# The fact that I can't train chest...



## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

I don't mean this in a kind of depressive way, im being logical here. But is it worth while continuing to train?

I can't train chest due to abnormal (keloid) scarring in my chest which grew ALOT in my first year of training (which seems to be a result of mechanical force). I won't go into this here but I made a thread last year if you need some explanation/background.

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/general-conversation/75320-bit-dilemma-whether-carry-training.html

So i've had to look at exercises which don't cause tension at the middle of my chest which rules our working it directly with bench, dips etc, or even indirectly with something like an UHG pull up/chin. It was a real kick in the balls having to limit what I could do and avoid chest but I was determined to atleast train in some capacity.

So my current program is.

Wide OH Chins

Military Press

SL Deads

Leg Press

5x5 every 3 days.

Due to a few injuries (last week I actually done in my ankle ligaments to), ive trainined only sporadically this year and had only got back in the last month, so all in ive only trained properly for around a year (since Jan 2009). And its only since January this year (from when I have been pretty much always injured) that I have stopped training chest.

I just don't know what kind of physique I can build without training chest and now that alot of exercises have to be avoided also.

No idea how this will pan out. I do enjoy training, and even with some of these exercises, ill probably see a bit of growth in my scars, just not as much as with direct chest movements.

Just wondering if its worth it. Ive lost most the size gains I had made due to injury lay offs but that doesn't discourage me. I have no plans to compete, i just not sure what kind of physique I can achieve with such limited options and no focus on chest.

Will the rest of my body grow even without chest stimulation?

I'd probably look daft anyway with a sh1te chest and big delts etc? :laugh:

Cheers in advance for any support/input.


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## deeppurple (Mar 13, 2010)

only you know the answer whether to if you wanna continue to train or not buddy.

i know its not the same, but i buggered my back in big time a few years ago. doctors advised to lay off for good....but i battled and i won.

id stick with training if i were you, but it is totally your decision my friend.


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

deeppurple said:


> only you know the answer whether to if you wanna continue to train or not buddy.
> 
> i know its not the same, but i buggered my back in big time a few years ago. doctors advised to lay off for good....but i battled and i won.
> 
> id stick with training if i were you, but it is totally your decision my friend.


Cheers, mate. Id like to. But not if its pointless if you know what I mean. Basically, im just confused. I don't know whether I will be able to build a good physique when being so limited.


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## Greyphantom (Oct 23, 2003)

dead lifting can build over all strength/physique but not direct chest I am afraid... stick to as many big lifts as you can, squats, deads, military press etc... good luck mate... I hope they find something that can sort it out soon...


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## cant king (Aug 31, 2009)

You can build a good physique without lifting weights. You could try plyometrics/ bodyweight excersises, martial arts?

Have you considered tatoos to cover your skin problem?


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## El Ricardinho (May 30, 2008)

i didnt think tatts are an option for his type of scarring mate?


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

Not an option, unfortunately. They are raised and the needle would make them worse. Keloid sufferers are warned against tattooing, and that includes things like permanent make-up which could have helped with the pigmentation. Im only prone on my chest though,im tatted on my arm.

Theres no definitive cure for them. Injections make them come back, usually worse in my experience, make them red and cause skin necrosis. But at the end of the day, no ones perfect. Its gutting to have them but there is folk worse of, no point getting down about them. I still want to build my physique and train in some capacity.

The main point in this thread was to establish where I stand in BBing. Im not interested in competing but I don't know what kind of physique I can achieve by neglecting chest and the limitation in the kind of movements I can do. As injuries have barely allowed me to train since january, im not sure, my chest might even grow somewhat (maybe due to muscle memory) as a results of some of these compounds even if not being hit. Not sure how it works in that sense - but I remember reading that for example when you work legs a day or two after another muscle, even if not hit, that muscle will benefit from that session, maybe the HGH floating about or what not. But I wont be hitting the chest in the first place anyway, so probably doesn't apply.

