Pectoral tendonitis- help! (muscles, push-ups, arms, bench press)

[NWPAguy]

I have noticed a pattern in myself and I'm wondering if someone out there has any answers... I haven't been able to get sufficient answers thus far.

It seems that when I reach a certain level of strength on the bench press, I start suffering from tendonitis in one or more of the tendons which connect my pectoral muscle to my upper arm. My workout routine on the bench is usually six sets with the following number of reps per set: 10/10/8/3/20/17. When I get to the point of being able to do about 235 pounds for ten reps in that third set, that's usually when I start noticing the tendon pain.

In college I got up to doing 255 pounds for ten reps in a third set without pain, but now in my 20s it's been three times when this has happened to me and always at the same strength level. I bench with a flat bar, ring fingers on the flattened grip rings, and though my reps are generally pretty fast, they're no faster than I ever did them before and I don't bounce the bar off of my chest. If I stay away from benching for about two weeks after I notice the pain kicking in, it will go away.

I have very long arms and my chest is not exceptionally huge, if this helps... it's possible that this makes me have to stretch my pecs a fair amount in order to bring the bar all the way down to my chest. I don't want to be hurting myself while lifting, but I also want to get to the point of being able to bench 400. Anyone have any ideas?

P.S. Maybe you can also answer why it is that I tend to get pain in the bone, about midway up my forearms, when I do bicep curls with a bent curl bar? I use 70-95 pounds and usually do 10-15 reps/set.

[mbuszu]

1) there may be something wrong with your form - something a trained exercise science professional could help identify.
OR
2) Your body might have something wrong with it - either something in its structure which is a genetic limitation you cannot change, or it has something out of whack which a chiropractor/exercise scientist/sports therapist might be able to assist with.

Research to see if you can find a sports therapy/chiropractor to work with... I happen to have one I can recommend corresponding with in my area (he's a long time powerlifter/chiropractor... very knowledgeable in things like this), but I wonder if you'd be best off finding someone local to actually visit with.

[Atlantis]

I agree with mbuszu. Maybe your doctor or a specialist would have an answer for you, or they can refer you to a physical therapist. I was diagnosed with patellar tendonitis in my left knee, so I went through physical therapy. I don't know, maybe you can even try acupuncture.

[A Blue Window]

Your reps are odd. I stick to pyramid training, seems the most effective in my experience

[NWPAguy]

Originally Posted by Ayava

Your reps are odd. I stick to pyramid training, seems the most effective in my experience

I figure that my reps/set pattern gives me the best of both worlds. I don't want to be one of those guys who can bench 400 pounds but can't do sets with more than 200... that kind of raw strength is fairly useless if I have no stamina. Also, I don't want to be one of those guys who can do like 200 push-ups but can't bench more than his body weight... so I might be able to go forever but with little power. I do the first two sets to get myself going and then strength building comes from the lower-rep sets while stamina comes from the higher-rep sets.

[TwiloMike]

Originally Posted by NWPAguy

I have noticed a pattern in myself and I'm wondering if someone out there has any answers... I haven't been able to get sufficient answers thus far.

It seems that when I reach a certain level of strength on the bench press, I start suffering from tendonitis in one or more of the tendons which connect my pectoral muscle to my upper arm. My workout routine on the bench is usually six sets with the following number of reps per set: 10/10/8/3/20/17. When I get to the point of being able to do about 235 pounds for ten reps in that third set, that's usually when I start noticing the tendon pain.

In college I got up to doing 255 pounds for ten reps in a third set without pain, but now in my 20s it's been three times when this has happened to me and always at the same strength level. I bench with a flat bar, ring fingers on the flattened grip rings, and though my reps are generally pretty fast, they're no faster than I ever did them before and I don't bounce the bar off of my chest. If I stay away from benching for about two weeks after I notice the pain kicking in, it will go away.

I have very long arms and my chest is not exceptionally huge, if this helps... it's possible that this makes me have to stretch my pecs a fair amount in order to bring the bar all the way down to my chest. I don't want to be hurting myself while lifting, but I also want to get to the point of being able to bench 400. Anyone have any ideas?

P.S. Maybe you can also answer why it is that I tend to get pain in the bone, about midway up my forearms, when I do bicep curls with a bent curl bar? I use 70-95 pounds and usually do 10-15 reps/set.

How much rowing do you do? How much high horizontal pulling do you do?

[calstate23]

No man, it's very plan and simple....When you feel pain, it is a symptom, it is a warning to your body that something is wrong. And if your feeling pain like that when you lift heavy, it's pretty plain and simple...Your trying to lift TOO MUCH than what your body is capable of doing. Your lifting TOO MUCH and your body can't handle it. It seems to me that your trying to push yourself to higher weights but your body is not ready to handle that much weight yet. You have to take it nice and slow and don't be so eager to jump up to the higher weights. Think about it, you get the pain when you hit the higher weights, meaning it's to much stress on your muscles and tendons. Stick to the heaviest weight you can get up without feeling any pain AT ALL. And don't go a tad higher until you can do that for at least 2 weeks without feeling a pain. Once you have done that, increase the weight slightly, and I mean slightly. Than if that tiny increase in weight is painful, you NEED to drop back down to the lower weight again until you feel no pain. Sometimes people tend to overlook things, but it's very easy, you need to LISTEN to your body. Think about it, if your doing a weight that gives you pain that means it's a warning sign...So why would you go back the next week and try to hit it again? Your body will never heal until you let it get over the hump. It's like scratching a scab, if you keep pickin at that **** it is never going to heal and eventually you'll end up with chronic tendinitis which is NO FUN, I GUARANTEE you. Let that **** heal and if you feel the pain again you NEED to drop weight, BOTTOM LINE. It doesn't matter if you have to go down to 10 lbs, that's what you will need to do if you ever want this pain to stop. Actually, your quite lucky, you have been straining your body and you haven't torn your pec. What you need to do is lift at a weight that causes NO PAIN. After 2 weeks, lifting with the same amount of weight, increase the weight. If you can do that weight and it doesn't hurt, wait 2 weeks and increase a tiny bit again. If it doesn't hurt wait to weeks and make a tiny increase. At any course during this repeated process, if you ever feel pain you need to DROP back down to a lower until you can do that for 2 weeks without any pain, keep repeating this process. I GUARANTEE YOU, if you feel the pain with a lighter weight, you are definitely going to feel the pain when you bump it up....Get the drift?