Well I did it and it wasn’t fun. I’m doing flat benches yesterday and tore my right side. Best way to describe what it felt like was when you pull down a heavy duty zipper. The sound and vibration you get when doing so is what I felt. The guy spotting me said he saw the tear as it happened. I couldn’t get in to my Orthopedist until 5pm and by then the swelling was very evident. As soon as I took my shirt off he said “Oh yea, that will definitely have to be repaired!” So tomorrow I’ll have an MRI done and next week surgery. Then the fun part, rehab! Getting old sucks! Definitely dropping flat benches from my workouts now.
Depending on the location and extent, they can repair it to ‘good as new.’ If it’s a partial tear, they might recommend not repairing it after viewing the MRI. Have not done a flat bench press in many moons. Good luck.
I feel for ya! This past Christmas Eve morning, I was having my rotator cuff repaired. I had joined one of those fitness boot camps and despite being 45, approached it like I was still 25. Five months of physical therapy later, I’m ready to get back to it but I’ll be taking it slowly and damn sure not doing any more pull-ups. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
The guys that I know who have had this done were able to come back to 100% in time. Hope you experience the same level of recovery.
Perhaps we could compile a list of exercises that tend to lead to more injuries than others. I keep reading about this type of thing almost everywhere I look now. In one of the other threads we were talking about avoiding dips because they tend to cause shoulder problems… News to me, but good to know. I’d certainly like to be aware of this type of thing before I continue perform an injury-inducing movement for the next 10 years.
What I’ve gathered so far from personal experience:
Front squats aggravate my knees (knee issues in the past)
Doing pull-ups from a dead hang bothers my shoulder, from a slight bend, no problem. Same with overextended pull-downs.
I have to really warm up my shoulders and watch what I’m doing to perform barbell overhead presses or barbell bench presses. Dumbbells don’t seem to be as bad (I’m assuming because they allow for more external rotation).
It’s surely an odd feeling! I compared it to a wet towel ripping (torn quadricep during leg-press). I’m 9-months post-surgery and I’m almost at 100%. Rehab may not be fun but it is key, especially if you’re older. Stuff just doesn’t heal like when you’re 18.
I didn’t mind the rehab so much, got back in the gym 1-month later (with brace). The real PITA was showering/no driving…
Good luck with your surgery and recovery!
Actually I had fun with the shower today. It went like this… Oh Honey can you help me get this spot… Lower, lower unfortunately after the 2nd lower she told me to get it my own damn self. I had fun pushing her buttons regardless.
The ripping towel comparison is also a good one. It doesn’t really hurt right now unless I move too fast one way or another. Really stiff though and my right side is really swollen. I described it to my brother as looking like my right side is about a D cup and my normal left side is about an A cup.
20-some years ago I tore a “strand” of my right pec. Felt like a guitar string being plucked. Yep, doing flat benches. Know a guy from my current gym who also had a partial tear a couple years back…flat bench (I was there when he did it).
Even all these years later, despite muscle building up over it, if I flex you can see the narrow gap on my right pec about where the separation between the upper and lower pectoral muscles is. Thank God it didn’t tear all the way!
Question; were all of these flat bench related incidents done using barbells or a straight bar?
I only do flat bench and decline with barbells…shoulder press as well.
Also, I have been reading about some of the most popular current exercises being absolutely terrible for your shoulders…battling ropes and various types of pull ups being among the worst…and I believe dips were on that list as well.
Barbell for myself and the guy I know.
Supposedly DB’s are better for you because of a more natural motion when pressing, as opposed to having your hands locked in one position throughout the entire rep. That said, all the heavy weight type of guys lean towards barbell presses because that’s how powerlifting events are held. That plus the fact that you can move more weight on a barbell than a DB. i.e. if you can bench 300lbs with a barbell you likely can’t press 150lb DB’s. It’s not additive.
My bad…i meant dumbells, not barbells. I rarely use barbells for the very reason you mentioned. I tore my shoulder up in his school (ice hockey) and my doc had me on a very strict rehab/strength building program. He was anti surgery unless absolutely necessary and I’m very grateful for that.
Best of luck with everything!
I did this with a barbell. I wont be doing flat benches with barbells any more! Still waiting on the MRI to get a definitive diagnosis.
When you’re young the body can be wonderfully self-restorative. When you’re on the wrong side of 40 … not so much 
I’m 51 and am definitely finding that out now. This past 10 months have been a real pain. started off with getting pneumonia while at the Us Open, then a tear hamstring squating 3 weeks later, a week after Thanksgiving I had to have 2 stints put in around my heart and now I tear a pectoral muscle and have to have surgery. Somebody wrap me up in bubble wrap so I don’t cause any more damage to myself please!!
Bubble wrap … that’s hilarious!!!
10/01/14 I joined one of those fitness boot camps.
11/20/14 I had both my knees scoped.
12/24/14 I had two tendons in my rotator cuff repaired - one had to be reattached to the bone, via an anchor.
…
6/1/15 After six months of physical therapy I’ll be returning to the same class - with humility!
I’ve had two buddies do this, both big 350+ pound benchers. One guys nipples are still uneven, as we like to remind him constantly.
Bunch of old bastards in this thread…:rolleyes:
[I hit the big 5-0 in 4 months but I [b]REFUSE[/b] to surrender! You know that “old” shredded dude in the ads for XXXgenics or whatever it is? I want to be that guy when I’m his age]
This guy:
http://s1374.photobucket.com/user/easychango/media/cenegenics1_zps0211e987.jpg.html
I lift with one of my 71 yo attendings.
He kicks my ass. Some people old isn’t an option.
That’s my philosophy also. I’ve been in the gym since 1976 and God willing I’ll still be in the gym when I’m 76. People tell me all the time I need to slow down and my answer to that is NO WAY!
I had a glute tear, same ripping sound, healed fine. Small divot I can feel but not see if I flex it. I think I had a pec tear, muscle not tendon. Was benching and felt a small rip and searing pain. Bruised a little down my arm and I just rehabbed it myself. If it’s a muscle tear you won’t need surgery but your muscle belly might look funny. If it’s a tendon tear they may opt to operate if it’s complete but a lot of times partial tears are treated with PT. everyone I know has torn a pec.
