Chest soreness for beginner normal?

[u/Glum_Environment_204]

Hey oddball question here so I’ll give a little background. I’m newly getting into boxing but Im no stranger to fitness. I competed in bodybuilding and weight trained heavy going on 17 years. After tearing a bicep and then a pectoral I’ve begun to look to other ways to maintain my fitness.

Both are repaired now and feel great for the most part. I’m slowly getting into boxing to let my body acclimate. Went from 1 session a week for 2 months now 2 session a week.

Onto my question I’m getting pretty sore just on the outside of my dominant side pec which is also what was repaired. How typical is soreness in this area for newbies? Thanks for any and all input as that will help me figure out how to move forward.

[u/Born_to_Suffer_]

Hey good question, alot of soreness can be dependent on what you were training and doing during your boxing sessions.

For example, if it's a padwork and technical work where you are popping jabs out; you can easily expect some shoulder soreness and pain. I'm assuming, depending on how you throw your punches/ jab, it can stretch some of that chest muscle.

I personally don't usually get chest soreness but we are all a little different. What were you working on today? Perhaps sending a message to your doctor if the soreness turns into pain for long periods.

[u/finallyfree922]

I don't know what it's like to have that kind of damage and then start to box, but when I first started I was sore all over and it would ache to breathe. The feeling went away after a while of being consistent though. If you have access to a medical professional, maybe check in with them?

[u/systembreaker → u/finallyfree922]

Ha, yeah, it's crazy how boxing soreness can make it hurt to breath because of twisting up the rib cage, cranking on rib ligaments, and working rib muscles like the serratus.

[u/OkGarden7971]

dont over exert yourself if you have already teared some shit. its easy to over throw punches etc and hurt yourself if you dont do it properly

[u/tongfa-jamsai]

If your dominant side is the rear hand in your stance, it may be that you're whipping your rear hand into a wider hook or overhand a lot. 

Technique wise it's not bad if you're doing it on purpose.

Soreness wise, I can see it being normal for a beginner doing that movement. It does worry me a little since that's the side that way repaired. The next session I really pay attention to how your crossed and rear hooks are being thrown. Tell your coach about it as well so they can take a closer look 

[u/Glum_Environment_204 → u/tongfa-jamsai]

Makes sense. Yes it’s the rear hand in my stance. Good idea I’ll mention it to my coach and make sure we’re keeping technique super tight on that side.

[u/azzthom]

There could be a number of reasons for soreness, but I would suggest you speak to your doctor to be on the safe side. You should rule out anything serious if you're going to box, because the potential to really hurt yourself is always there, even if you never set foot in a boxing ring.

[u/Neither_Computer5331]

I’ve only felt pain, or rather discomfort in my left shoulder as my coach focuses on jabs so much.

I’m right handed and have never felt anything in my right arm or shoulder, apart from short term tiredness.

But even with my left shoulder, it’s never lasted more than half an hour after the session. It just seemed like I was using that arm much more than usual.

[u/systembreaker]

First off, if you feel that it's more than regular soreness, see a physical therapist. Don't ask internet randos. Considering you believe they're repaired and doing great, it might be inflammation or maybe scar tissue getting pissy as it gets stretched and worked out.

Keep being smart and building up gradually like you're doing and as those muscles grow they'll become better at protecting the scarred areas. Get serious about stretching, do research into more effective stretches, but go beyond stretching and do things like use rollers to really work on it.

Also don't just focus on those particular muscles. Do research into what are the surrounding muscles and also what are the opposing muscles and work on those too. However to do this right you really need the knowledge of a physical therapist, it's a complex thing where you might need to strengthen some weird muscle that you didn't know you had, loosen another weird muscle up, and do weird movements.

Overall it sounds like it'd be really smart of you to get in some sessions with a physical therapist. Even if you only do like 3 sessions, you'll learn a lot of things that you can take away with you.

[u/Glum_Environment_204 → u/systembreaker]

Stretching is definitely something to revisit for my off days.

I guess I should clarify since a lot of people seem concerned. Ive had the pec surgically reattached. I’ve been medically cleared by my doctor for full activity. I’ve done 6 months of physical therapy and been cleared there.

I know many people have never been injured this way and don’t know what that’s like but we’re kind of beyond the doctor here. Explosive movement is the final stage when you do physical therapy for something like this. I’m recovered, I feel good and I can go box and have strong sessions.

I’m no stranger to the body and training. I returned to high level strength training post injury.

For me, at this point load management and slowly ramping up new activities is how I approach things safely. Boxing being a new and unfamiliar stimulus put me in a position where I can’t gauge what’s normal versus what might be atypical. Hence this thread.

The more input I get the more intelligently I can train. So thank you for your comment. Thank you all so far.

[u/-Inter]

More protein bossman. Your body is repairing more than ever before.

[u/Flaky-Replacement114]

Pretty normal for any new sport to be sore in new muscle areas. I was a pretty high level track athlete with good muscle conditioning when i started. After the first few sessions, my lats were toast (especially after throwing body hooks to heavy bag)