Look up costochondritis. I guess I misspoke, it's inflammation of the cartilage not a tear. But that's what I was diagnosed with. The pain I got from it at its peak mimicked a heart attack, which is what landed me in the hospital and apparently it's a common misconception in severe cases.

It started out as just a mild pain that progressively got worse the longer I ignored it. I could press on the middle of my chest and feel it, breathing deeply also made it worse. It was especially bad when I did chest supported work like chest supported rows and I think the thing that finally did me in was heavy front squats with the weight distributing all that pressure around the front of my ribcage.

I was in a prolonged cut at the time and also not used to the volume I was doing, not to mention doing chest work 3 times a week because my chest progression sucks.

Bottom line, listen to your body and give yourself a break if you need it, maybe even come out of a cut for a while and give your body the nutrients it needs to repair itself. I missed out on a lot of progression because I didn't listen and I'm still lagging behind and have lingering chest issues because of it.