I spent almost a year doing exercises for the serratus anterior, because of my scapular dyskinesia, obtaining some results, but not completely fixing the problem. Now thanks to you, I understood that it's important to start from very easy exercise, for avoiding compensations, and to well activate the serratus anterior. Thank you so much
best seratus exercise, best video on this. You get right to the motions. I've watched a dozen vids with 99 percent talk then they take out the toy spine skeleton for more talk and then 22 seconds showing the movements ugggh (subscribed just for this)
WOW. I found this video months ago when my chiro declared my xrays show some joint disintegration (age 32) and I have some impending arthritis. I began doing some of these floor exercises and had some relief from neck aches. Spending a dozen hours or more per day on the computer, I have some difficulty with arm, shoulder, neck, even jaw pain as a result of Thoracic Outlet I imagine. Months later after watching this instruction I am STILL retracting useful information out of it, my neck pain is either gone instantly after doing them or gone entirely if I am regular about the exercise. Awesome work, NO ONE knew they had so much difficulty with a shoulder blade muscle. Few knew that shoulder muscle existed. Nice work! +1
Sheesh. All the lingo these guys use. It makes them feel so cool. The older and more experienced you get, the less jargon you use and the better you get at explaining things in plain language.
Are you hating on big words? 😂 Fair enough point about jargon, but I personally found him easy to understand because he’s using the correct, precise terminology.
Perfect exercise! It really does activate my serratus and takes a big load off of my back and shoulders. I feel relaxed for the first time in around 8 years or so.. big thanks! :)
You have played a huge role in teaching me a lot during my peak final year physiotherapy, right now I'm applying so much of what u teach during my internship. Thankyou so much Brent. Lots of good vibes from India.
You know what? you just saved a man's life. I have a TOS, which needs to train serratus anterior, so I always did 'traditional' band-assisted wall slide which always fxcked up my TFCC. but with this exercise, It's just a life saver. thx
I am a massage therapist who also is a CES. These exercises are fantastic, I never got the nitty gritty on serratus anterior but I notice it a common issue with a lot of my clients so this is extremely helpful especially even for myself! I love these videos!
Thank you so much for the support Wikked Jester. Much appreciated. Check out our website... maybe "Human Movement Specialist (HMS)" will be the next credential you will ad. Dr. B2
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This is great, absolutely going to add this to my list! I've had so much troubles activating my serratus anterior and got somewhat winged scapular, and had almost no results from months of different "press up" excersises.
With months of professional high level help, I can finally do this exercise to the point where I actually feel fatigue and it is seriously effective. Thank you so much for this one it is going to get my the extension I desperately need.
You talk a lot like my personal trainer=??? However, I have to say that this video addresses pain that I have been experiencing while biking that I simply have not been able to calm down. Right on the ribs under the armpit and reaching up to the neck on one side. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a good exercise for me. Thank you so very much!
You're very welcome! Thank you for your support, we're glad you've found the content helpful! Check out BrookbushInstitute.com for more content like this!
Hey @cgoodiefunk! Hope the studying is going well. We just recently added our business to Google my Business, would you mind leaving a quick review? g.page/r/CR1LsEAZ5W6AEBM/review
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I struggled to understand many terms which you have used to give a very nice and clear understanding of the topic .It would be of a great help and motivating if the subtitles are correct .. Being a Yoga and strength training coach I loved your video. Thank you for posting.
This is exactly what you I've been looking for. so many physios do not cue the exercise for progression regression and then you compensate which worsens the problem
yes this is why so many go to PT for half a year with no progress with their function. Some PTs will look at you for 20 minutes in their office, then they have you do exercises for months without properly looking at how you do them, and you wonder why you aren't progressing. poor or no cues, poor individualizing of programs, exercises are too general or fail to find and adress compensations of the client. There are good therapists and bad ones, try find a good one that takes you seriously!
THANK YOU!!! Just last year, I had to have rotator cuff surgery, (twice: the second time in Dec. to repair a "re-tear")... So, I'm EXTREMELY APPRECIATIVE, and Interested in Learning as much as I can, in order to help recover, and avoid any future problems!
Hi, These excercises are really good for the serratus. But unfortunately i have winged scapula and thus not able to complete these stretches 100 percent. Please make a video on how to correct winged scapula
Holy shit I just tried doing the variations against the wall and OMG it felt so good in the serratus. It's a really challenging exercise, but most important it goes straight into your serratus. Thanks for the exercise.
After 10 years of left side numbness and weakness I self diagnosed that I have inactive serratus thanks to this video. Did this for 2 days and I can feel like I awakened my left arm. Does this muscle weakness cause tricep tendinitis also? I suffered that too
Hey Alpa, Potentially, any case like yours would require a more in depth evaluation to give you a more definitive answer, but if the technique help... great. Knowing the reason why is less important than knowing how to make improvement. Dr. B2
You have an amazing explanation, exercises and voice :) I am looking for musculus supraspinatus - tendinosis exercises...in correlation with biceps tendinitis..but especially eccentric exercises for m. supraspinatus. thank You
Great and informative video with exercises that really seem to work. I injured my shoulder during weightlifting months ago and almost over night developed significant winged scapula on one shoulder. Since then I can’t lift my arm up without my shoulder blade popping out. Will this exercise help pull the scapula back closer to my body?
