We’re in the second weekend of the 2017 CrossFit Games Regionals and another athlete suspects they’ve sustained a pec injury. 3-time Games competitor Khan Porter, competing in the Pacific Regional and ranked eighth after day one, shared an Instagram post detailing his experience with a possible right pec injury.
In his post, Porter wrote how he’d prepped for Event 2 multiple times, and hadn’t felt any discomfort with dips. Yet, while warming up for Event 2, Porter reported he instantly felt a tinge in his right pec, which led to him having to change his dip form. Below is the detailed description from his photo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUjQ5eYBmCc/
“Event 2. What a whirlwind of emotions. Prior to regionals I tested event 2 a couple of times, racked up as much ring dip volume as I could and had a cheeky feeling I might sneak an event win on it. In the warm up area I jumped on the rings, banged out a few dips and instantly felt my right pec tweak.
I’ve never had an injury to my chest and never had issues doing dips. I tried again and the pain got worse. I started to stress (haha). I had Dr. Nick Papastamis work through it, then had the CrossFit Games medical team doctor take a look and she advised me she could feel a slight deviation in the pec and that if I were to continue the competition I would seriously risk tearing my pec from the bone and would recommend withdrawing from the event.
I told myself this will be my last season competing as an individual, so choosing to pull out on a maybe did not sit well with me and after a textbook KP emotional moment I decided to continue anyway. The doctor recommended then that I do my dips as strict as possible and err on the side of caution. I ripped into the workout and found myself clear ahead of the pack going into the final round of 9 dips. Still trying to stay strict I began getting no repped for not moving my hips enough below the rings.
This is a standard I’ve never practiced when doing strict dips and in the heat of the moment, with my pec the way it was I couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm with my kip and ended up doing around 25 dips to get the full set of 9 out, placing 10th overall in the workout.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTvXpjBB96R/
Luckily, Porter didn’t have to withdraw from competition like some of the Eastern Regional competitors did. Events three and four don’t require much pec involvement, or pressing, so hopefully we see Porter avoid further irritation and injury.
It is odd thinking about how many elite athletes have sustained a pec injury from event 2. Could it be the volume from Event 1, the sequence of events, or just a freak strength sport phenomenon?
Feature image from @iamkhanporter Instagram page.
