Treat Your Pec Strain: Recuperation Exercises

Tearing a muscle in the chest is known as a pec strain or chest strain. Both the pectoralis major and minor muscles may experience this. Exercises like push-ups and bench presses might induce shoulder or chest pain if you have a pec strain.

Pec strains are categorized into grades 1 through 3. Grade 1 strains make up the majority of pec injuries. Grade 1 strains typically take two to four weeks to heal with the proper workouts. It can occasionally take up to six weeks.

Muscles can temporarily feel better when they are rested. But total sleep is not a good idea. It may weaken the muscle. Resuming your regular activities may take longer if the muscle is weak. You may not be able to perform as many repetitions or lift as much weight.

You will find exercises in this blog post that will aid with your recovery from a pec strain. As your muscles recover, these workouts will help you maintain your strength.

How Does a Pec Strain Occur?

A pec strain may occur for a number of reasons:

Increased exercise too quickly: 

Excessive repetitions, sets, or weightlifting can cause muscle tension.

Repetitive trauma: 

Strain can also result from overtraining without adequate rest.

Poor form: 

Lifting improperly might cause your pec muscle to abruptly get strained.

During warm-up sets or the first few sets of their workout, a lot of people strain their pec muscles. This may be because of:

Not properly warming up
Experiencing fatigue due to inadequate sleep, stress, dehydration, or poor diet

Muscle Strain Grades

Muscle strains can be classified into three categories, and each has a distinct recovery period:

Grade 1: 

Recuperation takes two to four weeks.

Grade 2: 

Recuperation takes four to twelve weeks.

Grade 3: 

Recuperation takes three to six months or more. Complete ruptures are referred to as grade 3 strains. To consider repairing the tissue, you ought to consult a physician.

You will probably have a lot of bruises and lose muscular function if you have a grade 3 strain. Because the nerves are severed, you may not even experience pain. Rare are grade 3 strains. The grade 1 and grade 2 strains are the subject of this blog post.

Exercises for Early Rehab (Days 1–10)

During the first ten days of your recuperation, you should perform these exercises. Isometrics is their main focus. This entails using a single position to activate your muscle. It's crucial that these activities don't hurt.

Pec Fly Isometric:

Press your hand up against a sturdy object, such as a squat rack or wall.

Place your arm at a 90-degree angle in front of you to begin.

Over the course of three seconds, slowly press your hand into the surface.

For four seconds, hold the contraction.

Relax for three seconds at a time.

Do this five or seven times.

* Adjust your body's tilt as you gain strength. This will put your muscles through various challenges. Your arm can be moved farther to the side. To work on different areas of your pec muscle, you can also lift or lower your arm.

* At first, it's acceptable if you are unable to push yourself fully. Push only as hard as it doesn't hurt. Try to put in a little more effort every day.

Important:

During this phase, avoid pushing through pain in order to extend your pec muscle. Your recuperation may be slowed down by this.

Exercises for Mid-Stage Rehab (Days 10-30)

You will perform actions that are comparable to those in your usual workouts during this phase. Nonetheless, you will concentrate on the motion's eccentric (downward) phase. Additionally, you will reduce the weight, repetitions, and sets.

Eccentric Push-Up:

Begin by performing a push-up on your knees or toes.

For five seconds, concentrate on lowering your body gradually.

Push yourself back up after you've reached the bottom. If necessary, you can assist with your knees.

Continue until you reach the required amount of reps.

The eccentric focus of the cable pec fly:

Cable Pec Fly (Eccentric Focus) 

Set up a cable pulley machine at chest height (for pec major) or shoulder height (for pec minor). 

Pull your hands together in front of your chest. 

Slowly lower the weight stack over 5 seconds. 

Only go as far as you can without pain. 

Pull your hands back together to complete the rep.

Eccentric Dumbbell: 

Press Lie on your back with a dumbbell in each hand. 

Start with your arms straight above your chest. 

Slowly lower the dumbbells over 5 seconds. 

Only go as far as you can without pain. 

Push the dumbbells back up to the starting position. 

Do these strengthening exercises two to three times per week. 

Do two to three sets of 6 to 8 reps. 

If the exercise feels easy, increase the weight. You should feel a 6 out of 10 difficulty, with less than a 1 or 2 out of 10 pain.

Late-Stage Rehabilitation:

By day 30, you should feel significantly better if you have a grade 1 strain. You can begin going back to your usual activities. Remember that you may be slightly weaker than you were prior to your injury.

Continue these exercises for an additional four weeks (until day 60) if you have a grade 2 strain. After that, switch to exercises for returning to sports.

From days 60 to 90, slowly return to the activities you did before your injury. Reduce the intensity and focus on good form. You might need to lift 20 to 40% less weight than before.

 

When to See a Doctor:

If you are still having pain in your chest or shoulder, see a healthcare provider. A physical therapist or sports chiropractor can help.

In conclusion:

Recovering from a pec strain takes patience and the appropriate exercises. 

Pay attention to

REHAB WELLNESS