Appreciate the transparency here, a lot of people in the industry sweep their injuries under the rug, or are embarrassed by them. Glad it isn't as severe as first thought!
@@coacheugeneteo , FWIW, I’m a 58 year old NASM CPT who has been benching for over 40 years. Warm ups - if one is going over 135lbs. , that’s not a warmup. A warmup is 20 reps with an empty 45 lb bar, maybe two sets of 16 with 135. In addition, all the surrounding muscles need to warm up so face pulls, forearms, some light one armed rows are needed. It takes up to 20 minutes to get the body ready. Rotator cuff external rotations, static stretches, all that needs to be done THROUGHOUT the workout because, yes, you can cool down during the workout. Just another perspective from a guy who has been injured and learned how to avoid it. I hope you heal up soon.
@@MusicStudent1 freak accidents can still happen man. I'm only 33 and just tore mine with 225 on my 3rd set of 3x12 on rep 2.. Warm up Rcuffs tries and chest every week. Go from bar > 95 > 135 > 185 every time regardless of maxing or not. Felt fine that day and it just randomly happened. Been a power lifter for 10 years and gym since 16. Hit over 335 multiple times.. It can just happen when you least expect it regardless of all the prep/prevention you take daily..
@@brettlewis2900yep man I tore mine on my 3rd set of 8 at 185. I’m 40 but still an easy weight for me. I had just got off antibiotics and the doctor told me that and roids are the main cause of tears. I’m pissed no one told me that before
This is a very necessary and humanizing video....I know others have spoken about transparency. I just wanna say how the care you're receiving is a testament to the wonderful person you've been to other people. Best wishes from Jamaica.
The same thing happened to me. The doctor just said to rest it and gave no ultrasound or MRI. But I have full mobility and it doesn't seem super painful.
It's really cool that you went over all the factors that could have contributed to the injury and didn't demonize the exercise, like some other people on this platform do ;) Shows your honesty and open-mindedness. Wishing you a speedy recovery!
No lol, people get injured during bench press because the loading is higher and ego is usually more involved compared to many other chest movements.@@rockon8174
This is one of the reasons I don’t do flat bench press anymore. Being in my late 40’s, I would rather do something else for chest. Good luck and safe speedy-healing.
@@Mocorn You can find a ton of information on the net about it. Aside from it being dangerous of the barbell falling straight on to you, it puts a lot of stress on the pec tendons, puts them in a vulnerable position, and can also add injury to the shoulders. If you read about pec tears and shoulder injuries, a lot stem from the flat bench. A lot of bodybuilders don't ever do flat bench. Mostly incline. If they do flat, they do it with dumbbells. Which is what I do, but even then, I still put a slight incline on the bench.
I tore my pec the exact same way. Working in with a big group of friends and I was the strongest repping 200 and on the last set and on the last rep I tore my pec. 7 months later I still fight the shitty discomfort in my pec whenever I train my upper body.
Sorry to hear about your injury, Eugene! I had a pec tear and partial bicep tear while failing to rack a barbell bench press last August. Physio has come a long way to help me get my strength back. I hope you can work your way back as well!
Pack your shoulders in tight. Rep 60% of your 1rm and do not try to increase your rom by pushing up your shoulder like you did in the video. Now I have torn my pec before on bench. But I was not following what I just said and thats why it happened. I was trying to increase the weight too fast and I was lowering the barbell too fast.
Any updates since the date it is video was uploaded? I have the same injury but no more restrictions. I can do 50 pushups now. I wonder where to progress from here?
'I haven't done a barbell bench press in about 7 years now' MAYBE there is some causal relation to the tear... With this light loads tears are really unlikely
The worrying thing for all of us is that he doesn't really know how it happened. Although obviously not optimum, the sleep and eating excuse mentioned in the vid seems like a bit of a stretch in these circumstances to be honest. If I were pushed to blame anything, it would be Eugene's more-recent callisthenics and gymnastics type training. In other words, his body is just not used to moving actual heavy weights around, or more specifically, and as obvious as it sounds, moving a loaded barbell around. Therefore, it sounds like something of a negative for switching to dumbbell-only work to me. Anyway, I'm glad it wasn't a high-grade tear, and hopefully it repaired itself quite quickly. Just to say, in my own experience of tearing a muscle during lockdown, complete rest and getting private physio a couple of times a week to begin-with was key, and I only needed six or seven sessions in total before I was back up-and-running (grade 2 calf tear, not chest).
Please do make a post treatment recovery video. It will be a life saver. And please do also add whatever precautionary measures you see fit to avoid muscle tears, especially as a natural lifter, keeping rate of recovery in account.
Perfect video this is exactly what happened to me two days ago but no pain the next day only my chest bit puffier ! Top upper chest feels softer but puffy pushing out like a bigger muscle filled with water ! I think I better get ultrasound
I think it happened because you are very strong and the patterns followed on the rings can make your bench press numbers go up fast. But as you say the joint position,s and the weight, were to much for the actual integrity of the muscle fibres in that very particular area. An area that probably dodged intense exposure
The comeback is always greater than the setback! Get well soon Eugene! Would be great to see your approach on building back any lost strength/mass once the recovery phase is over
Love your transparency and open-mindedness! Btw I've been learning a lot of speaking techniques from you! You speak much better than many of my professors and teachers!
Eugene, I am very glad I watched your video. I had an intramuscular pec tear similar as yours. My injury also does not need surgery. I actually had not bench pressed in a year and decided to bench press with a personal trainer. I incremented weight and I tore my pec at a similar weight as yours. I had previously been pressing using machines lifting heavy weight, but it seems like my body was not used to the bench press stance which is separating the arms more than you would with machines.