On top of my scars, I also have osteochronditis in both knees. Yes I am a complete sick note - I seem to have fallen apart by my mid 20s lol. I literally cant get up from a squatting position with my own body weight without using my hands. I have old man knees (wear supports when playing football etc). I get around this by doing 1 set to failure HIT style leg press, with slow reps at the end of each session. Knees crack and snap like hell but more manageable than a squad. I can also do stiff leg deads and calf raises as it doesnt put too much pressure on the knees - so my legs get a decent seeing to.

Basically in a nut shell, im wondering, considering I will never compete anyway, can I build a good physique with the routine posted above, 5x5 every 3 days, while neglecting chest which is sadly necessary? Will my delts, arms, leg etc still allow for a good physique?


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

Anymore input folks? Regarding my last post.


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## hamsternuts (Feb 8, 2009)

you can still build an amazing pair of arms using isolation excercises, and delts also

if you build a decent pair of shoulders, they'll look even bigger in relation to your chest.

not how you'd like to have impressive shoulders, but i'm trying to find a silver lining.

yes it's still worth training mate.

you might not be able to take on Coleman, so go after Platz!


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## hamsternuts (Feb 8, 2009)




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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

Cheers dude. Thats what I was getting at. Although I don't really do much, if any isolation. Just the routine above every 3 days.

What I was concerned about was that obviously the body puts the breaks on disproportianal growth, and with the chest being a fairly large part of my upper body, I thought not training it would perhaps then now allow much size on the surrounding muscles. So thats not really the case then?

I train every muscle bar the chest.


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

Gerry_bhoy said:


> Cheers dude. Thats what I was getting at. Although I don't really do much, if any isolation. Just the routine above every 3 days.
> 
> What I was concerned about was that obviously the body puts the breaks on disproportianal growth, and with the chest being a fairly large part of my upper body, I thought not training it would perhaps then now allow much size on the surrounding muscles. So thats not really the case then?
> 
> I train every muscle bar the chest.


Anyone able to give any input on this?


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

God said:


> Well you've had my opinion already on the other thread but I really think you should carry on, perhaps just with different goals. Just because you can't build your chest too much doesn't mean you can't get really lean and build an impressive back, shoulders, arms and legs.
> 
> Perhaps you could train for a specific sport where rather than aiming for the perfect physique in a bodybuilding sense you could focus on the functional purpose of the muscle. So for example Olympic lifting. In a clean and jerk or other lifts very little chest is used.
> 
> ...


Cheers, mate thats the kind of answer im after. I was looking for more physiological (if thats the right word) rather than motivational input.

I am going to continue of course. I love training. Was just concerned the body wouldnt allow for such disparity in size for body parts so close to each other and therefore would put the breaks on any considerable growth in other muscle groups. You and Hamsrernuts replies have gone along way to sorting that out, cheers.

On a side note, throwing lat raises in after heavy OHP press wouldnt give the shoulder a bit too much to recover from every 3 days would it?


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

God said:


> Just preference really. I personally wouldn't train shoulders twice a week as I like low volume once a week at the moment however only you know how well you can recover. Give it a go and if you find you're not making progress switch it around.
> 
> Have you been making progress? What's your current split?


Just a full body every 3 days. The one I posted on the OP.

Wide OH Chins

OHP

SLDL

Leg Press (1 set to failure -HIT style - high reps, very slow 5-2-5 cadence).

The reason I dont squat is that I have osteochronditis in both knees - probably all these years of playing footall on hard surfaces, I don't know. Anyway I play sports with supports on both knees and literally can't get up from a squatted position with my own body weight without using my hands. Leg Press still hurts, but atleast I can manage it. The also means I can't get the balance to do Deads either. although I can do stiff legs and calf raises no bother.

Just came back 3 weeks from injury, mate so hard to tell but my strength is going back up again aye. Before the injury I was still training chest.


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## Falcone (Sep 14, 2008)

Yeah mate of course you can produce a really good, big physique without training chest, I wouldnt worry. Not a competition winning one, but you dont want to compete either. You can still be way bigger than the average joe. Chest isnt the be all and end all


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

Going well so far - strength coming back fast.

The three scars I had injected are still mostly flat so maybe one more small dose, although indented and red (but i'd prefer that to the keloids) and they might stay down for good (won't get my hopes up, but you never no). If the sides aren't too bad I might get the Kenalog used on my other older ones to.

