Injured Chest Doing Traps?

i was doing dumbell shurgs…and somehow i injured my left pec. the best way i can describe the is that its deep inside and kinda underneath my pec. i did a yahoo and google on this and found nada. everyone i’ve told looks at me like im crazy. but this is what happened.

any feedback? thanks

I can’t give much insight, but I’ve done something similar. Occassionally I get a strain/cramp in the same location of my pec while doing deadlifts when I get to the top. I always presumed that it was due to very intense whole body contraction.

You are not crazy.

Shrugs with the BB or DB held in front of the body will activate the upper pecs quite a bit. Could also be your shoulders were rounded forward during the movement.

This actually makes an excellent pre-fatigue movement when done right before some presses, but that doesn’t sound like your intent.

Hold the DBs at your side with a parallel grip set-up. As you pull up, also concentrate on keeping your shoulder blades tight, or even pulling them together as you move towards the top. This will give you more of an intense contraction of the traps. You may want to drop the poundages just a bit for the first couple of times you try this.

What many may not realize is that the traps are not just the part up top, but also go down the midback to a point about even with the bottom of your shoulder blades. When viewed from the back the overall muscle structure looks like a big “T”. T for Traps, get it?

Later,
Scott

You better hope that this minimal pain is all you have…your shoulders are probably on their way to getting messed up. Drop the shrugs, read into corrective exercises like the ones described in all the articles about messed up shoulders and how to fix them. The most recent one by MR and BH is excellent. good luck.

[quote]simon-hecubus wrote:
You are not crazy.

Shrugs with the BB or DB held in front of the body will activate the upper pecs quite a bit. Could also be your shoulders were rounded forward during the movement.

This actually makes an excellent pre-fatigue movement when done right before some presses, but that doesn’t sound like your intent.

Hold the DBs at your side with a parallel grip set-up. As you pull up, also concentrate on keeping your shoulder blades tight, or even pulling them together as you move towards the top. This will give you more of an intense contraction of the traps. You may want to drop the poundages just a bit for the first couple of times you try this.

What many may not realize is that the traps are not just the part up top, but also go down the midback to a point about even with the bottom of your shoulder blades. When viewed from the back the overall muscle structure looks like a big “T”. T for Traps, get it?

Later,
Scott [/quote]

i do hold the dumbells at my side. not a fan of the barbell due to the bar hitting me in places i dont want to be hit.

i was going light. i think i hurt myself on 75lber’s i go as heavy as 175.

but i am going to drop the weight and use better form for awhile when i get back to doing traps. i havent done my traps or chest in every since. i’m going to wait another 2weeks.

thanks

[quote]bruinsdmb wrote:
You better hope that this minimal pain is all you have…your shoulders are probably on their way to getting messed up. Drop the shrugs, read into corrective exercises like the ones described in all the articles about messed up shoulders and how to fix them. The most recent one by MR and BH is excellent. good luck.[/quote]

i saw that article saved it. im going to read it tonight. i have a history of shoulder injuries. i had major surgery on my left shoulder and i’ve had a rotar cuff tear in my right.

you’re saying that me hurting my chest is a sign that my shoulders are next? or are you saying shurgs arent good all together?

my workouts are in the end of the day 90percent of the time. i hurt myself working out in the morning…i was stiff before i got to the gym…not a morning lifter at all. i was holding the contraction on the shurg more then usualy since i was trying to warm up. maybe that had something to do with it. i usual go up and down fast and controlled.

i was really freaked out the first week it happened. but im feeling a lot better now.
im going to read that article and drop the weight for now when i get back. thanks.