How has your recovery been? Its been 3 weeks ofr me now. i have no pain anymore but I have pTSD with benching now and afraid to even try the bar lol. Havent loaed up my chest at all in the past 3 weeks either
Holy shit!! I think i have the same thing as you because i was benching today for reps and i had that slight pain in that area same as yours for a week but I ignored and today something happened i reracked the weights and couldn’t even lift it up afterwards. I don’t have bruises as well but i can feel the pain it’s different. It’s in my left chest and I’ve had left shoulder injury 2 months ago which i recovered smartly but this just feel different. I went to hit back after that isolation obviously but I couldn’t do it mentally idk why.
i've pearsonally noticed that pausing on the chest between reps reduces any potential discomfort, and probably the risk of injury. hope you get back to 100% soon!
Who's the real ego lifter, the guy who does heavy barbell lifts a few times a week because he wants to be strong, or the guy who is lifting for aesthetics and pure vanity? Honestly, no dig at Eugene, people can lift however they like. By reflex I'm just offended when people call the bench press a vanity lift. Its all I do for chest some times and its one of my best bodyparts. I'm 40 and regularly do 30k steps for my job and bench in the evenings, never had a pec problem. It's more than likely just going too heavy on something you rarely do that caused this rather than the lift being inherently dangerous. It's SUPER rare for anyone who benches less than 4 plates to tear a pec, almost unheard of. But then most people lifting that heavy have a reduced ROM and pinch their shoulders back, which Eugene doesn't do. So my advice is, if you're trying to keep up with your buddies, bench the easy way, not the shoulders rounding full ROM pec development way.
I think likely the combination of you being exhausted, dehydrated and under fed coupled with doing an excerise you havent done in a lengthy time and perhaps not warming up as slowly as you typically would have because you were excited to train with Pat. Still sucks to see it happen to such a fantastic human being but it definitely could have been a lot worse! Speedy recovery!
Heal well. Absolutely weird timing. Had the same sensation while benching today too. I have a feeling it's a tear or I strained it pretty good. No bruising so we shall see.
@@VikingFitness00 been doing light pushups and band work. Not sore anymore but hurts when I put pressure on it. I won't be pushing weight on bench for a couple weeks.
Turn to Jesus people he died for your sins, Repent of what the New Testament describes as sin. Believe the gospel obey the teachings of Jesus documented in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus is the only way to be saved, be baptized if you have faith in Jesus then you will live life with him as your example. If you need prayer i'll pray for you. If you want to keep contact with a brother in Christ i’ll keep contact with you. The love of God is beyond our understanding. God bless,.,.
I bet this isn't 'cause of the bpress itself maybe check your testo levels, or, are you on some kinda cutting diet when it happened? Or maybe think about what was your usual pec workout before that workout, and as I "know", it's kinda "difficult" to tore a pec being natural, but possible, specially with being on some kinda cutting diet phase, or being "too lean" (that I can't see here), but maybe a low calorie diet... Alied with low testo levels.
Stiff bar flat bench is how most ppl tear a pec. Not beating the ego lifting allegations, I do the same the thing lol. You addressed it not being the bench but came back around to that in the end. Like you said 30kg dumbbells wouldn't do that. Glad you're better bro
That warmup set did NOT look easy. Would you mind sharing your full warmup up to that point? Like, how many warmup bench sets had you done at what weight, and did you do anything before you started benching?
@@thibaultguerand3521 not really sure 100% but I think it's a combination of too heavy shrugging without proper warmup, and overactive use of levator scapula over a period of time due to bad posture. It felt super tight and hurt that I couldn't twist my neck.
@@j10ul27 I see. Thank you very much for your feedback. Shrugs do indeed tax more the levator scapula than traps, contrary to popular beliefs (if traps, mostly mid traps). So sorry to hear that. Hope you'll have a great recovery. Do you train your neck now with other exercices to strengthen it?
@@thibaultguerand3521 thanks too! I'm trying to be more picky with my exercise selection now. And yes I'm trying to strengthen it back by doing lateral raise since last week. higher rep range & RIR 2-5. Recovery rate is still at around 90%ish since last week.
Ok sounds more like a schedule issue..you need to rethink ur schedule. Athletes will usually try and be in a place at least for a week before a game. U r an athlete doing loads of physical work but you will break urself with that heavy schedule, no rest and jetlag. Remember ur blood goes through something when you fly a lot /sitting a lot
Just out of curiosity what did the tear feel like during the exercise? I was recently doing incline bench and felt tightness and a burning sensation, like someone putting out a cigarette in a similar spot you got your injection. I have given it about two week rest with rolling and massage gun treatment. My pain hasn't been bad since but I do still feel tightness when I do back or arm workouts, but no burning feeling.
Gym is our temple, to enter uncleansed will result in god’s punishment. Nutrition, hydration, recovery… Prepare thyself before entering this hallowed ground.
I notice you had your elbow flare out and also you had wide grip on the bench press, that how I tore my pec. I been lifting for years and I try to change up my approach to hit a different angle( wide grip with my elbow flare out which cause the injury) I normally don’t do a wide grip and my elbow are close to my body that helped me prevent injury.
Bro same thing happened to me 3 weeks ago. iusually benched narrow, more tucked elbows my entire life. and a fellow gym goer told me going wider will shorten my ROM. i shouldve tried it with light weight knowing its a new form. and attempted my PR with it and felt a tearing sensation during the rep. Then immense pain. was only a partial tear thankfully
@@DenzLaRocQue yeah lucky your tendon didn’t rip off your bone if I was you I take a break on chest for a bit and once your recover start doing push up and see how it feels
I’m 35 and work out alone. What should my approach to the bb bench be? If only narrow grip and/or floor press with no set less than 5-6 reps, safe? Or still risk for pec tear?
