Chest injury

JamieM8168

At the gym the other day while doing tricep dips, it felt like I popped something in my chest.
I have no idea what it was. It was very painful!! After icing it and taking off from the gym for a couple days
it does feel better, but it's still sore if I do specific movements like push ups.

Has this ever happened to anyone?

ChrisLindsay9

I think you pulled your chest muscle. I have had this happen to me plenty of times, and your description reminded me of those times. Prior to increasing my fitness through strength training, it would happen if I slept in a certain position, after sneezing, and lowering myself into a tub or basin (similar to a dip), etc. And it would sometimes linger for days.

Even as it started getting better, it felt tight if I would turn right or left. If that's what you're experiencing, then that could be symptomatic of a chest pull.

If you're relatively new to strength training, this may happen on occasion, it did for me. I don't really have that problem anymore, and if it does happen, I recover pretty quickly.

I'm not sure if stretching will help at the moment, but here's a couple of links to stretches for that area after a chest workout. I don't know if they will help minimize future chest muscle pulls/sprains, but I think they might because I started incorporating them into my post-chest workouts.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/elbows-back
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/chest-stretch-on-stability-ball
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/dynamic-chest-stretch

I hope this is of some help. Good luck to you, and hope you have a speedy recovery!

P.S. I just read your profile, congrats on the weight loss! That's really great work you've put in!

JamieM8168

Thank you!! That's what I was thinking was it had to have been a pulled muscle.

Cherimoose

It does sound like a torn muscle (= "pulled muscle"). Keep stretching it lightly to minimize scar tissue, but avoid movements that cause pain. Unless it's visibly swollen or bruised, apply heat, not ice.