Deep chest pain from dips#1671

So I’ve been training ring dips for a year, no problems so far. Added 5-7kg this last month and experienced suddenly a weird deep discomfort / pressure deep in the center of my chest. I got no idea if I pulled a muscle or whatever else. Stopped doing them for now but I still experience a slight discomfort when sucking my belly and leaning with chest so i fear I will worsen it by training chest. Help 🥲

Hey. This is Chrys, one of the trainers at Hybrid.

That deep pressure you’re feeling sounds like a mild sternum or cartilage strain—pretty common with ring dips, especially after adding weight. You did the right thing stopping. Avoid dips, deep pushups, or anything that stretches your chest until it settles down. Id stick to pain-free stuff for now, like light pulls or legs. If it’s still sore after a couple weeks or hurts to breathe deep, get it checked out. Most of the time it just needs rest and an easy rebuild back into dips later.

Oh so that’s why bench didnt hurt but pseudo push ups did. Rom difference. How can i start weighted dips again without having the same issue?

Yeah, exactly. And btw to bring weighted dips back safely, ease into the range of motion first, not the weight. Start with shallow bodyweight dips and only go as deep as you can with zero discomfort. When that feels good for a week or two, add a tiny bit of depth, not load. Once full depth feels solid and pain-free, then you can start adding weight again, but in small jumps. You’re basically retraining the sternum and connective tissue to handle that stretch under tension.

Gotchu. Thanks once more brother

Of course!