Yes, narrow to medium grip is a smart move and reduces chances of a pec tear. Retracting your scapula fully also helps reduce risk. Main thing is to listen to your body, bench press is a great movement for upper body strength. Check out john haacks bench form.
You're lucky it wasn't a tear at the tendon. Torn mine right off the bone last year and had surgery, only to tear it again a month after :/. Had surgery again and now I'm a year in and on 70% strength I think. Can do push-ups and muscle ups tho but the recovery was hard and the mentals have sufferd aswell. Oh well, hope yours goes well! Cheers from the Netherlands
I used to bench press 315 lbs. I took 2 years off from it meanwhile still doing push ups. I went to try benching 225 after warming up and on my 3 set on my 6th rep, snap. Tore my right peck. My whole bi cep was almost black the next day. The outside of my peck was a little yellow. After a couple months I'm working out that peck slowly and super light weight. I believe my arm was also dislocated and I accidentally relocated it. Its feeling better. Taking a break from bench pressing then returning lightly is the key.
Eugene, it's crazy I just saw a post about pec tears recently. Do you think that the partial tear was from not doing barbell bench press for 7 years like you said? This video I saw on pec tears said that pec tears come from when people train only a certain/partial range of motion on the bench press. If you bench press heavy weight and go past the range of motion that you normally train, that's when you get a tear. I wish you a full and speedy recovery!
Imho lack of proper recovery + 7 years without benching + jumping right into a 90kgs "warmup" set played a very big part in causing the injury. The bench press has little to do with that by itself
First thing that came to my mind was the long distance travel, jet lag, etc. ...not necessarily the flat bench. Get well soon mate... really enjoying your posts.
Get well soon man! Completely agree it’s not always the exercise but many factors! Very interested to see your recovery process and how you adapt through the fluctuations of rehab! Good luck I’m rehabbing too!
Well said. Easy to demonize one particular variable (i.e. "benchpress"), and perhaps it played a role, but these are almost always relative to the sum of involved parts, depending on magnitude of effect. For whatever reason, the strongest evidence in research are what you mentioned, as far as I'm aware: sleep, fatigue, nutrition quality/quantity, and stress. Overloading is definitely a factor, but novelty plus the aforementioned probably played a larger role.
You do not need Flat or incline press dips or flys to develop pecs ever. use decline cable or dumbbell press And seated cable or machine press nothing else
My sympathies man. Same thing happened to me in my mid 20's. I still remember the sound of slight tearing as I lowered the bar. Haven't wanted to flat bench since. What's weird is that I was doing relatively light weight for sets of 8-10 reps with an RPE of 6-7. Mainly just to get in some extra volume. That's why I was shocked when it happened.
@@patrickjulius7352 - Up until that point I was hitting PR's and doing well with progressive overload, programming, and recovery. Also mobility work too. Plus I'd been lifting for a decade at that point so my form was on point and I was definitely advanced. So there were zero indicators of a potential tear looming. It was just one of those fluke occurrences that you can't explain. If anything I don't like the psychological toll it took. I mean I do incline bp (bar and DB) standing OHP, (bar and DB), weighted dips, and weighted pushups. But I just cannot bring myself to flat bench. It genuinely traumatized me.
@@ryandeffley7652 I bet man. If I had that same injury I’d stay away from it too. I’m sure you’re not missing anything by doing those others you mentioned.
I hurt my chest doing weighted dips, like a costondritis, and it hurts when I throw my shoulders forward or my head. Any recommendations on how to fix this injury? thanks and good video
Back away from dips for a few weeks and work on thoracic mobility and some neck training. Then work your way back to dips with good form. Don't let your shoulders fall forward and keep a extended upper back/ neck posture when dipping. I like to imagine someone pulling on a imaginary string on my head when dipping. Also working on arm extension mobility with a stick can help. I'm not medical professional but I've suffered with costochondritis for the past year. For more advice I recommend checking out the r/costochondritis subreddit
from how you describe your life leading up to the injury, i’m absolutely not surprised you got hurt. my body would have fallen apart haha. best of luck with your recovery!
Excellently well-rounded objective description of your experience- I’m noticing how you are able to detach emotions from your story. That mindpower is exactly that: agency over your experience. That parasympathetic ventral vagal will heal you quickly
Just felt something while benching very similar to what you experienced. Wasn’t sure if I should go the doctor or not, but you helped make that decision and I’m definitely going to. This video was incredibly helpful, thank you.
first of all it's good that your recovery was good, I had the same injury, as you described it, I was in my last set, excited to increase the maximum weight by 10lb, it was 110kg (I was used to 100kg 6-8 repetitions) but I wanted to try increasing weight for at least 1 rep, in that I felt like something was bursting inside my pectoralis major and with help I removed the bar, after that I felt my right pectoral pumped, but I felt something strange inside, like an internal tear, The strange thing is that if I could move my arm well in any direction, 2 days have passed and I have no discomfort or blood bruises, but I do have the feeling that there is something inside my pectoral, and I have taken pain reliever and massages with ointment since that day .Greetings.
Hi, Eugene! I hope you have successfully recovered! Thanks a lot for educating the world for free and for spreading positive gym attitude, we need you to come back stronger and healthier! I have a question though - you said that you haven't barbell benched for about 7 years prior to injury. I also remember that Ryan Crowley also did not barbell bench pressed for a year before his horrible pec tear. Am I right to assume that even high weights on machines or cables do not provide significant carry over to barbell? How should one switch from cables/machines to barbells safely? Should he start barbell presses very, very low, maybe even 50-60% of cable/machine 1RM and gradually build it to cable/machine weight over the course of several weeks instead of directly hopping in to the same weight? Thanks!
