I love this exercise and got noticeable changes when I started adding it to my routine.
Only problem is if I go above 45lbs of added weight my sternum gets fucked up. I get sharp pain when doing a chest-to-bar pull-up motion, and also when releasing pressure from my chest. 70lbs of added weight was what caused this, 4 weeks ago and I haven’t done dips since.
I’m not really sure what causes this or if it is a form issue, but I’d really like to be able to add more weight because it was a little light even at the very end of a chest workout.
I know some other people have gotten chest pain doing dips - were there any solutions or things that helped? Or should I just drop the exercise for now.
[quote]Tumbles wrote:
I love this exercise and got noticeable changes when I started adding it to my routine.
Only problem is if I go above 45lbs of added weight my sternum gets fucked up. I get sharp pain when doing a chest-to-bar pull-up motion, and also when releasing pressure from my chest. 70lbs of added weight was what caused this, 4 weeks ago and I haven’t done dips since.
I’m not really sure what causes this or if it is a form issue, but I’d really like to be able to add more weight because it was a little light even at the very end of a chest workout.
I know some other people have gotten chest pain doing dips - were there any solutions or things that helped? Or should I just drop the exercise for now. [/quote]
This is probably because the weights are too much for your tendons/ligaments near your sternum which are attaching your pec muscles.
I had the same thing as you a while ago, except I had 100lbs underneath me, ignored the pain and eventually felt a ‘pop’ resulting in a sharp pain in my pec for a month or so.
I wouldn’t say you should drop the exercises, just lower the weight and let the strength of your tendons/ligaments catch up to the strength of your muscles.
[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
Tumbles wrote:
I love this exercise and got noticeable changes when I started adding it to my routine.
Only problem is if I go above 45lbs of added weight my sternum gets fucked up. I get sharp pain when doing a chest-to-bar pull-up motion, and also when releasing pressure from my chest. 70lbs of added weight was what caused this, 4 weeks ago and I haven’t done dips since.
I’m not really sure what causes this or if it is a form issue, but I’d really like to be able to add more weight because it was a little light even at the very end of a chest workout.
I know some other people have gotten chest pain doing dips - were there any solutions or things that helped? Or should I just drop the exercise for now.
This is probably because the weights are too much for your tendons/ligaments near your sternum which are attaching your pec muscles.
I had the same thing as you a while ago, except I had 100lbs underneath me, ignored the pain and eventually felt a ‘pop’ resulting in a sharp pain in my pec for a month or so.
I wouldn’t say you should drop the exercises, just lower the weight and let the strength of your tendons/ligaments catch up to the strength of your muscles.
[/quote]
I hadn’t even considered that might have been the issue.
I’ll see if a slower ramping up of the weight helps things along - pretty sure it would be wise to wait until I am not in pain to start doing this though.
Have the same problem man, i can do bench, incline, decline, dumbbells. But once i get to dips bro it starts hurting, it started hurting when i put 3 45s on my waist trying to look like a hard ass and ended up looking like a dumb ass although pumping out 2 reps with it, i got a sharp pain in the sternum so therefore i stopped lol.
Ill give it a month or (till pain stops) to do dips again, but weighted dips are def my favorite tricep exercise!
Try doing decline bench or decline dumbbell bench.
if you want to simulate it even more, try doing decline dumbbell bench with the handles parallel to your body.
Decline DB bench is good. As is the bar. I was able to do those with my shoulder injury.
Aside from that you have to find new ways to stimulate your muscle growth other then just trying to go massive with your weights. It’s a road to injuries that will plague you for years to come and are no fun. I hate to sound pessimistic, but injured body parts will forever be a weak point. Even after they heal, they will have a tendency to “light up” once in a while.
This is probably because the weights are too much for your tendons/ligaments near your sternum which are attaching your pec muscles.
[/quote]
based on the info provided this sounds exactly right.
generally recommended by physical therapist friends of mine:
ice and ibuprofen, then after the first few days switch to heat instead of ice to help improve circulation.
and if it is a strained tendon, don’t try stretching it for a while, it’s already been over-stretched.
I used to have the same problem. I think it occurs from pushing yourself beyond what you can do and causing injury. I love this exercise because even at a young age and scrawny size I was always very good at it. I tried to show off with it and ended up messing up my sternum (i thought permanently) so I set my ego aside and dropped the weights a bit and SLOWLY started progressing instead of making giant leaps to show off for nobody. lol
I can now do 3x8 with a 115lb dumbell attached to my chain…
[quote]Dirty Gerdy wrote:
I used to have the same problem. I think it occurs from pushing yourself beyond what you can do and causing injury. I love this exercise because even at a young age and scrawny size I was always very good at it. I tried to show off with it and ended up messing up my sternum (i thought permanently) so I set my ego aside and dropped the weights a bit and SLOWLY started progressing instead of making giant leaps to show off for nobody. lol
I can now do 3x8 with a 115lb dumbell attached to my chain…
DG[/quote]
It’s not entirely a thing about ego - more like feeling I should be doing the heaviest weight for reps that I can. Besides, competing against yourself is the best way to make progress and stay motivated!
I’m going to ease up though and take these a little slower - don’t like being hurt too much.
[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
Tumbles wrote:
I love this exercise and got noticeable changes when I started adding it to my routine.
Only problem is if I go above 45lbs of added weight my sternum gets fucked up. I get sharp pain when doing a chest-to-bar pull-up motion, and also when releasing pressure from my chest. 70lbs of added weight was what caused this, 4 weeks ago and I haven’t done dips since.
I’m not really sure what causes this or if it is a form issue, but I’d really like to be able to add more weight because it was a little light even at the very end of a chest workout.
I know some other people have gotten chest pain doing dips - were there any solutions or things that helped? Or should I just drop the exercise for now.
This is probably because the weights are too much for your tendons/ligaments near your sternum which are attaching your pec muscles.
I had the same thing as you a while ago, except I had 100lbs underneath me, ignored the pain and eventually felt a ‘pop’ resulting in a sharp pain in my pec for a month or so.
I wouldn’t say you should drop the exercises, just lower the weight and let the strength of your tendons/ligaments catch up to the strength of your muscles.
[/quote]
[quote]Tumbles wrote:
Dirty Gerdy wrote:
I used to have the same problem. I think it occurs from pushing yourself beyond what you can do and causing injury. I love this exercise because even at a young age and scrawny size I was always very good at it. I tried to show off with it and ended up messing up my sternum (i thought permanently) so I set my ego aside and dropped the weights a bit and SLOWLY started progressing instead of making giant leaps to show off for nobody. lol
I can now do 3x8 with a 115lb dumbell attached to my chain…
DG
It’s not entirely a thing about ego - more like feeling I should be doing the heaviest weight for reps that I can. Besides, competing against yourself is the best way to make progress and stay motivated!
I’m going to ease up though and take these a little slower - don’t like being hurt too much.
[/quote]
For me it was ego at the time. lol
But yes pushing yourself beyond your limits is always a good thing…as long as it isn’t hurting you in a bad way. lol
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
This is often a problem with young guys. Go light, don’t hurt yourself.[/quote]
2nd. There are many similar posts, and most of them are are from guys under 25.
Edit: Also, when I was a kid I never even tried a dip before I could do 50 consecutive pushups (only cause I didn’t know about dips), and I never had this feeling. The whole chest area might just need to be “toughened.”
I used to get quite a bit of pain around my collar bones and sternum when I first started doing non-weighted dips. Now I don’t get any pain at all, even when doing heavy weighted dips for low reps.
I think it’s just a matter of easing yourself through it.