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You’ve probably noticed a serrated muscle that sits under the ribcage and flows around the obliques if you’ve ever seen a shredded set of abs. This muscle is called the Serratus Anterior due to its serrated knife-like appearance. Your core system is incomplete without the serratus anterior muscles. Because it is mostly responsible for your ability to punch, that’s why this muscle is also known as the “boxer’s muscle.”
A strong serratus anterior muscle is essential for persons who lift weights, dance or participate in most sports activities. Aside from athletic performance, the serratus anterior is important for proper body posture and adequate shoulder strength, which affects both athletes and nonathletes on a daily basis.
The 5 best serratus anterior workouts which we outline below can help you get chiseled abs and stronger shoulders. Let’s dive deep into the 5 best serratus anterior workouts!
The 5 Best Serratus Anterior Workouts
- Ab Rollout
- High Bear Crawl
- Scapular Push-Up
- Unilateral Band Chest Press
- Dumbbell Pullover
1. Ab Rollout
The ab rollout is one of the best serratus anterior workouts because it targets your eccentric strength through protraction and upward rotation of the scapula in the lengthened position.
Direction
Just get on your knees and grip your equipment of choice: a barbell loaded with plates, an ab wheel, or an exercise ball with hands shoulder-width apart. Allow your hips to fall into the floor and your chest to sink forward toward the ground without arching your lower back. The longer range of motion (ROM), the harder the workout, so if you’re new to it, keep it short. Pull yourself back to the starting posture by squeezing the lat muscles. Then repeat the workout.
Benefits of The Ab Rollout Exercise
- You will see increased serratus muscle development.
- More control and stability of abdominal muscles (hypertrophy).
- Strengthens your joints and ligaments
2. High Bear Crawl
Bear crawls are excellent warm-up serratus anterior workouts for any exercise. it’s one of the serratus anterior workouts that challenge your core and stability, improve mobility and coordination; and when you do high bear crawls, it cause you to protract your scapula, and the serratus gets some serious time under tension.
Direction
Begin on all fours with your knees and arms straight, your eyes up, and your spine in a neutral position. While keeping your back straight, move one hand and the opposing foot forward in an equal amount of distance, and then repeat on the opposite side, changing sides for each rep.
Benefits of High Bear Crawl Exercise
- Builds Your Core Strength
- High bear crawls help in entire body coordination
- Supports your shoulder health
3. Scapular Push-Up
Scapular push-up makes you perform the move by only moving your shoulder blades. Because the serratus is predominantly activated by your shoulder blades, this is about as close as doing an isolation workout for your muscle. Push deeper into the ground at the top of the movement while keeping the arm straight and rounding the upper back. Your serratus will be fully activated, and your entire core will work harder as a result.
Direction
Get on your hand and knees, Place your hands somewhat wider than your shoulder width. Straighten your arms and legs properly so you’re on your toes and hands, then engage your glutes to support a neutral spine position. You should only move about one inch. When your chest can’t go any further, spread your shoulder blades apart to rise back up.
Benefits of Scapular Push-Up Exercise
- Improve your shoulder mobility
- Scapular push-ups can help fix a winged scapula
- Scapular push-ups are a great warm-up workout
4. Unilateral Band Chest Press
Most presses require scapular protraction and retraction, so, they all train your serratus. Band chest presses, on the other hand, provide a horizontal force vector that forces you to reach further, which significantly activates the serratus. Unilateral band chest presses are done standing in a parallel or split stance, and these serratus anterior workouts can be made tougher by moving further away from the anchor point or easier by moving closer.
Direction
A resistance band should be anchored slightly below shoulder height, grabbed with your right hand, and walked forward until tension is felt. To take a staggered stance, step forward with one leg. Reach forward and pause after pressing the band until it reaches lockout. Return to the starting position slowly and repeat the process.
Benefits of Unilateral Band Chest Press Exercise
- Engages the serratus anterior more than other pressing varieties.
- Helps in the strengthening of pressing imbalances on both sides
- Strengthens the anti-rotational muscles of the internal and external obliques.
5. Dumbbell Pullover
Dumbbell Pullover is one of the powerful serratus anterior workouts that can be done with one or two dumbbells, a barbell, or a cable. Because of the upward and protraction movement from the scapula, this dumbbell pullover technique works the chest and back simultaneously, helping to strengthen the lats and chest while creating excellent, jagged-looking serratus.
Direction
Place your feet firmly on the ground and lie face up on a flat bench. Keep your lower back in a slight arch. Either bridge up to increase chest engagement or maintain your glutes down and chest up to increase lat engagement.
Benefits of Dumbbell Pullover Exercise
- Build your upper body muscles
- Improve your body flexibility
- Activate your glutes, lower back muscles, and core muscles
Conclusion
Serratus anterior muscles are crucial shoulder muscles, shoulder joints, and pecs stabilizers. The serratus anterior muscles also help with thoracic spine movements, which are important for core movement and stability. We’ve selected some of the greatest serratus anterior workouts for strengthening your abs, shoulders and core system which can help you improve your overall health and performance.
Let us know your favourite serratus anterior workouts in the comments section!
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