Wish you a speedy recovery, I'm a newbie and I press around 47Kg on both flat as well as decline, what factors should I keep in mind to avoid such injuries ?
@@thapelomaraisane8705 dumbbells are fine until you run out of dumbbells. They strengthen the wrist and stability muscles far more and give you a very powerful foundation for sheer force. Dumbbells are OP as heck
You should read Järvinen et al. 2005 - Muscle injuries: Biology and treatment (PMID: 15851777) now, also, the effect of PRP is barely mentionable, so save your money. The most important thing with tears is the rehab to prevent too much scar tissue forming, which increases the risk of reinjury in the future.
Oh man this is my fear , but things happen and we just have to be careful . I felt the blood boil in my stomach when I saw your pain damn dude I’m sorry
Love your content. I'm no expert. But I hope you may consider my critique of the injury assessment. My opinion is your warm up sets were too heavy and too new, considering you hadn't been bench pressing for a while. Just seeing how long your reps took, they were very slow for a warm up. I think you should've started at your 30 rep weight and slowly work up. But I'm guessing you didn't think you had time. I hurt myself doing the same thing, not enough accumulation or acclimation to a movement.
Mine has been torn or strained for 17 yrs now after a collision playing semi pro football. After impact my arm was stuck in the air and felt a burn in the scapula like the bone edge was sticking through the skin. AFter about 10 minutes I was able to lower my arm and went back on the field. A couple of weeks later during practice I jammed a player and heard a pop from my shoulder but there was no pain. A couple years ago I started feeling pain and it gets wrose while moving in certain directions and upward movements. I had an MRI yrs ago and they didnt see tears. I am in pain almost daily and now Im about to go through firefighter school in Dec. I also workout 2-3 times a week still. When I palpate I feel pain in the front, the top of my shoulder, the side of my shoulder where the insertion point is, and the back shoulder. Still have yet to get an accurate diagnosis.
Appreciate the transparency here, a lot of people in the industry sweep their injuries under the rug, or are embarrassed by them. Glad it isn't as severe as first thought!
Hi Sensei !
Thanks mate! Yes big relief
@@coacheugeneteo , FWIW, I’m a 58 year old NASM CPT who has been benching for over 40 years. Warm ups - if one is going over 135lbs. , that’s not a warmup. A warmup is 20 reps with an empty 45 lb bar, maybe two sets of 16 with 135. In addition, all the surrounding muscles need to warm up so face pulls, forearms, some light one armed rows are needed. It takes up to 20 minutes to get the body ready. Rotator cuff external rotations, static stretches, all that needs to be done THROUGHOUT the workout because, yes, you can cool down during the workout.
Just another perspective from a guy who has been injured and learned how to avoid it. I hope you heal up soon.
@@MusicStudent1 freak accidents can still happen man. I'm only 33 and just tore mine with 225 on my 3rd set of 3x12 on rep 2..
Warm up Rcuffs tries and chest every week. Go from bar > 95 > 135 > 185 every time regardless of maxing or not. Felt fine that day and it just randomly happened.
Been a power lifter for 10 years and gym since 16.
Hit over 335 multiple times.. It can just happen when you least expect it regardless of all the prep/prevention you take daily..
@@brettlewis2900yep man I tore mine on my 3rd set of 8 at 185. I’m 40 but still an easy weight for me. I had just got off antibiotics and the doctor told me that and roids are the main cause of tears. I’m pissed no one told me that before
Take it easy coach! I would love to keep up with the recovery process if you have time and energy to produce the content.
Thank you! 🙏
This is a very necessary and humanizing video....I know others have spoken about transparency.
I just wanna say how the care you're receiving is a testament to the wonderful person you've been to other people.
Best wishes from Jamaica.
Thank you! 🙏
The same thing happened to me. The doctor just said to rest it and gave no ultrasound or MRI. But I have full mobility and it doesn't seem super painful.
It's really cool that you went over all the factors that could have contributed to the injury and didn't demonize the exercise, like some other people on this platform do ;) Shows your honesty and open-mindedness.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Thanks!
Bench press is not necessary to build the Chest. That's why people get injured doing the Bench press!
@@rockon8174 that is not a logical statement
No lol, people get injured during bench press because the loading is higher and ego is usually more involved compared to many other chest movements.@@rockon8174
Dehydration leads to less muscle pliability and robustness => increased risk of muscle tears. This is an often underestimated risk.
Absolutely!
Hoping you have a speedy recovery mate, your content has helped me a lot with my training and fitness journey all the best from the UK.
I appreciate that!
This is one of the reasons I don’t do flat bench press anymore. Being in my late 40’s, I would rather do something else for chest. Good luck and safe speedy-healing.
Absolutely agree. Thanks mate
What is it about the flat bench that causes a tear over other exercises?
@@Mocorn You can find a ton of information on the net about it. Aside from it being dangerous of the barbell falling straight on to you, it puts a lot of stress on the pec tendons, puts them in a vulnerable position, and can also add injury to the shoulders. If you read about pec tears and shoulder injuries, a lot stem from the flat bench. A lot of bodybuilders don't ever do flat bench. Mostly incline. If they do flat, they do it with dumbbells. Which is what I do, but even then, I still put a slight incline on the bench.
I see you did not watch the video: 9:46
@@drschwandi3687 I actually did. I understand how he could have gotten it, but still. If he was doing a different exercise, would that have happened?
It's amazing how you are taking it in the right spirit. Cheers and get well soon.
Thanks!
I tore my pec the exact same way. Working in with a big group of friends and I was the strongest repping 200 and on the last set and on the last rep I tore my pec. 7 months later I still fight the shitty discomfort in my pec whenever I train my upper body.
