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Strain in pectoralis area - any suggestions how to strengthen / prevent it?

strain in left pectoralis area makes certain exercises impossible or painful

crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted

Hey Ladies / Hermanites;

I've been recently getting back into lifting and training after several years of pausing.

Everything so far progresses fine. But i keep having this issue in the pectoralis area.


I only seem to have it on the left side, the right side doesn't make any issues.

It doesn't trouble in every day tasks, really only in certain exercises .

 

(i just took my latest progress pic to show where - and marked the area with a red arrow)

 



I am not certain if it is a tendon in this area or actually the muscle, but dips and negative pullups are really painfull there, and so are (more or less) all other exercises that include that area.

 

I am wondering if there is a good tip to
a) prevent it from hurting (a special warmup, or exercise etc)
and
b) what exercises are good to strengthen that area without putting too much strain onto it?
(as i don't want it to become a chronic issue)

 

Also to the ladies:

 

How do you manage to actually keep your breasts at least a bit female shaped?

Mine always just shrink as soon as my bodyfat level drops and when i am exercising. But eating more diary products or fat doesn't work for me as i tend to store fat easily into a skinny-fat physique. I mean we all know with training and clean eating they will 'suffer' a bit :) but some ladies seem to have an easier time to maintain the shapes of those. So i am wondering if there is any good tips for that to share, and certain "nono" exercises maybe.

 

Much thanks in advance! :)

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: crood

Hey Ladies / Hermanites;

I've been recently getting back into lifting and training after several years of pausing.

Everything so far progresses fine. But i keep having this issue in the pectoralis area.


I only seem to have it on the left side, the right side doesn't make any issues.

It doesn't trouble in every day tasks, really only in certain exercises .

 

(i just took my latest progress pic to show where - and marked the area with a red arrow)

 



I am not certain if it is a tendon in this area or actually the muscle, but dips and negative pullups are really painfull there, and so are (more or less) all other exercises that include that area.

 

I am wondering if there is a good tip to
a) prevent it from hurting (a special warmup, or exercise etc)
and
b) what exercises are good to strengthen that area without putting too much strain onto it?
(as i don't want it to become a chronic issue)

 

Also to the ladies:

 

How do you manage to actually keep your breasts at least a bit female shaped?

Mine always just shrink as soon as my bodyfat level drops and when i am exercising. But eating more diary products or fat doesn't work for me as i tend to store fat easily into a skinny-fat physique. I mean we all know with training and clean eating they will 'suffer' a bit :) but some ladies seem to have an easier time to maintain the shapes of those. So i am wondering if there is any good tips for that to share, and certain "nono" exercises maybe.

 

Much thanks in advance! :)

Hey @crood, sorry to hear about your injury. Seems like a muscle strain to me. You can easily try to stretch/warm-up that area by doing the old fashion doorway stretch where you put your arms up on the doorway and lean forward.

 

You can also try shoulder breakers. That is when you take a long pole and hold it with a wide grip infront of your body and then try to go up and over your head and bring the pole to your butt without letting go. You can do this with a bungee or resistance band as well.

As far as the breasts, it comes down to genetics. Some woman just maintain their breast size as they lose bodyfat where others do not. I am not away of any tricks, wish I could help more. Maybe some of th othr Lady Hermanites can chime in?

Need 1 on 1 coaching? Send me a direct message to learn more!
crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted

Hello there,

thanks for the fast reply :) I will try the warmup with the stick / or band. It seems a nice way to get that area moving / blood into it.

 

About the pectoralis: yeah i was assuming its a strained muscle as well. (tendons normally hurt more in every day movement when these are torn or strained) I can't really recall any incident. Maybe that side is just weaker and it was a slow process of being stressed.

 

Though i was wondering: due to a flue i had a 14 days break, shouldn't a smaller muscle strain heal in such a period?

 

 

As for the breasts: yeah was kinda aware of it being mostly genetics. But was hoping maybe some addition in the diet aside from dairy products could influence it a bit. And asking never hurts! Maybe, as you said, some of the ladies have a tip.

But it's not too much of a big deal - i think the good all over shape outweighs it by far =)

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: crood

Hey Ladies / Hermanites;

I've been recently getting back into lifting and training after several years of pausing.

Everything so far progresses fine. But i keep having this issue in the pectoralis area.


I only seem to have it on the left side, the right side doesn't make any issues.

It doesn't trouble in every day tasks, really only in certain exercises .

 

(i just took my latest progress pic to show where - and marked the area with a red arrow)

 



I am not certain if it is a tendon in this area or actually the muscle, but dips and negative pullups are really painfull there, and so are (more or less) all other exercises that include that area.

