How to tell if you tore something?

Hey, I'm new to boxing and I have been training to get in shape after being very out of shape.

1 week ago on Monday, I lifted pretty hard. The next few days my muscles were sore but my biceps stayed sore longer than the rest. The following Saturday I did bag work on the heavy bag while my biceps were still sore (so 5 days after lifting). Then later that evening I sparred with a friend and it was hard because my biceps were so sore I couldn't get any power on my hooks. I also had a hard time jabbing fast because of the soreness.

Anyway, they are still really sore a week later, today. Did I maybe injure them? How would I know if I tore something? I'd appreciate any tips of what signs to look for to know if I injured them.

If you have torn sumthing, you wont be able to lift that muscle....if you attemt to you will feel a very sharp pain in that area. I think you just over worked you muscles

It hurts a little when I lift something with my bicep but mostly it hurts when I stretch it or just when I poke or squeeze the muscle.

Hmmmmmm......it sounds like you might have over strained it. It happened to me to with my biceps. Just try and stretch it everyday....and everyday stretch it a little farther then the day before.

Well here is a picture of what really got me worried.. Sorry for the crappy pic...

http://cleedo.com/bicepbruise.gif

The pic doesn' show very well but the bruise is purple and black in places.

See, 5 days after lifting it was still sore, but I hit the heavy bag anyway, then that night I sparred with a friend of mine and that made it really sore. The next day (Sunday) during church I was squeezing and massaging the muscle down by the elbow where it hurt most.

Monday morning I had these nasty bruises right there where it was previously sore. It's not sore there anymore though but the bruises made me think I must have tore something.

Could the bruises be from the massaging or are they from damage I did? The muscle isn't sore right there any more but it's a little bit sore on the rest of the bicep.Â

trust me if you tore it you'd know, it really hurts and oh yeah you feel it tear :-X

It could have been really overworked- I've have doms for over a week when I've gone mental with the weights or you may have strained it. The bruising can be a sign of a tear but if the muscle has not displayed then probably not.

there has been some muscle damage to your bicep, it looks like a microtear, they are common when you over stretch or strain the muscle.

if it was a full tear you would be in hospital awaiting surgery to re-attatch the muscle to your tendons :P

take it as a warning to take time off to let it heal as once a crack appears in anything, once further stressed it can erupt into a larger tear.

You have at very least torn a blood vessel. You need to rest that.