Sorry to hear about your injury, Eugene! I had a pec tear and partial bicep tear while failing to rack a barbell bench press last August. Physio has come a long way to help me get my strength back. I hope you can work your way back as well!
How about, QUIT BENCH PRESSING!!!!
Lol 😅 His tendons couldn't keep up with his use of gear.
Hi Eugene. Even injured you’re an inspiration. Your honesty with us is a reminder to take care when working out. Quite admirable really.
Thank you! 🙏
How much did u pray bro for the needle bro?, kinda going through the same issue
Pack your shoulders in tight. Rep 60% of your 1rm and do not try to increase your rom by pushing up your shoulder like you did in the video. Now I have torn my pec before on bench. But I was not following what I just said and thats why it happened. I was trying to increase the weight too fast and I was lowering the barbell too fast.
Any updates since the date it is video was uploaded? I have the same injury but no more restrictions. I can do 50 pushups now. I wonder where to progress from here?
'I haven't done a barbell bench press in about 7 years now'
MAYBE there is some causal relation to the tear...
With this light loads tears are really unlikely
The worrying thing for all of us is that he doesn't really know how it happened. Although obviously not optimum, the sleep and eating excuse mentioned in the vid seems like a bit of a stretch in these circumstances to be honest. If I were pushed to blame anything, it would be Eugene's more-recent callisthenics and gymnastics type training. In other words, his body is just not used to moving actual heavy weights around, or more specifically, and as obvious as it sounds, moving a loaded barbell around. Therefore, it sounds like something of a negative for switching to dumbbell-only work to me. Anyway, I'm glad it wasn't a high-grade tear, and hopefully it repaired itself quite quickly. Just to say, in my own experience of tearing a muscle during lockdown, complete rest and getting private physio a couple of times a week to begin-with was key, and I only needed six or seven sessions in total before I was back up-and-running (grade 2 calf tear, not chest).
did you have mri orultrasound that confirmed it was grade 2 tear? When did you get into pt and when did you guys start loading with calf raises?
Thanks for posting this man! The dynamic ultrasound seems amazing and wish more docs used it. Excited to see your rehab and get better 👍🏼🙌🏽💙
When you've totally ruptured it mate, ya know straight away.
Best way i can describe it, is like 2 massive peices of velcro being pulled apart 😖
Please do make a post treatment recovery video. It will be a life saver. And please do also add whatever precautionary measures you see fit to avoid muscle tears, especially as a natural lifter, keeping rate of recovery in account.
Perfect video this is exactly what happened to me two days ago but no pain the next day only my chest bit puffier ! Top upper chest feels softer but puffy pushing out like a bigger muscle filled with water ! I think I better get ultrasound
Poor sleep and poor hydration is the number one cause I recon for tears and weaker conective tissues
I am so happy for you when he said it was a partial tear your face lifted all the stress i have been there.. how are you so far ?
Pretty much full recovery now!
I think it happened because you are very strong and the patterns followed on the rings can make your bench press numbers go up fast.
But as you say the joint position,s and the weight, were to much for the actual integrity of the muscle fibres in that very particular area.
An area that probably dodged intense exposure
The comeback is always greater than the setback! Get well soon Eugene! Would be great to see your approach on building back any lost strength/mass once the recovery phase is over
Thank you! 🙏
Love your transparency and open-mindedness!
Btw I've been learning a lot of speaking techniques from you! You speak much better than many of my professors and teachers!
Were you under the rapid loss cycle? I wonder if during aggressive cuts i should be more cautious about my movements.
Nah I've been back to maintenance for a little bit. But for sure the history of it may have played into it!
Eugene, I am very glad I watched your video. I had an intramuscular pec tear similar as yours. My injury also does not need surgery. I actually had not bench pressed in a year and decided to bench press with a personal trainer. I incremented weight and I tore my pec at a similar weight as yours. I had previously been pressing using machines lifting heavy weight, but it seems like my body was not used to the bench press stance which is separating the arms more than you would with machines.
How has recovery been bro?
I'm coming off the same injury. Speedy recovery, mate!
Same to you!
How has your recovery been? Its been 3 weeks ofr me now. i have no pain anymore but I have pTSD with benching now and afraid to even try the bar lol. Havent loaed up my chest at all in the past 3 weeks either
Also got a pec strain. It's a really small one so I just have to let it heal for a week
Holy shit!! I think i have the same thing as you because i was benching today for reps and i had that slight pain in that area same as yours for a week but I ignored and today something happened i reracked the weights and couldn’t even lift it up afterwards. I don’t have bruises as well but i can feel the pain it’s different. It’s in my left chest and I’ve had left shoulder injury 2 months ago which i recovered smartly but this just feel different. I went to hit back after that isolation obviously but I couldn’t do it mentally idk why.
I tore my intercostal muscles sneezing and had the same plasma treatment. It healed me up with no pain in a few weeks!
Bruh. How do you tear a muscle sneezing. I'm never sneezing again. 😅
I just got an injury today and it sucks :(
i've pearsonally noticed that pausing on the chest between reps reduces any potential discomfort, and probably the risk of injury. hope you get back to 100% soon!
Who's the real ego lifter, the guy who does heavy barbell lifts a few times a week because he wants to be strong, or the guy who is lifting for aesthetics and pure vanity?
Honestly, no dig at Eugene, people can lift however they like. By reflex I'm just offended when people call the bench press a vanity lift. Its all I do for chest some times and its one of my best bodyparts. I'm 40 and regularly do 30k steps for my job and bench in the evenings, never had a pec problem. It's more than likely just going too heavy on something you rarely do that caused this rather than the lift being inherently dangerous. It's SUPER rare for anyone who benches less than 4 plates to tear a pec, almost unheard of. But then most people lifting that heavy have a reduced ROM and pinch their shoulders back, which Eugene doesn't do. So my advice is, if you're trying to keep up with your buddies, bench the easy way, not the shoulders rounding full ROM pec development way.