 

I am wondering if there is a good tip to
a) prevent it from hurting (a special warmup, or exercise etc)
and
b) what exercises are good to strengthen that area without putting too much strain onto it?
(as i don't want it to become a chronic issue)

 

Also to the ladies:

 

How do you manage to actually keep your breasts at least a bit female shaped?

Mine always just shrink as soon as my bodyfat level drops and when i am exercising. But eating more diary products or fat doesn't work for me as i tend to store fat easily into a skinny-fat physique. I mean we all know with training and clean eating they will 'suffer' a bit :) but some ladies seem to have an easier time to maintain the shapes of those. So i am wondering if there is any good tips for that to share, and certain "nono" exercises maybe.

 

Much thanks in advance! :)

Chris,

 

Having recovered from a Type 2 strain in my left bicep, I can tell you that stretching and warming up the muscle is critical to prevent either further damage or constant re-injury. You more than likely have a Type 1 strain. I wrote an article on muscle strains you can read here:

 

http://scotthermanfitness.com/articles_viewer.php?rID=61

 

Scar tissue is the enemy and if you have any of it, it is important to stretch out and warm the area before exercising it :-)

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted
Posted By: jmboiardi

Chris,

 

Having recovered from a Type 2 strain in my left bicep, I can tell you that stretching and warming up the muscle is critical to prevent either further damage or constant re-injury. You more than likely have a Type 1 strain. I wrote an article on muscle strains you can read here:

 

http://scotthermanfitness.com/articles_viewer.php?rID=61

 

Scar tissue is the enemy and if you have any of it, it is important to stretch out and warm the area before exercising it :-)

 

John

Hey John,

 

First of thanks for obviously looking into my profile before answering (the fact you named me by my first name shows so). It tells me you are being considerate, which is much appreciated. (or just being curious - which is a good skill too, imho ;))

 

Now back to the topic:

 

Thanks for the link to your article! Luckily i knew a bit of it already from my active times in sports. (i have - unfortunately - strained quite a few tendons and also stressed my muscles and ligaments in various ways). But this is about 10 years ago, and the insight and knowledge about these things has evolved a lot. Especially in terms of how certain things are treated today, compared to 10 years ago. Thus it was an interesting read :)

I am also very aware of how crucial warmup is before exercising. And i usually spend 15 minutes to do so. And additionally i do a warmup set with lower weights (around 50-75 %) before doing the actual exercise. After 10 years of doing nothing i am very well aware of my muscles being shortened, ligaments being a bit stiff - and also i am not 20 anymore!

I was poking here in hope to find a 'certain' good warmup exercise, as well as strengthening exercise for that speciffic area.

@Scott_Herman (thanks again) gave me already good tips for the warmups.

As you also said in your article, and i had been wondering in my former answer, normally such a muscle strain should be gone in about 14 days. I had a break of that time due to a flue, but it just won't vanish completely. It keeps coming back more or less strong. Which is very bothersome. Any ideas about that, aside from scar tissue?

 

Also what happened to the "do not stretch" before trying to build muscles - rule? I once learned that 'warmups' (i.e. big movements) are needed but 'stretching' in certain should be avoided as it would be contraproductive.

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
SavvvyD
SavvvyD g Savvvy D
54 Post(s)
54 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: July 7, 2014
Posted

I'm not sure either on the breast issue :/ I'm shrinking in the breast and butt area. I have added weighted bridges to build my glutes but I don't think there is a way to keep breasts more feminine. I do honestly think about implants in the future but not everyone wants that. Hopefully someone else has input! I agree on the dairy intake...milk, cheese and ice cream are the devil 😈

crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted
Posted By: SavvvyD

I'm not sure either on the breast issue :/ I'm shrinking in the breast and butt area. I have added weighted bridges to build my glutes but I don't think there is a way to keep breasts more feminine. I do honestly think about implants in the future but not everyone wants that. Hopefully someone else has input! I agree on the dairy intake...milk, cheese and ice cream are the devil 😈

Dairy is needed. Just not the amount we'd normally get when just eating all the preprocessed stuff. Or when following the bad tradition to put a big slice of it on every bread we eat! There really lays the 'devil' as you said..hehe

It contains good things for bones and the rest of the body, including vitamins and minerals. And i prefer real intake often over supplements.


