Why You Should Flex Your Serratus Muscles
Why You Should Flex Your Serratus Muscles!
Strong functional muscles play a major role in your overall progress, mobility and health.
A strong serratus muscle group is a key to thoracic mobility which turns into the ability to hold a proper hollow body position.
This will translate into good form in most calisthenics moves such as handstands, muscle ups, pull ups, push ups, dips, levers and more.
The muscle is divided into three named parts depending on their points of insertions:
-the serratus anterior superior is inserted near the superior angle
-the serratus anterior intermediate is inserted along the medial border
-the serratus anterior inferior is inserted near the inferior angle.
All three parts described above pull the scapula forward around the thorax. The muscle is an antagonist to the rhomboids. The inferior part can pull the lower end of the scapula laterally and forward and thus rotates the scapula to make elevation of the arm possible. Additionally, all three parts can lift the ribs when the should griddle is fixed, and thus assist in respiration.
The serratus anterior is occasionally called the "big swing muscle" or "boxer's muscle" because it is largely responsible for the protraction of the scapula — that is, the pulling of the scapula forward and around the rib cage that occurs when someone throws a punch.
The serratus anterior also plays an important role in the upward rotation of the scapula, such as when lifting a weight overhead. It performs this in sync with the upper and lower fibers of the trapezius.
How to start working on the serratus?
- Simple hollow body and superman holds: the floor is a good start (shoulders and legs off the floor for both). Use a tabata app to time your effort and make progress.
- High bar Neutral Dead hang holds. This requires straight legs, pointing toes, feet slightly in front of you while hanging.
- Proper push ups and pull ups: make sure to activate all parts of the serratus while performing those moves. A common bias is to focus on pecs (for push ups) and lats (for pull ups) while misusing the other intermediate muscles.
