How To avoid Muscle Tears/Course of Action to take if you tear a muscle

[Method101]

Note: I haven't torn anything and i have never broke a bone in my body before somone suggests that, i was just reading Layne Norton's articles on bodybuilding.com on what he did when he tore his pec, it made me realise that you should plan in advance for an event like this so if the worst happens you know what to do and won't panic so much... also its better to forget your ego so you don't learn the hard way. (Layne Norton was benching 500lbs with elasticated bands like powerlifters use and didn't keep his elbows in while benching lol).

This is not copy and paste i am writing this..

How to avoid
1. On bench press keep elbows in and with your grip keep your fingers inside the rings even on regular bench press, or just use dumbells which is probably the best option.
2. Don't do barbell curls, stick to dumbells and never fully extend your arm at the bottom or swing.
3. Don't do french presses with a barbell, use dumbells...
4. Don't look down when doing barbell squats to avoid tearing neck muscle.
5. Don't use underhand grip on ANY pulling exercise, if you don't have the grip strength to use double overhand grip then use straps to help.
6. Don't stretch to much before lifting, just do a warmup set and maybe some very very light stretches. Ignore the idiots at the gym who spend 10 minutes doing a stretching routine.
7. This applies to every exercise, but for example, on bench press, bring the bar down slowly and pause for half a second at the bottom, to give you some idea, the bar should go up faster than it comes down.

What to do if you think you have torn a muscle

The best course of action seems to be from what iv read,

1. Put ice on it and drive to the hospital
2. Get examined by the doctor but tell him you want to be reffered to a sports orthopedic regardless of what he tells you.
3. You will then probably get examined and a X-ray/Mri Scan
4. If he tells you just take physical therapy tell him no and that you want it repaired properly.Then you will be referred to surgeon to get it fixed.

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I predict this thread will fail because any serious topic on getbig usually does, if you have read this far, you are a very rare member of getbig lol.

Feel free to comment/ add opinions and suggestions though.

[MAXX]

why is it that stretching alot is bad? what is the reason?

[lvtolft]

I have a full proof plan to avoid tears.  Don't workout! 

[#1 Klaus fan]

Don't abuse drugs. I know it's hard but this is important.

[bigbobs]

I can totally understand why you're researching safeguards against muscle tears becasue based on your incredibly massive physique here you must be using extremely heavy weights and pushing yourself towards the limit of where you might encounter a muscle tear. 

[Swedish Viking]

I've had 4 muscle tears.  Some of those bullet points are good and some of them are less than good.  The one that is particularly bad, if I understand it correctly, is that you should not let the shoulder go into extension during a bicep curl-as you would, for instance, during an incline curl.  I can understand why someone may come to that conclusion but if you are a bodybuilder, you are going to be building many, if not the vast majority, of all of your muscles with exercises that stress a full range of motion.  Specifically ignoring that for one bodypart while all or many of the rest are working through full ROM, is asking for tear, via progressive weakness. 

[Method101]

I can totally understand why you're researching safeguards against muscle tears becasue based on your incredibly massive physique here you must be using extremely heavy weights and pushing yourself towards the limit of where you might encounter a muscle tear. 

Hi stalker, well, i curl 55lb dumbells and deadlift 315x10/405x1... never said i was big, but what does that have to do with avoiding muscle tears? it can happen to anyone with any weights.

The weight is all relative.

P.s bigblobs, your not so great yourself.

Stretching puts alot of stress on your tendons, and you don't want them to be fatigued already before you start lifting weights.



When i said don't extend arm fully on curls, i meant don't compelty lock out your arms, use 99% ROM basically

[thelamefalsehood]

I've fully torn a bi and partially tore a tri. I would say another good one is to watch the amount of weight you use on isolation exercises. Tore my bi going WAY to heavy on preachers. If you use the same isolation movements over and over you are bound to get stronger, just don't keep piling the weight on like you would squats or deads. Good for the ego, bad for the muscle.

[bigbobs]

Hi stalker, well, i curl 55lb dumbells and deadlift 315x10/405x1... never said i was big, but what does that have to do with avoiding muscle tears? it can happen to anyone with any weights.

The weight is all relative.

P.s bigblobs, your not so great yourself.

MELTDOWN,

and brutal editing your original post to add "bigblobs, your not so great yourself" lmao, I must have still been in your head after you submitted your post. 

[#1 Klaus fan]

I would like to see study of some sort of muscle tears before steroids came to play...

And oh yeah, the training methods might be a factor. If you go and lift 3 heavy sets per week how do you think the ligaments and all can adjust? I say up the volume and take it easier...

[emn1964]

Hi stalker, well, i curl 55lb dumbells and deadlift 315x10/405x1... never said i was big, but what does that have to do with avoiding muscle tears? it can happen to anyone with any weights.

The weight is all relative.

P.s bigblobs, your not so great yourself.

Stretching puts alot of stress on your tendons, and you don't want them to be fatigued already before you start lifting weights.



When i said don't extend arm fully on curls, i meant don't compelty lock out your arms, use 99% ROM basically

Actually, big bobs should know a thing or two about tearing muscles.  afterall, nasser routinely tears his rectum.

[Method101]

Actually, big bobs should know a thing or two about tearing muscles.  afterall, nasser routinely tears his rectum.

good point
bigblobs' sphincter is ruined 

[Swedish Viking]

Well, I'm a lifetime natural and, as I said, I've had 4 tears.  Juice does play a huge role though because it decreases the amount of time it takes for most people to develop strong imbalances, which are usually the underlying cause of almost all progressive injuries, of which tears and sprains, strains, usually are.  What you said about the soft tissue is pretty spot on.  I started on my long and arduos journey into being the most injured man in bodybuilding and weightlifting specifically for that reason alone-I think when people see their muscles responding and their weights sky rocketing, they have a real hard time consciously taking it easy.  

[MAXX]

Well, I'm a lifetime natural and, as I said, I've had 4 tears.  Juice does play a huge role though because it decreases the amount of time it takes for most people to develop strong imbalances, which are usually the underlying cause of almost all progressive injuries, of which tears and sprains, strains, usually are.  What you said about the soft tissue is pretty spot on.  I started on my long and arduos journey into being the most injured man in bodybuilding and weightlifting specifically for that reason alone-I think when people see their muscles responding and their weights sky rocketing, they have a real hard time consciously taking it easy.  

what kind of tears do you have and how did you get them?

[Swedish Viking]

I've had one major ham tear-I posted the pic here quite some time ago, and 3 more minor tears in the lateral head of my gastroc.  The ham was torn in a sprint, the calf was torn from basically nothing-about 2 min of jump rope, and a couple of other things I don't remember-my calf is minory paralyzed and only partially functional, so gets injured very easily.