So I strained what I think is intercostal muscle in my back last week. I have just been taking 800 mg of Ibuprofen when it starts acting up and trying not to do lifting movements that aggravate it. This morning I decided to go with DB bench because I felt less pressure than BB bench in my back. As I was doing my last set, instead of dropping the DBs, I kind of kicked to stand up with the DBs on my chest (dumb I know). Anyways, I felt like the muscle tore in my back. I’m guessing its just a strain, but I can’t lift anything besides a little bit on arms without it hurting. Sneezing and coughing are like death right now. My question is, what should I be doing for recovery purposes? My friend recommended that I try to stretch the area and foam roll it. I just don’t know if that’s smart with an injury like that or not. Thanks in advance!
Harris,
Given this and your other post in the training forum I am curious to know what your training program is? I think it is highly unlikely that you tore a muscle in your back without significant bruising (visible), but I can’t tell from here. I wouldn’t do anything for recovery in particular other than to modify training in a manner that allows you to continue to stay active. I would 100% recommend against stretching and foam rolling.
Jordan,
I want to first start out by thanking you for your time in replying to both of my posts. I am new to BBM and I have been very impressed with the information and resources here. No nonsense/ no BS unlike most of the other sites out there. That being said, I want to answer your question as thoroughly as possible, so I apologize for the long reply. I am 35 years old and work as a middle school PE teacher and high school track coach. During the past 10 years, I have gone back and forth between marathon running and lifting weights. I love both, but they unfortunately don’t work well together at higher competitive levels. Back in 2012-2015 I got heavier into lifting with a couple of other teachers at my school. They only lifted upper body though, so that’s what I did. One of my friends worked up to a 415 bench. I tried to keep pace, but only could get to 375 at a 200 lb body weight. I’m sure our programming was terrible, but we were just trying to add weight to the bar each week, and I guess we got pretty good at it. I stalled out at 375 and decided that I wanted to make another run at marathoning before I got too old. In 2017 I ran between 70-90 miles per week in training and ran a 2:32 marathon in October 2017. My goal was sub 2:30. Needless to say, I needed a break and decided to go back to lifting. I decided that I wanted to try powerlifting, so I needed to learn how to squat and deadlift. I made myself a program. Here is a breakdown :
M- Heavy bench (working up to a couple heavy triples and singles)
-Heavy squats (working up to a heavy double or triple)
-Other chest lifts such as DB incline, weighted dips, floor press, cable cross
-Triceps, such as skull crushers, rope pulls, etc
T- Deadlift variations such as speed pulls, deficit pulls, romanian, stiff leg (new lift so I was trying as much as possible)
-Pullups/chinups
-Row variations
-Biceps
W-off or shoulders
Th- 5 x 5 bench (adding 5 lbs each week)
-5 x 5 squat (adding 5-10 lb each week)
-Other chest and triceps, similar to Mon
F- Heavy deadlift (work up to heavy triple or singles adding 5-10 lbs a week)
-Other back and biceps, similar to Tues
S- Off or shoulders
Su- Off
So that’s a brief version I guess without explaining all exercises and sets/reps. In Nov and Dec 2017 I started reading more and discovered Starting Strength 5 x 5 and realized that I was kind of doing my own version of it. A couple weeks ago, like I said with bench in my other post, my main lifts started slowing way down. I have pulled 425, squatted 385 and also 315 x 5 x 5, and benched 265 x 5 x 5. My body weight is about 185. So I started searching for another program to start since I figure my 5 x 5 novice gains are about done. I looked at Texas Method, SS Intermediate and Advanced, 5/3/1 , and many more. They all seemed like they had good aspects, but I felt like they were all lacking in one way or another. Then I found a link to BBM and started reading everything. Everything that you two recommend makes a lot of sense. I plan on starting the Bridge in about a week, or whenever my back feels good enough to lift heavier again (btw, I feel like the injury originally occurred the day I squatted 315 x 5 x 5. My 4th and 5th sets had a couple tough and probably sloppy reps). After the Bridge, I am unsure on where to head. I feel like I have a ton of untapped potential in all three lifts. As of October I was 158 lbs and hadn’t lifted in over a year because of the heavy running volume. So I think I have been able to progress quickly and will continue to progress. Like I said earlier, I know that my programming is lacking and I need t figure it out if I want to ever see the mid-high 300s in benching again. Do you recommend running the Bridge 1.0 a couple of times, or going on to 2.0 or advanced programming and coaching?
Jordan,
I appreciate your time in responding to both of my posts. I wrote a pretty lengthy response detailing my training history to answer your training program question, but it didn’t post and a message said it was unapproved. I’m guessing that is something that I should post in a different forum anyways. Sorry I’m new to posting on discussion boards. Would that be possible to get some feedback on my program and training if I post it? My main question will be want I should do after the Bridge? But i’m sure you’ll need more details to answer that. Thanks.