Darn it. I havent hurt myself in the gym in 5 plus years.
Pulled my left Lat muscle Deadlifting yesterday. Thought i tore it but its only a little stiff today. No swelling or bruising.
I had an hour to kill before a client came in and i decided to poke around the gym. I'll do a few sets of deadlifts and then some Over head press. Day went like this:
Deadlift:
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x AHHHHHH!!!!!!
365 felt good. 405...not so good. I got it 3 inches off the ground and i felt a tearing/shaking felling in my left lat right up at the armpit. I dropped it fast. Thats a good thing about deadlifts. If you miss its not going to kill you.
But one would think your lower back would pull before you lats. Well, i got at least 2 weeks of no upper body. Darn it. But it is feeling better already. just a little stiff so its not major.
its not as bad as it could be. I iced it and its feeling better every day. Still going to be 2 weeks without upper body and i'm sure i'll be a weaker but i'll deal with it. I get to work my legs and cardio for the next 2 weeks.
It happened to me one night when I was camping. I had to run around in the dark, while it was blowing and raining trying to peg it back into the ground. Hit my thumb with the hammer; damn sore the next day!!!
I once tore a tarp right in the middle of a leaf cleanup. Sucked ass and I had to use barrels to clean the rest of the leaves up. I'll never forget that day!
Topical Arnica = good call. You can also take it orally. I would recommend 3000 mg Vit C a day (three equal doses of 1000mg) 1200 I.U. of Vit E (three equal doses of 400 I.U.).
i had two nurse friends look at it and they said that i dont have pain or any limited range of motion that its going to be ok. Are they wrong? It does feel better and its only been 6 days. Should i still go.
Significant bruising not impact related sounds like a partial (at a minimum) tear to me. Worry not so much about the level of pain shorterm, but the potential for inflexible scar tissue development at the origin/insertion site of the muscle as it heals. I'd get it checked to be sure.
Next time get a heavy duty tarp with the reinforced stitching!