Hey all! I haven’t gotten into the weightroom since I blew out my knee in a baseball game almost a year ago, but I have been getting in there these past few weeks. Anyway, I have always had a problem doing the bench press. Some of the time after I bench(I’d say about half, usually when I push myself harder), my left LAT muscle(as far as I can tell) really hurts. It isn’t too significant, but it probably isn’t good. Whenever I INHALE, the pain peaks. Every time I inhale! Isn’t that kind of weird? It goes away after a while.
I have always had back problems, but never in that part of my back. I used to have problems with my upper right back. I tore some muscles squating, when I first started a couple years ago. My rhomboid and trapezoid if I remember correctly. That all healed well. Then my real back problems began. After basketball practice, my back would hurt beyond belief. My back soon began spasming and I went to the doctor and was given Flexeril. I went to the PT, and we worked on it. He never could really explain what was wrong with my back. He said that it wasn’t completely straight and it couldn’t support itself. He said it was just the way I was born and also a product of my posture. But he never said anything about scoliosis.
That info is probably irrelevant. But can anybody shine some light on my bench pressing problem? Thanks a whole lot.
I’m not a trainer but I’ve been working out for a while and have read alot on the subject so I’ll give you my 2 cents.
First off, the bench press works your pectorals (chest), triceps and deltoids (shoulders). Your lats shouldn’t even be getting involved if you’re doing the movement correctly. You might be using weight that’s too heavy. If you’re straining to bench too much weight with your body straining and shifting under it, you might have pulled a muscle in your back. I would have that checked out by a doctor just to be sure it’s nothing that would get worse from working out.
The first couple of things I learned about weight lifting is to “use a weight that’s heavy for you” and “form is everything”. Don’t worry about the number of pounds you have on the barbell. I’ve seen too many guys at the gym using way too much weight just to show off. They end up doing the movement with way bad form, which gives them low to no results strengthwise and puts them at risk for a really bad injury.
So use a weight that you can control all the way through your target number of reps. You should work to muscle failure in no less than 4 reps. If you can’t do at least 4 reps, use a lighter weight. And this is only if your working out to gain size. If you’re working out to retain or gain strength you should use a weight that would allow you to do least 8 reps before muscle failure.