Bicep/Brachialis Pain After Benching

I’ve been getting pain in my biceps and brachialis after benching >~70%. Any lighter and it doesn’t bother me at all. I have tried warming up the area, stretching it, wearing elbow sleeves, rolling prior to benching, etc. but nothing seems to help at all. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Back off and let it heal. I’ve had this issue.

High rep light weight bodybuilding. Use bands too. Sets in the 20-50 range. Do not bench if there’s pain. Bench only up until you start to notice pain and then stop and move on to the other stuff.

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I’ve found light, high rep hammer curls very helpful with elbow pain. Also, yes, rest.

Thanks, there is no pain while benching and I am about 4 weeks out of competition so I will just take it easy and try volume and see if it helps, especially after my comp.

Do you squat low bar? Do you squat either immediately before benching or the day before?

I only squat low bar leading into a comp but this pain is year round. If I go low bar too long my shoulders can’t take it because I’m on the larger side (Between 340 and 350 right now). I do most of my squatting off season in a SSB simply because it’s more comfortable.

Do you do rows, chin ups, and/or other upper back exercises like band pull aparts, face pulls, rear delt flys? How about curls? Neglecting external shoulder rotation and elbow flexion while doing lots of benching can cause issues for a lot of people, but if you’re already doing a good amount of that then I’m not sure what to tell you. At worst you could just keep doing what you are doing until after the meet and take a week or two off from benching. Ibuprofen after training is another option, but not a long term solution because it interferes with hypertrophy.

I do a ton of upper back 2x a week, but not much biceps. It might just be that my triceps are much stronger overall than my biceps and creating an imbalance.

You don’t need to go all out on biceps, but some direct work is likely a good idea, particularly barbell curls. Take a look at the “Should Powerlifters Do Curls” article on elitefts.

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“Biceps are like ornaments on a christmas tree” - Ed Coan

“Curls I finish with two sets of curls. I take a light warm-up and then do a heavy set to finish up. I don’t do a lot of curling and unlike most other weight trainers never had a love affair with my biceps. This entire workout takes maybe fifty minutes to complete.”

Gallagher, Marty. COAN The Man, The Myth, The Method: The Life, Times & Training of The Greatest Powerlifter of All-Time (Kindle Location 3123). Gillingham High Performance. Kindle Edition.

See I knew you could read

Are you benching with a wide grip? I had the same issue a while back and started using a slightly narrower grip and it worked a treat.