I think likely the combination of you being exhausted, dehydrated and under fed coupled with doing an excerise you havent done in a lengthy time and perhaps not warming up as slowly as you typically would have because you were excited to train with Pat. Still sucks to see it happen to such a fantastic human being but it definitely could have been a lot worse! Speedy recovery!
Thank you! 🙏
You're a smarter guy than me, but warming up with more than 1 plate on bench when you've not done it in a long time doesn't sound so smart.
That’s what I was thinking. Even if you rep 405, you should still do at least one rep with one plate and increase up to your working weight.
I'm getting surgery this upcoming month in mine, I had a full tear.
Excited to see your recovery
Super happy to of had you out here in halifax, can't wait to apply everything you taught us!!!
🙏🙏
Heal well. Absolutely weird timing. Had the same sensation while benching today too. I have a feeling it's a tear or I strained it pretty good. No bruising so we shall see.
Hope it's ok!
update?
@@VikingFitness00 been doing light pushups and band work. Not sore anymore but hurts when I put pressure on it. I won't be pushing weight on bench for a couple weeks.
What a coincidence, same thing happened to me a week ago. Hope you get well soon
Turn to Jesus people he died for your sins, Repent of what the New Testament describes as sin. Believe the gospel obey the teachings of Jesus documented in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus is the only way to be saved, be baptized if you have faith in Jesus then you will live life with him as your example. If you need prayer i'll pray for you. If you want to keep contact with a brother in Christ i’ll keep contact with you. The love of God is beyond our understanding. God bless,.,.
I bet this isn't 'cause of the bpress itself maybe check your testo levels, or, are you on some kinda cutting diet when it happened? Or maybe think about what was your usual pec workout before that workout, and as I "know", it's kinda "difficult" to tore a pec being natural, but possible, specially with being on some kinda cutting diet phase, or being "too lean" (that I can't see here), but maybe a low calorie diet... Alied with low testo levels.
Stiff bar flat bench is how most ppl tear a pec. Not beating the ego lifting allegations, I do the same the thing lol. You addressed it not being the bench but came back around to that in the end. Like you said 30kg dumbbells wouldn't do that. Glad you're better bro
That warmup set did NOT look easy. Would you mind sharing your full warmup up to that point? Like, how many warmup bench sets had you done at what weight, and did you do anything before you started benching?
The same thing happened to my levator scapula 1 month ago. damn it sucks and hurts.
Get better soon for us. 🍻
Damn!!
How did it happen, if I may ask?
@@thibaultguerand3521 not really sure 100% but I think it's a combination of too heavy shrugging without proper warmup, and overactive use of levator scapula over a period of time due to bad posture. It felt super tight and hurt that I couldn't twist my neck.
@@j10ul27 I see. Thank you very much for your feedback. Shrugs do indeed tax more the levator scapula than traps, contrary to popular beliefs (if traps, mostly mid traps). So sorry to hear that. Hope you'll have a great recovery.
Do you train your neck now with other exercices to strengthen it?
@@thibaultguerand3521 thanks too!
I'm trying to be more picky with my exercise selection now.
And yes I'm trying to strengthen it back by doing lateral raise since last week. higher rep range & RIR 2-5.
Recovery rate is still at around 90%ish since last week.
Ok sounds more like a schedule issue..you need to rethink ur schedule. Athletes will usually try and be in a place at least for a week before a game. U r an athlete doing loads of physical work but you will break urself with that heavy schedule, no rest and jetlag. Remember ur blood goes through something when you fly a lot /sitting a lot
Flat bench is death, don’t do flat bench if you are not a powerlifter period.
Just out of curiosity what did the tear feel like during the exercise? I was recently doing incline bench and felt tightness and a burning sensation, like someone putting out a cigarette in a similar spot you got your injection. I have given it about two week rest with rolling and massage gun treatment. My pain hasn't been bad since but I do still feel tightness when I do back or arm workouts, but no burning feeling.
Damn I just recently pulled a chest muscle and I did bruise. Damn I need to go get checked.
Wish you a speedy recovery coach! Please keep all of us update with your post injury have a great time in Canada
Thank goodness! Still sucks but man it’s better news
Absolutely!
Gym is our temple, to enter uncleansed will result in god’s punishment.
Nutrition, hydration, recovery…
Prepare thyself before entering this hallowed ground.
I just watch the video. You tore it because of very bad form. You should've just done dumbells instead of barbell.
I notice you had your elbow flare out and also you had wide grip on the bench press, that how I tore my pec. I been lifting for years and I try to change up my approach to hit a different angle( wide grip with my elbow flare out which cause the injury) I normally don’t do a wide grip and my elbow are close to my body that helped me prevent injury.
Bro same thing happened to me 3 weeks ago. iusually benched narrow, more tucked elbows my entire life. and a fellow gym goer told me going wider will shorten my ROM. i shouldve tried it with light weight knowing its a new form. and attempted my PR with it and felt a tearing sensation during the rep. Then immense pain. was only a partial tear thankfully
@@DenzLaRocQue yeah lucky your tendon didn’t rip off your bone if I was you I take a break on chest for a bit and once your recover start doing push up and see how it feels
@@kevina3882 yeah I’m def taking another 4 weeks off of chest completely then will try that. How has your recovery been since your injury?
@@DenzLaRocQue I can’t complain I just have a small battle scar and a little discomfort here and there.
