Is there anything else I should look at…perhaps increase volume with additional sets or reps in the back off sets while I’m below RPE 8 on the singles?

Thanks

2

Hey VonMeister,

I think that’s a great idea to reduce load on the top singles and focus on building capacity. In regard to increasing volume, it may be best to wait until progress begins to stall and add in more sets on a ‘as-needed’ basis.

While I’m sure your surgeon had your best interest in mind, I don’t know that there is conclusive evidence to support the narrative he gave to you (Dr. Miles or Dr. Ray could speak to this moreso than I) and his words likely did more harm than good, which is referred to as a nocebo (more on this here - Loading... ). You should be just fine with those adjustments to loading you suggested.

Keep up the great work