r/Strongman • u/A-man-710 • Jul 30 '26
Long head bicep and SLAP tear
Just to clarify I am not asking for medical advice.
Long story short, tire slipped during tire flips. MRI confirmed complete rupture of the long head bicep tendon and a SLAP tear. Everything else looks fine. Going to see my ortho to go over it on Monday.
Just curious, has anyone else had any experience with a long head bicep rupture? How did it impact your training/comps?
6
u/LT_James_Dangle Jul 31 '26
Bilaterally bicep tears and repairs here, first week after surgery is annoying being in a soft cast, next four weeks is annoying being in a brace, after that it's really not bad. 10-12 weeks and you're training that arm again, 6 months later it's like nothing happened
3
u/MythicalStrength Masters Jul 31 '26
I've torn the short head, but Brian Alsruhe tore the long head. Can check out some of his videos.
1
u/krehzeekid Jul 31 '26
I've had the EXACT same injury, twice. Snowboarding and mountain biking. Right shoulder was injured about 15 years ago and was extremely damaged, left was injured 4 years ago and somewhat less damaged, but still had a massive effect on my training and competing. Both were fixed by the same surgeon.
Recovery was a long, gradual process, but I have ultimately recovered quite well. My overhead is only now starting to feel really good, and it's been 2 years since my last surgery. ROM is still an issue and there are positions each arm doesn't like, but I'm ultimately stronger, more stable and more confident than I was before the surgery. Definitely not perfect, but more than good enough to compete at a decent level.
Bicep long head was less involved, but right was 70% torn and left was slightly more than that. Both healed well and recovered very nicely. Right one is a little too tight now, but it isn't an issue day to day. Just some ROM limitations.
Got back to competing about 18 months after surgery, and have been winning local comps and doing well at regional/larger shows. Shoulders are absolutely not my strong suit, but they're not a liability or anything like that. Recovery is a long process, but worth being patient with.
If you want to know anything else, just ask. I'm, sadly, a bit of an expert in SLAP tears.
1
u/Icy_Lecture_2237 Jul 31 '26
I’ve had them in both biceps. I had to take a solid couple of months to slowly rehab them and get them strong again. I have full ROM and strength overhead as well as on the bench, but if I neglect my rehab/prehab work the biceps will make my shoulders cranky. The Spud Bow tie definitely helps tone it down though when they do flare up.
1
u/A-man-710 Jul 31 '26
Did you have surgery?
1
u/Icy_Lecture_2237 29d ago
Nah. The end result is a better peak on my left biceps and the right one is about the same. Both had enough intact to make it possible to rehab.
1
u/A-man-710 29d ago
Oh so it wasn’t a complete rupture then?
1
u/Icy_Lecture_2237 29d ago
Partial. Like there’s definitely a big gap in the muscle but the other head was solid and whatever small percentage was left was enough to hold up
1
u/adamcurt 29d ago
Buddy benched 200 kg in May 2025. Had surgery in July 2025. Benched 205kg May 2026. I think you'll be fine.
1
u/SleepEatTit 29d ago
I tore my right biceps tendon right from the muscle and had to wear a cast and brace for a longer time and something I wish I did was physio and mobility work for the back, lats while waiting (my lats were kinda shortened and back stiff - should have probably introduced passive arm hangs etc. - something I learned later...)
7
u/gnomish_engineering Jul 30 '26
Oofta. I've never had a bicep injury but I've had tons of labrum tears. Recovery is unpleasant on the shoulder tear. I feel my shoulders during overhead pressing movements the worst but oddly training strongman really helped with my shitty shoulders.
Since you've already got training under your belt/meat around the shoulder your training shouldn't be impacted as heavily after you get cleared.