Located on the sides chest and are adjacent to the armpit.

The serratus muscles are that small detail in the physique that emphasizes the aesthetics of all the other muscles of the torso: pectoral, latissimus, deltoids and abs.

Serratus muscle training includes exercises that involve stretching and contracting the chest, abducting and adducting the arms toward the body. These muscles receive significant indirect load when training the muscles of the chest, shoulders and back.

Functions of serratus muscles:

Abducting the shoulder blades outward and forward, participating in raising the arms above the horizontal position (acting on the shoulder blade), expanding the chest (with the shoulder blades fixed).

Exercise for serratus muscles on the Body Solid simulator.

The Body Solid company has a G8I machine that can give you a very good workout for your serratus chest muscles. The muscles on this simulator are worked very carefully, not inferior in freedom of movement to dumbbells. The advantage of the simulator is that you can perform a whole range of chest exercises on it: presses, flyes, bends. For more detailed information You can go to the distributor's website.

Exercise for serratus muscles – dumbbell pullover.

Starting position: lie on a bench with a dumbbell in your hands. Pay attention to how the dumbbell is held. It should be held with both hands on one side. Extend your arms straight up and bend them slightly at the elbows.

Smoothly lower the dumbbell behind your head without bending your arms. At the same time, take an active breath. Feel the stretch in your chest. Pause for a moment in the stretched position. Then slowly, as you exhale, return your hands with the dumbbell to their original position. Do the required number of repetitions.

Please note: use dumbbells with weight plates securely attached. Otherwise, you risk being seriously injured if (God forbid) the pancakes fall on your face.

Breathing: when lowering your hands behind your head, inhale, when lifting to the starting position, exhale.

In addition to the serratus muscles, the exercise trains the chest muscles, abdominal muscles and latissimus dorsi muscles well, and also includes the trapezius muscles.

Exercise Variations: You can perform this exercise while sitting across a bench. To do this, the dumbbell is placed vertically on the bench at the edge. You position yourself across the bench so that there is only top part backs. The legs rest securely on the floor, the pelvis should be located below the level of the bench. The head should be suspended. Having positioned yourself in this way, take the dumbbell that you previously placed on the edge of the bench and begin to perform the exercise. After completing the desired number of repetitions, place the dumbbell on the bench next to you and stand up.

The serratus anterior muscle is located parallel to the ribs, under the vastus dorsi muscles. They allow you to connect the pectoral muscles with the intercostal muscles, stretch down, closer to the abdominal muscles.

If you have the correct development of such muscles, then they will be shaped like fingers: each bundle is clearly defined and separated from the others.

Well-developed serratus muscles emphasize the abdominal muscles and make them visually more prominent. But not all people can show good development of this muscle group.

Before describing the exercise technique that will allow you to achieve the correct development of the serratus anterior muscle, you need to understand what role it plays in the body.

The serratus anterior muscle performs the following functions in the human body:

1. Moves the shoulder blades inward and forward;
2. Together with muscle groups, raises the arm above the horizontal surface;
3. Helps expand the chest.

Thus, if you follow physiological properties, we can conclude that exercises that are aimed at working out this area should consist of movements similar to these properties.

Features of pumping the serratus anterior muscle

In bodybuilding, there are no specific exercises for the development of the serratus anterior muscle, because it is completely impossible to work it separately: after all, it plays a role in all exercises that are aimed at working out the pectoral and deltoid muscles and participates in back training.

It is also important to emphasize that great benefit receive the group of people who I learned to feel this muscle during exercises. Naturally, such a feeling comes to us over time, when we accumulate experience and acquire basic knowledge.

Moreover, the most important aspect of the development of the serratus anterior muscle is considered to be static training. It can be carried out with or without load.

How to pump up the serratus anterior muscle

Training without much stress consists of working out the muscles by posing. Even though it is considered a way to train muscles without effort and weight, it is not classified as easy methods. Professional athletes wipe themselves clean after half an hour of posing great amount sweat!

Posing is a harder form of exercise than simple strength training.

1. To begin, take the starting position: stand straight, place your feet shoulder-width apart, and place your hands on the sides of your body. All these actions are performed in the upper part of the press.
2. Try to tense the broad muscles of the back so that at this moment the lower back bends as it should and the chest protrudes forward.
3. The shoulder girdle should be slightly behind, and then again in front. It is necessary to stay in this position for a long time.

This pose will best work the serratus anterior muscles. But, if you want to comprehensively pump the serratus muscle with the rest. Below are pictures of exercises and videos from a famous bodybuilder.

They are located parallel to the ribs. They connect the intercostal muscles with the pectoral muscles and stretch downwards. If these muscles are developed correctly, they look like fingers - each bundle is separated from the others and clearly stands out. Distinctive feature of these muscles is that the level of their development cannot be measured; the main measure is visual assessment.

