Barbell Humerus Pain/Upper "Arm Splints"

[88NKB]

Hello,

Lately I've been experiencing pain in both upper arms when bench pressing. The location is just below the shoulder on the humerus. During barbell bench presses the pain begins during the descent. Depending on my workload, the pain usually dissipates within 3-4 days.

Today it flared up during a warm up set with 185. I completed two more heavier singles with 200 and 220 and decided to stop the bench press. 4 years ago I suffered a similar setback and learned not to push it too hard.

I then attempted some paused floor presses with 185 and still felt the discomfort.
Has anyone exeprienced this before? It feels almost like what shin splints feel like, but on the upper arm over the bone right below the shoulder.

My actual shoulder joints feel fine. I bench press with a fairly close grip, about 20 inches. I've noticed the upper arm pain only seems to flare up when the weights get close to 200. I currently bench press twice a week, M & F with fairly heavy weight and low volume ( 3-5 sets with 1-5 reps including a heavy negative rep on Fridays). I've been training like this for the past 4 weeks and have made some decent strength gains. I am tempted to switch the heavier day to the floor press.

I've researched extensively and can't seem to find anything about pain in this specific area. I attached a photo with the location. Thanks.

M - 34, 5'10, 177lbs

 

[coachnathanwhite]

Where you are actually feeling the pain is often not the root source of the issue. Pain in the upper extremities can often be related to a neck (cervical spine) issue. Anything beyond that is just guessing.

I am tempted to switch the heavier day to the floor press.

Probably wouldn't make a difference.

 

[Steve W.]

@88NKB
Medical advice on the internet is worth what you pay for it...

But that is in the area where you might experience pain due to an issue with the long head of the biceps tendon. This might be anywhere in severity from mild inflammation to a partial tear on the verge of rupturing.

I personally experienced similar pain for a few months while doing bench pressing movements (I was specifically doing the Ethan Reeve one-arm kettlebell bench and row supersets in my training at the time). Eventually, the long head of my biceps tendon completely ruptured while I was playing basketball.

Definitely worth getting evaluated by a medical professional.

 

[88NKB]

@Steve W. @natewhite39 thanks, I've had this pain before when benching relatively heavy twice per week. Physician recommends a week of rest and if pain persists, dropping of the exercise all together.

 

[Steve Freides]

@Steve W. @natewhite39Physician recommends a week of rest and if pain persists, dropping of the exercise all together.

That sounds like good advice but before you give up on you BP, how about working with a coach to see if an improvement in your technique can remove the cause of the pain?

-S-

 

[Antti]

I have had similar issues in the past.

Have you tried dumbbells, in any variation? As in dumbbell bench, flat or some incline, floor press.

Have you seen a masseur or tried to do some massage on your own? Work on the whole arm, shoulder from all sides, the pec, the whole upper back.

How much and how do you row? Some one arm rows targeting the upper back could be useful.

 

[88NKB]

@Steve Freides thanks, yes I would really like to not have to give up on the movement completely. Earlier today I did a lighter workout with a single rep out set with 175x11. This felt considerably better than Friday's workout of 185x3, 200x1, 220x1.

@Antti I spent a great deal of time a year ago working with dumbbells as my primary pressing implement, both floor/flat/low incline dumbbell presses. I was deployed during this time and the gym had a great selection of heavy dumbbells. I did not have this kind of discomfort with dumbbell movements. Based upon my response to Steve from this morning's workout, I think this might have been a programming error on my part. Twice a week heavy bench presses have certainly improved my strength of late, but I think it is simply too much for my connective tissue, especially someone with relatively long arms and thin back/torso.

Twice a week on other days I do a pulling workout. This consists of 3 sets of weighted chin ups RPT style, followed by 3 sets of dumbbell seal rows in the 8-12 rep range. I then finish with 2-3 sets of ight dumbbell hammer curls for elbow health. My weighted chin up top set is currently at BW + 50lbs for 5 reps and I'm moving up to 45s for the rows (max I can load is ~ 50 lbs each handle). I'm recovering from a minor ankle procedure and have not deadlifted (or squatted) since early August.

I haven't tried the massage approach but perhaps I should.

 

[Philippe Geoffrion]

Odd place to experience pain from benching. I’m quite unfamiliar. Do you any videos of these bench press sessions where pain was felt??

 

[Steve W.]

Odd place to experience pain from benching. I’m quite unfamiliar. Do you any videos of these bench press sessions where pain was felt??

Not really surprising. The long head of the biceps tendon originates at the scapula and goes right through the shoulder joint (to simplify the anatomy). Lot of forms of shoulder impingement and dysfunction can involve the long head biceps tendon and cause pain radiating down the upper arm. Studies have also shown that rotator cuff injuries can lead to increased biceps activity as a compensation. So there's potentially lots of interaction between any activity involving the shoulder and/or any preexisting shoulder injury or dysfunction, and the biceps tendon.