Pain where shoulder/bicep/tricep meet

[samspade]

I'm hoping some of you can shed light on this - would rather not go to a doctor's office right now, but will if it persists.

Basically I've had a dull pain on the side of my upper arm for a number of months. It's not specifically in the bicep or tricep, more like the tendon that connects them to the shoulder (I think). It neither gets better nor worse, just smarts, especially when I do the bench.

I watched some videos and adjusted my bench press form, and I do a practice set with no weights, just the bar. Still, on the first set I feel it a lot. Not so much on ensuing sets. It's only on my left side, the right is fine. It only hurts when I move my arm a certain way (like if I do an 'L' shape with the arm) or sleep on it for a long time. Otherwise, I don't feel it.

I've had muscle pains that come and go, sometimes they last some weeks and then go away.

Anyone here experienced this?

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Potential impingement of the bicep tendon. I had this back in college days and it progressively got worse to the point I couldn't even really bench because the one side was pumping it up and the other side was super weak and couldn't push it up.

Does it get worse when you do more benching?

Basically it's a compression injury...think of the bicep tendon inside what looks like a stalk of celery...it glides up and down as you move it...when you lift weights, sometimes that stalk gets compressed and the tendon now begins to rub against the sides of it causing inflammation and fraying of the tendon. Pushing movements usually bother it the most(bench, etc)

The only answer is to stop lifting for a while or do things that don't aggravate it. If you fray it to the point it ruptures, then you will need surgery and likely will be limited in what you can do going forward.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I had something similar from doing dip pushups.. i never did seek medical care. It's been about two years, pain mostly gone now, but it would feel like being stabbed when I reach out. I still can't throw a lead hook like I used to.

 

[samspade]

Potential impingement of the bicep tendon. I had this back in college days and it progressively got worse to the point I couldn't even really bench because the one side was pumping it up and the other side was super weak and couldn't push it up.

Does it get worse when you do more benching?

Basically it's a compression injury...think of the bicep tendon inside what looks like a stalk of celery...it glides up and down as you move it...when you lift weights, sometimes that stalk gets compressed and the tendon now begins to rub against the sides of it causing inflammation and fraying of the tendon. Pushing movements usually bother it the most(bench, etc)

The only answer is to stop lifting for a while or do things that don't aggravate it. If you fray it to the point it ruptures, then you will need surgery and likely will be limited in what you can do going forward.

Thanks man. It doesn't get worse when I do more benching...in fact, after the first set the pain subsides a bit. I'm really loathe to take a break from lifting, but maybe there's an alternative to the bench I can do for a bit that isolates the chest more.

 

[DonJuanjr]

I had this also. It affected my benching for about a half a year. I had to do light weight for that time frame. It started when I hit a certain weight with my bench. I then lost strength due to letting it heal. Later, I ended up getting it again in the other arm when I hit that weight in bench again. So I switched my reps/weight and I've since gotten stronger with no problems.

Yes. I had shoulder problems also when I reached around 215-220lbs on bench. Follow this :

-15 degree decline Benchpress
Ramp up - 115/10 145/8 165/6 185/4 215/2 285/1
Set 1 - 245 - 6
Set 2 - 215 - 9
Set 3 - 205 - 10
Set 4 - 190 - 11

I do ramp ups not warm ups. lbs/reps
The idea is to do only one heavy set in the 4-6 rep range first. Then do 2 sets at 10rep range. Then the last set at 15rep range. You can see I failed 2 of my sets with the given weights on my last chest day.

Before I Switched to this training , I was doing 3-4 sets of 4-6rep range weight. Once I switched, my shoulder pain went away, and I got stronger.

With each subsequent chest exercise I do 10 rep range for all sets, reducing weight if needed.

I forgot to add. The reason for the slight decline is, a lot of people don't have the right shoulder rotational mechanics to prevent injury on flat bench.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Thanks man. It doesn't get worse when I do more benching...in fact, after the first set the pain subsides a bit. I'm really loathe to take a break from lifting, but maybe there's an alternative to the bench I can do for a bit that isolates the chest more.

Try doing decline. Flat bench puts your body in a physiologically compromised position and causes a lot of shoulder injuries. Decline is much more natural position

 

[darksprezzatura]

Try doing decline. Flat bench puts your body in a physiologically compromised position and causes a lot of shoulder injuries. Decline is much more natural position

Bump.

Also @samspade none of us have examined you and probably aren't doctors.

Don't risk it and see a good physio.

Till then

- shoulder mobility
- hot/cold treatment
- rest

might help.

Adding to @BackInTheGame78, bench pressing has generally caused most of my shoulder issues as it requires great shoulder mobility to avoid injuries.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Bump.

Also @samspade none of us have examined you and probably aren't doctors.

Don't risk it and see a good physio.

Till then

- shoulder mobility
- hot/cold treatment
- rest

might help.

Adding to @BackInTheGame78, bench pressing has generally caused most of my shoulder issues as it requires great shoulder mobility to avoid injuries.

I would add to start doing an exercise called Dynamic Blackburns regularly (like daily). They are tremendous for shoulder issues and helping to rehab and even prehab(prevent injuries)

 

[samspade]

Thanks guys. I'm taking a little time off from weightlifting. It's been under a week and the pain is lessening already. Going to give it another week and see how it feels.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Thanks guys. I'm taking a little time off from weightlifting. It's been under a week and the pain is lessening already. Going to give it another week and see how it feels.

Smart decision, although eventually if you train long enough you will pretty much always have something that is bothering you at one time or another, so learning how to train around things is a good skill to have too...

 

[samspade]

Smart decision, although eventually if you train long enough you will pretty much always have something that is bothering you at one time or another, so learning how to train around things is a good skill to have too...

I was thinking about that...maybe doing the "bench" (or incline press) on the Smith machine where there's more iso on the chest? I'm still going to give it some more rest just to be safe. In the past I've had pains like this, they've come and gone and I've found ways around them. This one lasted several months, always flared up after lifting.

 

[Reyaj]

I was thinking about that...maybe doing the "bench" (or incline press) on the Smith machine where there's more iso on the chest? I'm still going to give it some more rest just to be safe. In the past I've had pains like this, they've come and gone and I've found ways around them. This one lasted several months, always flared up after lifting.

How much can you bench?

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I was thinking about that...maybe doing the "bench" (or incline press) on the Smith machine where there's more iso on the chest? I'm still going to give it some more rest just to be safe. In the past I've had pains like this, they've come and gone and I've found ways around them. This one lasted several months, always flared up after lifting.

No, don't train chest/shoulders with pressing motions...but you can do other things like extra leg work, extra ab work, maybe some pulling motions of those don't bother it, etc..

 

[samspade]

How much can you bench?

Consistently (10 reps), around 155-160 lbs. / 70 kilos. No spotters.

If a hot chick is watching, 165. (Kidding.)

 

[DonJuanjr]

I was thinking about that...maybe doing the "bench" (or incline press) on the Smith machine where there's more iso on the chest?

It's not a good idea to do benching on a smith machine because it doesn't allow your shoulders to move at the angles that are natural for them.

 

[samspade]

Update. It's been two weeks since I did any lifting. Also haven't had any alcohol. The pain is subsiding slowly. I no longer feel pain when I wake up, which is great. I do mobility tests and there's still inflammation but it's not quite as bad. Today I hit the gym but didn't do anything involving chest or shoulders. Time is truly the best healer...hopefully in another 2-4 weeks it will be gone.