A significant portion of novice bodybuilders neglect the serratus muscles during training, which is a strong misconception. It is practically impossible to pump up the serratus muscles in the process of general muscle pumping, since this is a very labor-intensive process. To pump them up, a special set of exercises is required. Even professional athletes need several seasons to give the serratus muscles the necessary relief and volume.

The development of these muscles is very important for a bodybuilder for a number of reasons:

Serratus muscles are an indicator that an athlete has achieved true mastery in detailed training;

These muscles help separate the pecs from the latissimus dorsi and obliques;

Well-developed serratus muscles give your body greater symmetry and athleticism.

Some people are a little luckier; they naturally have excellent potential for developing serratus muscles. However, not everyone has this natural talent and many athletes require conscious effort to develop serratus muscles. I suggest you familiarize yourself with a set of exercises, which describes in detail how to pump up the serratus anterior muscle. Well-developed serratus muscles make it much more effective to demonstrate many various poses, the options where the hands are behind the head look especially good.

Instructions: how to pump up the serratus anterior muscle.

1. We perform the first exercise on the horizontal bar. Hanging, let's lift left leg diagonally across the body, with the left knee needing to reach right breast. After which you need to freeze for a couple of seconds, and then lower the leg to its original position until it is completely straightened. We do the same with right foot. We repeat this exercise five or six times.

Note: If possible, make the exercise more difficult by trying to reach the opposite shoulder with your knee.

2. The next exercise is similar to the first, we also reach the opposite chest with our knee. It differs from the previous one only in that it is performed in a lying position.

Note: With each approach it is necessary to change the angle of the bench.

3.The third exercise explains how to pump up the serratus muscles using a barbell. To do this, place the barbell on your shoulders, behind your head. And we begin to move with our whole body, ensuring that the ends of the bar make imaginary regular figure eights in the air. As we progress, we change the directions of the eights, that is, four eights clockwise, and four eights in the opposite direction.

Note: In this exercise, the weight of the barbell should be optimal. If you decide to increase the load, ask your partner to help you put the barbell on your shoulders and support you after completing the exercise.

You should draw your attention to the fact that all muscles designed for long-term loads (the serratus muscles also belong to them) do not like a small number of approaches and Weight Limit. The best option You will draw up a separate program for yourself, providing for 30-50 repetitions of this exercise during the approach. You should not be embarrassed by the low weight; in these exercises, quantity rather than “quality” is more appropriate than ever. Which will serve as the main factor for pumping up these muscles.

The serratus abdominal muscles should not be exercised more than twice a month. Exercises with the serratus muscles must be performed in the final part of the training and before the planned day of rest from training. These conditions should not be neglected, since these muscles are susceptible to injuries, which will interfere with working with maximum weight when pumping other muscle groups.

Serratus Anterior Muscle

The serratus anterior muscles are located parallel to the ribs, extend from under the latissimus dorsi, linking the pectoral muscles with the intercostal muscles, and extend down to the oblique abdominal muscles. At proper development these muscles are similar to fingers: each bundle is clearly distinguished and separated from the rest. The serratus pectoralis muscles are different from others in the sense that you cannot assess their level of development with a measuring tape; main role This is where visual assessment comes into play.

The development of the serratus muscles is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it clearly shows that the bodybuilder has achieved real quality in detailed training; second, the serratus muscles help separate the latissimus dorsi from the pectoralis and obliques. Good development The serratus muscle gives your physique greater symmetry and athleticism.

Some people naturally have excellent serratus muscle development potential. Take a look at this photo of Steve Reeves showing off his lats from the front when he was fifteen years old after one year of training. Already now one can see a clear separation of the processes of the serratus muscle. Later, when Steve won the Mr. Universe title, the development of his serratus muscles was truly impressive.

Bill Pearl knew how to combine impressive size with aesthetic qualities, which included prominent serratus muscles. His outstanding chest development allowed him to assume a variety of oblique and frontal poses, making him a much more formidable opponent in competition.

However, even if you are not naturally gifted, you can train and make a conscious effort to develop the serratus anterior muscles. Such training helped Frank Zane become a model of harmonious development and allowed him to win the Mr. Olympia title three times. Like Bill Pearl, Frank found that his superbly developed serratus muscles allowed him to effectively demonstrate many different poses, especially variations with his hands behind his head. I remember standing next to Frank on stage in 1968, outweighing him by 50 pounds. I noticed that his lats looked more impressive than mine due to the amazing isolation created by the serratus anterior muscles. You can be sure that after that I poured myself into training with a vengeance.

Steve Reeves, Frank Zane and Bill Pearl were my role models in serratus development. When they took different poses, especially with their arms raised, they clearly demonstrated what I should strive for.