I’m 35 and work out alone. What should my approach to the bb bench be? If only narrow grip and/or floor press with no set less than 5-6 reps, safe? Or still risk for pec tear?
Yes, narrow to medium grip is a smart move and reduces chances of a pec tear. Retracting your scapula fully also helps reduce risk. Main thing is to listen to your body, bench press is a great movement for upper body strength. Check out john haacks bench form.
Did that happen because u didn't retract ur scapula while pressing? Have just watched ur video about that. Now I'm afraid 😱
You're lucky it wasn't a tear at the tendon. Torn mine right off the bone last year and had surgery, only to tear it again a month after :/. Had surgery again and now I'm a year in and on 70% strength I think. Can do push-ups and muscle ups tho but the recovery was hard and the mentals have sufferd aswell. Oh well, hope yours goes well! Cheers from the Netherlands
unfortunately you won't be able to bench again after the surgery. If you do, it will keep tearing from the same spot.
Stop putting feet up on a bench press! Geez why is everybody doing this? You get almost no bracing and shoulders roll forward.
That wasn't a pec tear....I have suffered a pec tear. You pulled your pec muscle. I havedone that several times.
Ok Doctor 😂
You don't have to be a doctor to know that.
It was a tear. It wasnt a complete tear but it was a tear.
Glad to hear your on the mend, hope you're back to 100% soon. Really appreciate you sharing this 👍
Thank you! 🙏
I used to bench press 315 lbs. I took 2 years off from it meanwhile still doing push ups. I went to try benching 225 after warming up and on my 3 set on my 6th rep, snap. Tore my right peck. My whole bi cep was almost black the next day. The outside of my peck was a little yellow. After a couple months I'm working out that peck slowly and super light weight. I believe my arm was also dislocated and I accidentally relocated it. Its feeling better. Taking a break from bench pressing then returning lightly is the key.
I ruptured a pec and I can't get to 40% of what I was it's hard but I keep going it's a hell of a injery
Eugene, it's crazy I just saw a post about pec tears recently. Do you think that the partial tear was from not doing barbell bench press for 7 years like you said? This video I saw on pec tears said that pec tears come from when people train only a certain/partial range of motion on the bench press. If you bench press heavy weight and go past the range of motion that you normally train, that's when you get a tear.
I wish you a full and speedy recovery!
Imho lack of proper recovery + 7 years without benching + jumping right into a 90kgs "warmup" set played a very big part in causing the injury. The bench press has little to do with that by itself
First thing that came to my mind was the long distance travel, jet lag, etc. ...not necessarily the flat bench. Get well soon mate... really enjoying your posts.
Thank you! 🙏
It IS the flat bench! How can you be this ignorant!!! He didn't tear his pec brushing his teeth! He tore it doing the BENCH PRESS!
Get well soon man! Completely agree it’s not always the exercise but many factors! Very interested to see your recovery process and how you adapt through the fluctuations of rehab! Good luck I’m rehabbing too!
Thank you! 🙏
I always tell people be safe
Baby steps in your way back
Thank you! 🙏
My pleasure bro anytime you need tips hit me up
Did he say first warmup set at 90 kilos? If so the problem is pretty clear.
I heard another will known chiropractor say this is the worse thing you can do so which is it and whose right?
Well said. Easy to demonize one particular variable (i.e. "benchpress"), and perhaps it played a role, but these are almost always relative to the sum of involved parts, depending on magnitude of effect. For whatever reason, the strongest evidence in research are what you mentioned, as far as I'm aware: sleep, fatigue, nutrition quality/quantity, and stress. Overloading is definitely a factor, but novelty plus the aforementioned probably played a larger role.
Yes!
You do not need Flat or incline press dips or flys to develop pecs ever. use decline cable or dumbbell press And seated cable or machine press nothing else
My sympathies man. Same thing happened to me in my mid 20's. I still remember the sound of slight tearing as I lowered the bar. Haven't wanted to flat bench since.
What's weird is that I was doing relatively light weight for sets of 8-10 reps with an RPE of 6-7. Mainly just to get in some extra volume. That's why I was shocked when it happened.
Thanks mate!
That’s wild. I always assume this happens with more intense loads than that. Anything you wish you would have done to limit that risk?
@@patrickjulius7352 - Up until that point I was hitting PR's and doing well with progressive overload, programming, and recovery. Also mobility work too.
Plus I'd been lifting for a decade at that point so my form was on point and I was definitely advanced. So there were zero indicators of a potential tear looming.
It was just one of those fluke occurrences that you can't explain. If anything I don't like the psychological toll it took. I mean I do incline bp (bar and DB) standing OHP, (bar and DB), weighted dips, and weighted pushups. But I just cannot bring myself to flat bench. It genuinely traumatized me.
@@ryandeffley7652 I bet man. If I had that same injury I’d stay away from it too. I’m sure you’re not missing anything by doing those others you mentioned.
Even now, I tend to only do narrower grip and/or floor press.
Rare footage. Not many professionals do this. Thank you.
Thank you! 🙏 hope others can learn from it!
I hurt my chest doing weighted dips, like a costondritis, and it hurts when I throw my shoulders forward or my head. Any recommendations on how to fix this injury? thanks and good video
Back away from dips for a few weeks and work on thoracic mobility and some neck training. Then work your way back to dips with good form. Don't let your shoulders fall forward and keep a extended upper back/ neck posture when dipping. I like to imagine someone pulling on a imaginary string on my head when dipping. Also working on arm extension mobility with a stick can help. I'm not medical professional but I've suffered with costochondritis for the past year. For more advice I recommend checking out the r/costochondritis subreddit
@@ST3FF3 Thanks
Yeahh, you can kinda notice you’re trying to stretch even more at the top of each rep is that when you tore your pec or was it on the way up?
from how you describe your life leading up to the injury, i’m absolutely not surprised you got hurt. my body would have fallen apart haha. best of luck with your recovery!
maybe you can implement free weights training from now on a?