Cotton cheese i.e. is a great protein source (up to 30 g protein per 100 g!!!) and if you take the lowfat version it doesn't even have a lot calories / fat. I actually eat cotton cheese with some fruit cut into it, or as addition on a salad to feel saturated and to get a good protein intake :)

 

But yeah unfortunately with lowering the whole dairy/-fat intake, also our breats (depending on our genes as we figured) seem to say good bye in some cases.

I personally would never get anything put in there. Small breasts can look nice too if they fit to the rest of your body, and shouldn't tear down your self esteem in any way! If i can influence it with food - fine, if not it won't bother me too much either. I'm doing this for me and not others. I guess that is what's important.

If they don't like my chest they can look at my flat belly, it's neat too!!!
But of course that is something everybody feels different and should do as they feel best :)

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
SavvvyD
SavvvyD g Savvvy D
54 Post(s)
54 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: July 7, 2014
Posted

Lol @ "If they don't like my chest they can look at my flat belly" I won't know if I will go ahead with them until I get to the level of fitness I want. I'm not sure if they would suit my frame even if I keep them small which would be the plan. Especially with lower body fat. Some people look worse with them than without, I'm not worried about it yet :D

crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted
Posted By: SavvvyD

Lol @ "If they don't like my chest they can look at my flat belly" I won't know if I will go ahead with them until I get to the level of fitness I want. I'm not sure if they would suit my frame even if I keep them small which would be the plan. Especially with lower body fat. Some people look worse with them than without, I'm not worried about it yet :D

lol, glad it gave you a little giggle =)

 

And yes i agree with you, if any contemplations are to make you should wait until you reached your goal. So you know what the exact endresult is that you are facing and if you can 'live with them', so to say.

 

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: crood

Hey John,

 

First of thanks for obviously looking into my profile before answering (the fact you named me by my first name shows so). It tells me you are being considerate, which is much appreciated. (or just being curious - which is a good skill too, imho ;))

 

Now back to the topic:

 

Thanks for the link to your article! Luckily i knew a bit of it already from my active times in sports. (i have - unfortunately - strained quite a few tendons and also stressed my muscles and ligaments in various ways). But this is about 10 years ago, and the insight and knowledge about these things has evolved a lot. Especially in terms of how certain things are treated today, compared to 10 years ago. Thus it was an interesting read :)

I am also very aware of how crucial warmup is before exercising. And i usually spend 15 minutes to do so. And additionally i do a warmup set with lower weights (around 50-75 %) before doing the actual exercise. After 10 years of doing nothing i am very well aware of my muscles being shortened, ligaments being a bit stiff - and also i am not 20 anymore!

I was poking here in hope to find a 'certain' good warmup exercise, as well as strengthening exercise for that speciffic area.

@Scott_Herman (thanks again) gave me already good tips for the warmups.

As you also said in your article, and i had been wondering in my former answer, normally such a muscle strain should be gone in about 14 days. I had a break of that time due to a flue, but it just won't vanish completely. It keeps coming back more or less strong. Which is very bothersome. Any ideas about that, aside from scar tissue?

 

Also what happened to the "do not stretch" before trying to build muscles - rule? I once learned that 'warmups' (i.e. big movements) are needed but 'stretching' in certain should be avoided as it would be contraproductive.

Chris,

 

Glad I could help out and your insights are spot on - I have been in technology sales for over 20 years so knowing someone's name is a critical first step :-)

 

As to your question, I combine the two. I do a couple warm up sets and stretch after each set - especially when doing biceps. Scar tissue and muscle fascia greatly benefit from this in the long run. As to your pectoralis, if you are finding you keep re-injuring the area you may want to look into ART - Active Release Therapy. A sometimes painful but excellent form of massage that permanently breaks up scar tissue and alleviates nagging issues.

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted
Posted By: jmboiardi

Chris,

 

Glad I could help out and your insights are spot on - I have been in technology sales for over 20 years so knowing someone's name is a critical first step :-)

 

As to your question, I combine the two. I do a couple warm up sets and stretch after each set - especially when doing biceps. Scar tissue and muscle fascia greatly benefit from this in the long run. As to your pectoralis, if you are finding you keep re-injuring the area you may want to look into ART - Active Release Therapy. A sometimes painful but excellent form of massage that permanently breaks up scar tissue and alleviates nagging issues.

 

John

Hey John,

 

a freelancer talking to a salesman. I guess we both know the ins and outs of good manners, and that being prepared and gaining information is essential :)

thanks a bunch for the tips! i'll look into that. As i think the fact that it keeps reappearing, even after longer breaks, might be a sign for some consistant damage or weakness that needs extra attantion / special treatment / excersises

Your input is much appreciated!

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
muscular strength
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