Since the main function of the serratus muscle is to adduct the shoulder forward and downward, you train them with exercises such as pull-ups, close-grip pulley presses, different kinds pullovers with a barbell or dumbbells or on a machine. (My body structure is such that when I do dumbbell pullovers, the exercise helps me increase the size of my chest. For people with other body proportions, like Frank Zane or Bill Pearl, dumbbell pullovers help me develop my serratus muscles better.) There's more. one exercise that helps you work these muscles more specifically, and you can use them to train weak points: This is a two-arm or one-arm pulldown on a pulley device. In both cases, it is necessary to perform the movement as precisely as possible in order to achieve maximum effect.

How to pump up the serratus anterior muscles Training various groups muscle is the basis of any training system. To build a beautiful torso, it is not enough to do only exercises to train the pectoral, latissimus and abdominal muscles. These groups and their aesthetic beauty can be emphasized by training the serratus muscles. They are a small but very important detail in the overall picture of a trained body. In order to give an indirect load to the serratus muscles, it is necessary to perform exercises to train the back, chest and shoulders. Stretching and compressing the chest, as well as adducting and abducting the arms from the body are the main types of exercises. Purpose of the serratus muscles The serratus anterior muscle allows you to move the shoulder blades forward and outward. In conjunction with the muscles of other groups, it raises its arms above the horizon line and participates in the expansion of the chest. It is based on the functions that the serratus muscles perform that we can draw a conclusion about the most suitable exercises for training them. During training, you should repeat exactly those movements that are physiologically characteristic of these muscles. But despite this, identifying specific exercises is not easy. The serratus muscles are worked indirectly, during training of other muscle groups. This is because it is impossible to isolate them during training. The serratus muscles experience the greatest tension when working on the pectoral and deltoid muscles. To create the most suitable training system, you need to determine a set of exercises that will pump both the serratus and other muscle groups. Exercises for the serratus muscles Latissimus Muscles pose To properly train the serratus anterior muscle, special attention should be paid to performing static exercises. A set of such training can be carried out both with and without load. It is best to train the serratus anterior muscle with a static “latissimus” exercise. For correct execution For this exercise, like any other, it is necessary to study its technique in detail. It is necessary to take the correct starting position - hands rest on the sides of the body, feet shoulder-width apart, stand straight. When performing the exercise, movements will be carried out in the upper part of the body. The movement should begin by creating tension in the latissimus dorsi muscles. At the same time, we bend our lower back and push our chest forward. Thus, the shoulder girdle moves back and then, together with the elbows, moves forward. The shoulder blades should be kept as far apart as possible and shifted forward. Once you feel the point of maximum tension, you should stay in this position for as long as possible. Exactly at this moment The serratus anterior muscle is in a state of greatest static tension. After completing the exercise, you should relax all tense muscle groups and stretch a little. This exercise must be performed in several approaches, but at least three. Exercise with load Another interesting exercise for pumping up the serratus muscles is performing exercises with weights. The greatest effect can be achieved by using a dumbbell in training and performing a pullover exercise. To get into the starting position, you need to lie down on a bench, holding a dumbbell in your hands. Special attention attention should be paid to the method of holding the dumbbell in your hands: holding one end of the dumbbell with both hands. While holding the dumbbell, you need to extend your arms vertically upward and bend them slightly at the elbows. Pullover with a dumbbell After taking the starting position, we proceed to the actual execution of the exercise. Without bending your arms, you should smoothly lower the dumbbell down. While performing this movement, take an active breath. At this moment you will feel a stretch in your chest. In this position, you need to linger a little and, while exhaling, smoothly return to the starting position. Perform the required number of repetitions of the exercise. It is very important to check the fastening of the plates before performing this exercise. Unreliably fixed parts of the dumbbell can seriously injure you. You also need to follow the breathing technique: inhale when lowering your arms with a dumbbell, exhale when returning your arms to their original position. To achieve maximum effect, the training process should be carried out in 3-5 approaches, with 15-20 repetitions. These exercises train not only the serratus muscles, but also the abdominal muscles, chest muscles, latissimus dorsi muscles, and trapezius muscles. Dumbbell pullovers can also be performed while sitting across a bench. Only the upper part of the back is placed on it, and the legs rest on the floor. Having taken the starting position, you need to ensure that your pelvis is below the level of the bench and your head is in weight. After this, pick up a dumbbell placed on the edge of the bench and begin to perform the exercise. Another exercise that works well for developing serratus muscles is diagonal crunches. You can read about how to do them in our article on how to burn belly fat. By including the above exercises in your training complex, you can significantly work the serratus anterior muscles, which will give your torso additional impressiveness and definition.