Dips And Sternum Pain

GodofHarems

New Member
Hello I am a 13 year old athlete and I recently began doing dips. As soon as I had received my new bar I was more than exhilarated to try to find my max so I can build on that. But almost as soon as I began the 1st dip set I felt an unbearable pressure in my sternum that felt like if I persisted I would tear my chest in half. I've done some research that advised the readers it could be that they/I was doing the exercise incorrectly. I went over the exercise with my older brother who has somewhat knowledge of calisthenics. He said I had perfect form and he couldn't point out the problem. Could it be I have a muscular in-balance in my pectoralis major or that I have some sort of condition?
 
Hello I am a 13 year old athlete and I recently began doing dips. As soon as I had received my new bar I was more than exhilarated to try to find my max so I can build on that. But almost as soon as I began the 1st dip set I felt an unbearable pressure in my sternum that felt like if I persisted I would tear my chest in half. I've done some research that advised the readers it could be that they/I was doing the exercise incorrectly. I went over the exercise with my older brother who has somewhat knowledge of calisthenics. He said I had perfect form and he couldn't point out the problem. Could it be I have a muscular in-balance in my pectoralis major or that I have some sort of condition?

1. Perfect form varies person-to-person.

2. You're 13. Helluva lot of growing left to do.

Just come back to it in a while. You may also just not be strong enough.
 
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Build up slowly. Dips are a fairly tough exercise even with only body weight. Do half-depth reps for a few sessions.
In my experience, handle spacing makes a big difference to how the movement feels. If you are using a particularly wide hand spacing, you will put more strain on your shoulders and you may also find that you feel more pressure on your sternum. Try setting the handle spacing just a bit wider than shoulder width and see how that feels.
Start to increase depth once your pec insertions toughen up.
 
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