The serratus anterior is, for me, one of the "white whale" muscles that I've been pursuing for decades. I've never been able to find an exercise that really hit that muscle strongly and effectively...until now.
Some people are genetically gifted to have excellent mechanics for developing the serratus...often without really even trying. These people have serratus muscles that pop out, even if they don't have low bodyfat.
The legendary Frank Zane had some of the best serratus development in bodybuilding history.
And some people (like me, and possibly you), DON'T have good mechanics for activating the serratus and struggle to achieve any significant development of the area.
This new serratus-buidling exercise is very similar to the straight-arm Serratus Dip, used by Vince Gironda.
I've made it better.
In Gironda's version, you assume the top position of the normal tricep dip...elbows locked out. Then you allow the shoulders to elevate and the body to sag downward.
Get a short stretch at the bottom, then push downwards at the shoulder, bringing your body up (this is biomechanically known as scapular depression, a.k.a. bringing the shoulder blade down).
I've tried this version of Serratus Dips in the past and found them to be just ok. I always found with the elbows locked out straight, there was a fair bit of stabilization required because of the body position, which took away from the contraction and activation of the serratus.
I would feel it more in the lats, which are stronger so they would invariably take over the exercise for me.
My version has one MAJOR difference from the Gironda version that I find makes a HUGE difference in serratus activation.
Instead of assuming a locked-out elbow position, you will instead assume what I call a "lockdown" position.
You'll need one of those Hanging Ab Chairs / Captains Chair to do this one optimally. If you don't have one, you could potentially rig something up with a couple of bars set on the safety rails of the power rack. It won't be as stable, however, and may not work as well.
Set your forearms on the horizontal pads, facing in towards the back rest. Grip onto the backrest hard...no feather grip. Squeeze it solidly. This is where we're going into "lockdown."
And while you CAN face outwards (like a normal person), I actually find gripping on the pad to be preferable and more effective. I believe this is because that hand position results in slight internal rotation of the shoulders, which puts the serratus in a somewhat better position to contract.
To magnify this effect, you can also try to push your hands inwards as though trying to crush the pad in between your hands. I found this to give a little extra tension to the serratus.
When you grip onto the pad like this, you solidly stabilize your entire shoulder girdle, which is what I find is missing from the Gironda version. This forces ALL movement to happen in a simple up/down pattern, rather than fighting to also stabillize your body in the higher lockout position. Your arm position, with the internal rotation contributes to this.
Let your body sag downwards at the shoulders. Don't fully relax the shoulder joint, though...keep some tension in the shoulders so that you're not causing any damage. You should feel a stretch right in through the serratus area.
Now bring your entire body UP by pushing downward into the pads with your elbows/forearms. As you come up, hunch forward slightly and exhale.
If you've done regular Serratus Dips, the movement will be familiar to you. However, setting yourself up on the pads like this and locking your shoulder girdle down makes a HUGE difference in the effectiveness of the movement for targeting the serratus.
Hold for a second or two at the top, while you continue trying to push yourself as high as you can. Then come back down slowly and under control and sink back into the stretch. Hold for a second in the bottom then repeat.
The first time you do this one, start with just your bodyweight. Once you know you're feeling in the right place, you can start to add some resistance in the form of a dip belt.
The movement is exactly the same, only now we're loading it.
Again, grip the back rest HARD then push your body up as high as you can, hunching forward slightly.
Do the movement in a very controlled, deliberate fashion.
You will find as you're doing this exercise that the lower lats will become involved to some extent. This is a major function of the lower lat fibers and is to be expected. However, the goal is to shift as much of that tension onto the serratus instead of the lats, which is where the hunching helps.
This bent-arm, locked-down setup hammers the serratus in a way that I could never manage with the straight-arm, locked-out version, or with any other serratus-targeting exercise.
With this lockdown, it's as close to a true isolation exercise for the serratus as I've been able to find. You can load it heavily and the tension stays right where you want it.
If developing your serratus is a priority for you, finish every single workout with a set or two of this exercise. It's not challenging to the recovery systems of your body, so it won't impair you in any way to do it.
As you build up to heavier loads (while maintaining proper activation of the serratus), you will start developing those awesome, thick fingers of muscle that really finish a physique.
The Ab Pushing Sit-Up also gives you some direct serratus work, though not as targeted specifically for the serratus as this exercise is.
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