Single Arm Barbell Row Chest pain?

Smeaglebutcrack**

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Hey guys, today i decided to change my workout abit and took out standard dumbell rows and replaced them with Single Arm Barbell rows

Heres what they look like if you dont know http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/bent-over-one-arm-long-bar-row

A friend of mine had told me about them and said that they're great and really build strength in your pull more than most do, so i finally gave them a go.

I only did light weight sets just to get used to them,

Anyway after the 2nd set my sternum started to hurt abit and by the 3rd it was clear pain there like i had taken a hard knock right in the sternum.

Only i made sure i did the exercise properley and went slow the whole time only letting the plate gently touch my chest before i let it down and never pulled it really hard into my chest even on the last rep,

I dont have a video camera so i cant get you guys to check my form but could you guys give any pointers as to why my sternum area of my chest would be hurting and whether or not i should just drop this exercise because apart from the sternum pain it worked really well.

Any help and tips would be greatly appreciated guys
 
What did you do beforehand? Anything out of the ordinary?

Well I did do some dumbell upright rows for my traps which i havnt done in about 4 weeks but i've done them before with no problems and i even used lighter weight then i used last time.

As for yesterday i did chest and shoulders, the only things i can think of that might have done harm were the incline bench press sets i did but i'm usually pretty good form wise there and i did 2 sets of behind the neck press but i did that with very light weights and only for abit of a warm up.
 
Did you just hit yourself in the chest with the plate as you were coming up?
 
No, as i said in my op i made sure specifically not to hit myself in the chest only touch my chest lightly before lowering the weight
 
you may actually have a longstanding sternum injury. Many people who have screwed-up sternums can do most lifts without incident, then go to do a dip (or some other sternum-torquing movement) and suddenly pain appears. Your experience could be indicative of small trauma/tears to the cartilage over time, perhaps occurring during the performance of other lifts OR from an impact trauma. When you do something that really stretches/torques the area in the right way, you're running into scar tissue and the inflexibility of the area means more stuff around it is likely to tear when you really push things.

It's a theory. Sometimes, I just conclude that I'm not going to do non-essential movements that seem to really aggravate a certain joint. If you don't NEED to do this lift (and, well, yeah, there are row variations, so perhaps do one of those others instead), consider not doing it.
 
you may actually have a longstanding sternum injury. Many people who have screwed-up sternums can do most lifts without incident, then go to do a dip (or some other sternum-torquing movement) and suddenly pain appears. Your experience could be indicative of small trauma/tears to the cartilage over time, perhaps occurring during the performance of other lifts OR from an impact trauma. When you do something that really stretches/torques the area in the right way, you're running into scar tissue and the inflexibility of the area means more stuff around it is likely to tear when you really push things.

It's a theory. Sometimes, I just conclude that I'm not going to do non-essential movements that seem to really aggravate a certain joint. If you don't NEED to do this lift (and, well, yeah, there are row variations, so perhaps do one of those others instead), consider not doing it.

Thanks alot for the great reply,

Yeah i hurt my sternum back in highschool when i was on the schools rugby team and it took about a month and a half to fully recover,

Now that you mention it, it does make alot of sense

I've never done dips before so maybe this is the first sternum torquing weight exercise i've done since the only other time i had sternum pain was about 3 years back when i failed a bench press and my chest took some of the impact and put me out for a couple of weeks.

Is there anyway to get around this apart from just avoiding certain exercises?

Have you had the same problem?
 
Thanks alot for the great reply,

Yeah i hurt my sternum back in highschool when i was on the schools rugby team and it took about a month and a half to fully recover,

Now that you mention it, it does make alot of sense

I've never done dips before so maybe this is the first sternum torquing weight exercise i've done since the only other time i had sternum pain was about 3 years back when i failed a bench press and my chest took some of the impact and put me out for a couple of weeks.

Is there anyway to get around this apart from just avoiding certain exercises?

Have you had the same problem?

Yep. I'm pretty much making the suggestions I'm making because I have this issue and know at least two other lifters who have this issue and generally just avoid certain exercises because of it. If you had a sternum injury at some point, then frankly, you're probably a little screwed now for certain movements. It's my impression (after a lot of research) that the sternum builds scar tissue like crazy once it is injured, partially because of its connective tissue being mostly cartilage. You're just not going to have a fantastically flexible joint when it's riddled with scar tissue, and it won't want to move in the way you want it to as easily as you want it to. Sternums, in other words, are kind of unforgiving. That's been my experience/research, anyway. So, long story short, honestly, it's not worth inflaming the crap out of the area--do another type of row that doesn't aggravate it.
 
Yep. I'm pretty much making the suggestions I'm making because I have this issue and know at least two other lifters who have this issue and generally just avoid certain exercises because of it. If you had a sternum injury at some point, then frankly, you're probably a little screwed now for certain movements. It's my impression (after a lot of research) that the sternum builds scar tissue like crazy once it is injured, partially because of its connective tissue being mostly cartilage. You're just not going to have a fantastically flexible joint when it's riddled with scar tissue, and it won't want to move in the way you want it to as easily as you want it to. Sternums, in other words, are kind of unforgiving. That's been my experience/research, anyway. So, long story short, honestly, it's not worth inflaming the crap out of the area--do another type of row that doesn't aggravate it.

Ok thanks alot for the advice mate, sorta glad i'm not the only one with this problem,

Last question tho, could you name the exercises that you avoid because of this issue just so i dont injure myself in the future doing something my body isnt capable of doing.
 
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