Bicep tendonitis

[Ridge Runner]

Been pushing it on bench for about a year with a 5x5 program and have seen by bench go up considerably. Over the last couple weeks i've developed a case of bicep tendonitis on my left arm right where my bicep attaches to the shoulder. Hurts when I bench and aches especially at night. Icing helps some but not going away and really don't want to take time off (my experience takes a few weeks to calm down) and loose everything I've gained in the last year.

Have any of you had experience with managing bicep tendonitis? Also concerned that it might lend itself to higher potential for a bicep tear?

 

[Coach Chris]

How does it feel when doing pullups or rows?

 

[Poser]

Here's the thing: Unless you have been diagnosed by someone knowledge about shoulders, you don't know if its bicep tendonitis or not. That area is very complex as your pec, bicep and deltoids all tie in together. The only way you can actually know which group is inflamed is to get an MRI. You could definitely have a tendon tear and it very well may not be the bicep tendon.

If its as serious as you described and you're in actual pain (not discomfort), you need to get some imaging performed and see what's going on in there. Anything else is a guess.

 

[MatukaJoe]

I second what the above poster states. I have strained tendons in elbow and hand from lifting and competitive sports. I had patellar tendonitis once and oh F me was that debilitating. I couldn't even bend my knee. The only solution per docs orders rest, ice, elevate. I had to basically hobble around for a couple weeks but it did get better.
If it is truly tendonitis the only cure is to stop using it for a time. You will have to adjust your workouts to leave that area alone just as I did when my knee had it.
If it's a strain you may want to go through a deloading.period to see if that helps. Then if as you reload it comes back see a physician for any further issues.
Edit: I reread your post and saw that you have taken time off and it did not improve in which case I definitely would recommend seeing a physician.

 

[Ridge Runner]

How does it feel when doing pullups or rows?

no issues with rowing don't do pullups any more due to past shoulder surgery on other side

 

[rideold]

Get it looked at by a PT. It might be rotator cuff as much as bicep tendon. Pretty different rehab between the two. Eccentric loading is helpful for tendonitis.

 

[Jason Snyder]

It might be rotator cuff as much as bicep tendon.

This. It’s almost certainly rotator cuff related.

 

[Watrdawg]

If it is Bicep Tendonitis then there is a lot of stretching and such that you can do to help out. Stopping benching doesn't really help. It will definitely come back. I don't flat bench anymore since I tore my pec 10 years ago. Only use dumbells for incline and flat presses. I do about 15-20 minutes of stretching and warm up for my shoulders before every workout and pain is either gone or after a heavy workout I recover by the next morning easily. Regardless, have some imaging done as others have said to determine what the actual issue is then go from there.

 

[brancher147]

Never dealt with bicep tendonitis but have dealt with tricep. Had it in my left arm last year from working out with dumbbells and it took about 8 months to heal but my work is fairly physical as is my home life. As soon as it healed I developed the same injury in my right arm that hasn’t healed yet.

I would go to my local physician and get their opinion but would probably start with a PT before any MRI if you’re not in terrible pain.

 

[mtnbound]

If you haven't had an injury to the area, it sounds like it's being overworked/overused. Do you rotate your pressing movements, or do you do the same movements for every workout? How often are you working chest?

 

[EdP]

An orthopedist recently told me that when you are working to build strength the muscle tissue responds (strengthens) faster than the tendons. If you are pushing too fast a tendon issue is almost guaranteed. If that is what is going on the only solution is to back off to let the tendon heal and catch up. However, I agree entirely with what others have said about seeing a Dr to get it properly diagnosed.

Note that a bicep tendon tear where you tear the tendon from the bone is a time critical injury. Surgery to reattach the tendon has to be done very soon after the injury (like within 2 wks), or it can't be done. Don't go there. Heed the warning your body is giving you.

 

[Coach Chris]

no issues with rowing don't do pullups any more due to past shoulder surgery on other side

It hurts pressing but not pulling
My guess is that it's not your biceps
The Pectoralis Major attachment on the humerus is in the same general area as the biceps.
Biceps are antagonists during pressing movements.
Sherrington's law of reciprocal inhibition (Sherrington, 1907) states that a hypertonic antagonist muscle may be reflexively inhibiting their agonist.
What that means is while you're pressing your pecs, anterior deltoid and triceps are working (hypertonic) , consequently your biceps, upper back muscles, rear deltoid, etc..., are relaxed (hypotonic)
The exact opposite is true when your pulling, like rows. Rowing should irritate the biceps since biceps are an agonist.

 

[TaperPin]

I dealt with bicept tendinitis on the elbow side, so my experience doesn’t apply.
There’s a lot of stuff going on up above the bicept - a lot of different things to tear. I worked with a guy that had all sorts of small tears of different things in that area - too small to operate, to big to ignore - like him, if it was easy for you to slow down you would have. At 50 he can’t raise either arm over his head.