Does anyone know how to get more info on the workshops? I had no idea about them
Mine ripped some years ago. Ego was the main cause, chasing old PRs, new bench, no spotter (on doubles), no collars and panic. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I have 25% connection left, and the doc talked me out of surgery.
Amazing you were in the (other) London, my hometown. Hope you recover quickly and enjoy our lovely country!
Thank you! 🙏
Excellently well-rounded objective description of your experience- I’m noticing how you are able to detach emotions from your story. That mindpower is exactly that: agency over your experience.
That parasympathetic ventral vagal will heal you quickly
Also welcome to Canada 🇨🇦 I wish I knew if you were coming to British Columbia 🐻 🏔
Thank you! 🙏
This is the same kind of peck tear I had wrestling
Just felt something while benching very similar to what you experienced. Wasn’t sure if I should go the doctor or not, but you helped make that decision and I’m definitely going to. This video was incredibly helpful, thank you.
how did it go? I think i strained/tore my right pec about a month ago... still feels uncomfortable and haven't lifted at all since
@@seansilva_1996Update?
Thanks for showing us the process, hope you get back to 100% soon.
Thank you! 🙏
strange seeing a doctor trying to upsell a patient
first of all it's good that your recovery was good, I had the same injury, as you described it, I was in my last set, excited to increase the maximum weight by 10lb, it was 110kg (I was used to 100kg 6-8 repetitions) but I wanted to try increasing weight for at least 1 rep, in that I felt like something was bursting inside my pectoralis major and with help I removed the bar, after that I felt my right pectoral pumped, but I felt something strange inside, like an internal tear, The strange thing is that if I could move my arm well in any direction, 2 days have passed and I have no discomfort or blood bruises, but I do have the feeling that there is something inside my pectoral, and I have taken pain reliever and massages with ointment since that day .Greetings.
why does it always happen on the flat bench press, especially with a barbell? is there any reason to it or just coincidence ?
Id say it's more coincidence. I've seen some pretty horrific ones on incline too
Hi, Eugene! I hope you have successfully recovered! Thanks a lot for educating the world for free and for spreading positive gym attitude, we need you to come back stronger and healthier! I have a question though - you said that you haven't barbell benched for about 7 years prior to injury. I also remember that Ryan Crowley also did not barbell bench pressed for a year before his horrible pec tear. Am I right to assume that even high weights on machines or cables do not provide significant carry over to barbell? How should one switch from cables/machines to barbells safely? Should he start barbell presses very, very low, maybe even 50-60% of cable/machine 1RM and gradually build it to cable/machine weight over the course of several weeks instead of directly hopping in to the same weight? Thanks!
Am in similar situation. Are you fearful of re-tearing it in the future or because of the circumstances of lack of recovery you aren't worried?
Nah not really worried. I'll of course be a bit more mindful of my recovery and movement in general but it's all part of the process!
Wish you a speedy recovery, I'm a newbie and I press around 47Kg on both flat as well as decline, what factors should I keep in mind to avoid such injuries ?
Use DBS Decline Press. Use Cable Decline Press. Stay clear of Bench Pressing.
@@rockon8174 Mmm. No. This is not particularly good advice. I think prioritising good technique at manageable weight is probably better
@@thapelomaraisane8705 dumbbells are fine until you run out of dumbbells. They strengthen the wrist and stability muscles far more and give you a very powerful foundation for sheer force. Dumbbells are OP as heck
You should read Järvinen et al. 2005 - Muscle injuries: Biology and treatment (PMID: 15851777) now, also, the effect of PRP is barely mentionable, so save your money. The most important thing with tears is the rehab to prevent too much scar tissue forming, which increases the risk of reinjury in the future.
How's your PEC now ?
Was it Dr. Akhan who did Antoine Vaillant's bicep surgery? I feel I've seen him before.
Oh man this is my fear , but things happen and we just have to be careful . I felt the blood boil in my stomach when I saw your pain damn dude I’m sorry
That tool shirt is sweet euge!
My favourite
@@coacheugeneteo If you can remember where you got it I'd love to know 😁🤟
@@isaacakaisaac I got it from their show in Lisbon in 2019
Love your content. I'm no expert. But I hope you may consider my critique of the injury assessment. My opinion is your warm up sets were too heavy and too new, considering you hadn't been bench pressing for a while. Just seeing how long your reps took, they were very slow for a warm up. I think you should've started at your 30 rep weight and slowly work up. But I'm guessing you didn't think you had time. I hurt myself doing the same thing, not enough accumulation or acclimation to a movement.
I did. This was warm up sets 4/5
This is correct. That warm up set is too heavy for him. His bench form was not optimal. Flat back and no arch at all is a recipe for disaster.
great and intersting video man, wish you a fast and easy recovery soon
keep it up!
Mine has been torn or strained for 17 yrs now after a collision playing semi pro football. After impact my arm was stuck in the air and felt a burn in the scapula like the bone edge was sticking through the skin. AFter about 10 minutes I was able to lower my arm and went back on the field. A couple of weeks later during practice I jammed a player and heard a pop from my shoulder but there was no pain. A couple years ago I started feeling pain and it gets wrose while moving in certain directions and upward movements. I had an MRI yrs ago and they didnt see tears. I am in pain almost daily and now Im about to go through firefighter school in Dec. I also workout 2-3 times a week still. When I palpate I feel pain in the front, the top of my shoulder, the side of my shoulder where the insertion point is, and the back shoulder. Still have yet to get an accurate diagnosis.
7-8/10 pain = that's not good