I was benching a little over 2 weeks ago and the bar slipped out of my hands near lockout and crashed onto my sternum. I had to tip the bar to one side to let the plates slide off the bar to get it off my chest. At the time it was more embarrassing than painful so I finished most of that day’s workout.
Later that night sternum and side ribs under my armpits started feeling it. I took a few days off and then tried lifting light andI couldn’t even get through warm ups. So now I’ve just been on the shelf for two weeks. Super frustrating and what’s making it worse is that I feel like it got a little better the first few days off and hasn’t improved since. In fact some days it feels almost like it just happened again.
I’m wondering if anyone else has a similar experience with a significant rib injury and can offer any feedback. Suggestions for rehab or how/when to ease back into training? How long was it before you felt back to even just 80%-90%? How long before you could train at the weights you were at and hit new PRs? I hate this time off but I also don’t want to reinjure or prolong the healing. Last thing I need is a new nagging injury. Should I continue to rest at this point or just start and ease back in?
For context, I was NOT using a suicide grip. I always use a standard thumbs around grip specifically to avoid this happening. Apparently if the bar is slightly bent or off balance, it can start to subtly roll forward and no matter how strong your grip strength is, at heavy loads, it will open your thumb and fall if you have any momentary loss of focus or wrist rigidity. It happens in a split second without warning and a spotter wouldn’t be able to react in time. The benches at my gym do not have safeties so I may start setting up a bench in a power rack with safety pins.
I’m also open to any suggestions on holding the bar more optimally and better form overall. In every form video I’ve seen, some version of the cue, “straight wrists, punch the ceiling” is always mentioned. I think I was too focused on that and my wrists were too straight.
If you got this far I really appreciate your time.