 

[dantana]

...

I agree with over use, recently went through myself personally. Gonna have to rest it a lot, if your stubborn like me, you can swap out barbell bench for dumb bells and reduce the elbow:torso angle until the pain goes down (bring your elbows closer to your body as you press). Also peptides can be phenomenal, bpc157 will speed your recovery time.

 

[Ridge Runner]

If you haven't had an injury to the area, it sounds like it's being overworked/overused. Do you rotate your pressing movements, or do you do the same movements for every workout? How often are you working chest?

I do rotate, take 2 days off between upper body workouts

 

[Ridge Runner]

Thanks for all the replies. Definitely has me thinking. Little more detail. Pain isn't unbearable probably a 4-5 when benching. Pain is below the my armpit at the bottom of my deltoid and centered on my bicep. Gonna see my Dr in a couple weeks for yearly checkup and will discuss with him about a path forward.

 

[mtnbound]

I do rotate, take 2 days off between upper body workouts

I meant, do you rotate your primary pressing exercises, e.g., do you change your hand positions and angles or use different bars? Do you rotate the Flat bench with an Incline or Military press? Do you rotate your effort/intensity and keep some reps in reserve or do you consistently work to a max effort? Invest in an Elite FTS shoulder saver pad.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I meant, do you rotate your primary pressing exercises, e.g., do you change your hand positions and angles or use different bars? Do you rotate the Flat bench with an Incline or Military press? Do you rotate your effort/intensity and keep some reps in reserve or do you consistently work to a max effort? Invest in an Elite FTS shoulder saver pad.

I don't primarily because of significant shoulder issues with arthritis on my right side. Have to hit a specific slot or right shoulder sounds like a bag of potato chips. Some of it is definitely a bit of vanity on my part as I like pushing heavy weight (for me) at my age of 56. I'm currently do 5 sets of 5 reps until failure on each set. Move up when I complete all 5 sets. Do a lot of complimentary upperbody work after bench including rotator cuff work (do this before bench) shoulder press, Rows lats etc.

Ill look into the Elite Shoulder saver don't know what that is.

 

[mtnbound]

I don't primarily because of significant shoulder issues with arthritis on my right side. Have to hit a specific slot or right shoulder sounds like a bag of potato chips. Some of it is definitely a bit of vanity on my part as I like pushing heavy weight (for me) at my age of 56. I'm currently do 5 sets of 5 reps until failure on each set. Move up when I complete all 5 sets. Do a lot of complimentary upperbody work after bench including rotator cuff work (do this before bench) shoulder press, Rows lats etc.

Ill look into the Elite Shoulder saver don't know what that is.

They carry two a red and a black one, each different for ROM. I would also recommend you look into a Conjugate style of programming and keep some reps in reserve or use RPE as it may be more beneficial. I'm in the same age group, and a sub-max style of Conjugate keeps me strong and durable. https://www.elitefts.com/eliteftstm-shoulder-savertm-pad-black.html

 

[Poser]

I don't primarily because of significant shoulder issues with arthritis on my right side. Have to hit a specific slot or right shoulder sounds like a bag of potato chips. Some of it is definitely a bit of vanity on my part as I like pushing heavy weight (for me) at my age of 56. I'm currently do 5 sets of 5 reps until failure on each set. Move up when I complete all 5 sets. Do a lot of complimentary upperbody work after bench including rotator cuff work (do this before bench) shoulder press, Rows lats etc.

Ill look into the Elite Shoulder saver don't know what that is.

From your description, its sounds as if you may have some programming problems.
At your age and presumably having some training history, every bench press session need not be to failure nor does every session need to be 5x5. You would potentially benefit from a Heavy-Light-Medium type programming and that 5x5 may only be once a week. You could even back that off further to something akin to 5-3-1 where higher volume happens every 3 weeks.
How frequently are you doing 5x5 at high intensity?

When you say 5x5 "until failure on each set", what exactly do you mean? Are you doing 5x5 with the same weight across all 5 sets? If so, you're not going to failure on all 5 sets. Perhaps on the last set, but the description is unclear. If you're actually pushing to failure on the 5th rep, there's no way you are repeating that for 5 consecutive sets. 5x5 at higher intensity (~90%) is never going to be "easy, but you don't need to be grinding yourself to dust with great frequency either and, as described "to failure" seems to imply as much.

Does you program include overhead (standing barbell) press? The press is a particularly great complimentary lift for the bench press as it strengthens the shoulders in a way, particularly the rotator cuffs, that tends to keep them healthy. A number of programs utilize the press on the "light" day since, by default, the stress is much less than bench pressing due to the inherent lighter weight. Its a great way to ensure longevity in the bench pressing game. You can also maintain a bench press reasonably well by exclusively pressing for a cycle of weeks at a time. -might be something to consider. I've known people with shoulder issues who have given up bench pressing altogether in favor of the press.