During a chest workout late last week I ripped my right pec. Now obviously I’ll not be training for a while. I have two questions for you all. 1)Has anyone else ever had a torn pec and how long did it take before you were back in the gym and 2)What would be the best diet to keep me from becoming a slug from lack of training until I recover. I am currently 5’10 about 195lb at 7%bf. I know I’m going to loose muscle but I don’t want to increase my bf too much if I can help it. Right now I can’t do any kind of training at all, short of going for a walk. I appreciate any feedback/advise you all can offer.
I tore my right pec at the insertion point on the right arm. It was a bad tear. I did not use it for about 2 months, my entire right arm had a massive hematoma and was pretty nasty looking and swollen. I made certain that I was using lots of protein to aid the body in recovery. It has been about 15 months since the injury. I have only benched about 60% of my max since. I can no longer flat bench because of what it does to my shoulder joint. If you can find a good surgeon, you may be able to get it fixed. I couldn’t find a doctor to fix me up. Good luck! I used rubber tubing and stretching while waiting for it to heal.
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Contact Dave Tate(elitefitnesssystems) he has torn his pec couple times including a few months back, he can help ya out a lot.
AK - that’s a pretty loaded question - but I feel your pain. I had my ACL done last spring and faced a similar, albeit different dilemna in regards to recovery and activity. Very briefly, here are a few ideas: Diet will be based largely upon your metabolism and personal caloric requirements in regards to the activity that you’ll be able to do while recovering - as well as your resting metabolism. Obviously, you’ll want to cover your caloric needs so as to not become catabolic, but not go so low as to inhibit the healing process. I would suggest a level just above maintenance, and that is adjusted based upon your cardio and lower body work/lifts, which I strongly suggest that you continue, as the environment for healing your pec will be greatly enhanced by exercise. Make sure that you ingest sufficient amounts of: EFA’s & Protein & a vitamin complex so that you have the raw material to complete the healing process - I’ve also had good results from MSM and glucosamine/chondroitin in regards to injury recovery. I would also strongly suggest that you consult an active release practitioner - you can find one at activerelease.com - good luck man!
Thanks for the replys. I’ve got another appt. with my doc on Monday and hopefully I’ll find out the extent of the damage. It apears that I tore mine at the insertion point at the shoulder as well and my entire upper arm is purple from the bleeding. Don’t know at this point if surgery will be required. ROM is gone so that’s probably not a good sign. I will start working my bottom half as soon as I can stand it and keep the protein and efa’s up. Thanks for the advice.