Shoulders coming on again well and once my ankle ligaments heal in about 2-3 weeks ill get back on the legs. Glad I stuck with it. Even with a weak chest, i'll get somewhere - still better than most of the slobs out there :thumbup1:


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## defdaz (Nov 11, 2007)

My opinion is that it's time to get smart with your training. Sure the big basics work but you need to be in good condition to do them (though it sounds like your issues are improving :thumb: ).

As mentioned before I would go for more isolation exercises, higher reps and train very very smartly indeed, watching out for any further injuries or issues. This game is all about the long term. You can grow very very well from isolation exercises and higher reps - look at my avatar for someone who trains like this. 

PS I have a 90% torn pec with massive amounts of scar tissue so I understand better than most what it's like to train around a chest impairment! :thumb:


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

defdaz said:


> My opinion is that it's time to get smart with your training. Sure the big basics work but you need to be in good condition to do them (though it sounds like your issues are improving :thumb: ).
> 
> As mentioned before I would go for more isolation exercises, higher reps and train very very smartly indeed, watching out for any further injuries or issues. This game is all about the long term. You can grow very very well from isolation exercises and higher reps - look at my avatar for someone who trains like this.
> 
> PS I have a 90% torn pec with massive amounts of scar tissue so I understand better than most what it's like to train around a chest impairment! :thumb:


Cheers, dude. Looking good in your avvy. I'm not a big fan of isolation but given my condition probably something i'll introduce in coming weeks once I get back into the swing of things. The only isolation im doing is finishing off my shoulder press with some 1 set of lat raises with a very slow, controlled negative until failure (love that exercise). Will maybe throw in some hammer curls and tricep extensions. Just need to work around straining the chest scars! :thumbup1:


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

God said:


> That's great news mate keep it going.


 :thumbup1: Cheers.

As you suggested earlier im getting the body fat down to. On a calorie deficit at the moment and going well.


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

I do mate. Unfortunately I lost my phone a few weeks ago with them all on it.

Going by memory they are still growing somewhat but controlled. Its more the thickening (hieght proturding) of the newer parts of the keloid than any great lengthening.


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

Came to a bit of a epihany.

I think im going to start hitting chest again.

As im not getting any more of the injections due to the sides, realistically they are not going to get better in the near future. My only fear is tirggering the growth of the flattenned ones as im hoping the sides ways growth of the more central, older ones was just to accomodate the increased size of the chest and won't grow exponentially.

I have taken a load of picture from different angles and measured the main culprits.

At the end of the day I miss UH close chins and benching. They are essential exercises. I also can't really get motivated with isolation exercises, so an extra pushing exercise along with my OHP will sort out those tri's and the close grip chins are excellent for bi's. I'll replace the wide ones I was doing with some rows.

I'll monitor for growth if they start growing quickly, i'll stop.

What I didn't have earlier in the year when I was training chest but have now is surgical tape which hopefully will be beneficial. Its just regular surgical tape but the mechanism behind it is that if keloids grow from mechanical force, then the tape will take the tension on the skin away from the keloid, and onto the edges of the tape.

At the end of the day, its a choice between (hopefully) only slightly larger keloids and a cracking physique, to slightly smaller ones on an inferior physique. At the end of the day I train to look better, but more than anything enjoy the rush of it and don't want to feel restricted all the time.

Will update soon


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## Gerry_bhoy (Dec 25, 2008)

Just a wee update. Well ive been back training chest for 4-5 weeks again. And I think I will continue to do so.

The keloids I had injected are still pretty much flat (actually below the skin due to atrophy) and the surgical tape seems to be relieving the tension and stopping them growing too much during training.

My larger ones at the centre of the chest have grown a little bit but im confident I can keep that under control. I had the older more problematic ones injected today for the first time with the stuff that helped the newer ones and am due another in 8 weeks so we will see how that goes. If they flatten, I can have laser treatments to bring them closer to skin colour.

Don't get me wrong, the Kenalog injections do some major damage to the skin (atrophy and necrosis aswell as hyperpigmentation) but the prospect of them being flat pretty much outweighs that so im becoming quiety confident and excited about that.

Most of all im enjoying training again.


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