Hey Melike, I assign it for home exercise program all of the time. Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. It is better that they are doing something (even if it is not perfect), than not doing anything at all. Dr. B2
at 3:25, I don't understand how keeping the scapula depressed and downwardly rotated can force upward rotation during shoulder flexion. If the client successfully keeps the shoulder blade down, wouldn't this just cause impingement in the shoulder since the arm is being raised with depressed and downwardly rotated scapulas ?
I did not say "downwardly rotated"... depression with upward rotation is the goal. We are trying to prevent excessive elevation, or relative downward rotation in which the superior angle of the scapula elevate around a fixed glenoid fossa. I hope the helps, Dr. B2
i think you hit the key moment here, it it hard to explain, but i am able to cue this in my clients in standing by telling them to feel the scap acting as a counter weight the rising arm
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Even the first one feels really hard to do trying to depress your shoulder blades throughout the whole movement towards the end range especially if you got rounded shoulders and some impingement going on, very interesting!
Fantastic video! I feel really sore in the middle of my upper back the day after doing the wall angels. Between the shoulder blades. I'm not sure if this is a sign of doing things correctly or not! I also wonder if you should "feel" it in the Serratus Anterior when doing the excercise, in that case I'm not utilizing the muscle correctly.
Thank you Torgeir, Generally I find your complaint is related to thoracic mobility. Try some thoracic mobilizations before doing the exercise and see if you continue to feel the same symptoms in the middle of your back. As far as feeling it in your serratus anterior, I think most people do not... I wouldn't worry about feeling it as much as doing it correctly ;-) Dr. B2
Hey Brent, these feel great and are helping me when other exercises aren’t working. What would you say is a good set/rep combo and how many times per week to aim for on these if starting from the first progression? (I can’t even get my thumbs to touch the floor with keeping tight form)
Won’t the lower traps overtake serratus anterior by far in this exercise during the upward rotation? At least that’s what I feel when doing it.. Is serratus anterior really working sufficiently (as far as I can tell my scapula does’n wing, I just want to strengthen my shoulder stabilizers and I’m already doing the YTWL circuit for a while)? Am I missing something? I’d be really really glad for an answer, thanks!!!
You are the man Dr. B2, I'm just curious as if this is also a lower trap exercise. I work in as a PTA in an outpatient clinic and a few of my collegues do a these exercisesfor the LT. Thanks for the vids
Once you go overhead your scapula wants to move and follow along cause that's what scapula should do, you must resist it. When you go towards the legs its easy to hold depression :D
When I try to do the first exercise where I lay down, depress/retract my shoulder blades, and move my arms from my thighs upwwards to beside my head, I feel a sharp pinching pain at the front of my shoulders when I pass the 90 degree mark (as I get closer to my head). Is this a sign that I shouldn't do this exercise or that I should continue but with more care?
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So that I better understand this concept, if a patients arms are not able to reach the floor when in supine(like the lady who could), they of course are lacking the ROM to even active SA muscle. The main muscles that would be limiting SA movement/activation are pec tightness and teres major tightness correct? So we could of course do these beginner exercises, but with a focus of stretching the pec and teres major so that appropriate activation can happen with SA. Right?
Put back the Push-ups plus into your program. It's the only one you need for Serratus Anterrior But you have to do it right, i.e., with some muscle control! Firstly, its should actually be Push-ups Minus and plus! Because you begin by stretching the Serratus Anterrior. Thats what puts its to work. Also, if it feels like you are pushing with the entire chest, not just Triceps and Pecs, then you are on the right track. At the top, you just don't let the Scapula raise! You reach higher if you do that, but it removes the work from the Serratus Anterrior. When I do these in Gymnastic Rings, it's actually the Serratus Anterrior that fatigues first! My other Serratus Anterrior exercise is Standing Press with a bar. That's static work for the Serratus Anterrior. And since the Press ends above the back of the head, and I refuse to arch the mid and lower back, the scapula has to be in its most back tilted position. Have you noticed that Weight Lifters always have a well developed Serratus Anterrior. That's from stabilising it in overhead positions.
Hello, I am 24 years Male. I think I have Scapular Winging from the past 5-7 years , but I was never able to narrow down the possibilities , for me doing daily basic activities like carrying groceries bag or utensil filled with water/fluid or even while brushing my teeth my hands would pain or get fatigued easily. Now my shoulder blades also pains.I showed to one doctor he suggested Vit D3 test and I had severe Vit D3 deficiency 2 years ago.Which doctor should I consult to confirm my problem?What should i do? Thanks.
So you focus on the depression during the full movement with the first exercise? You say to start out with retraction and depression in order to get into posterior tilt but then you say to foucus on maintaining depression during the moving part.
Sir my doctor said that I have ltn entrapment... My left shoulder protrudes more on comparison to the right one... I'm 22 years old... Doctor told me that ltn entrapment prevents blood supply to serratus anterior muscle.... Can I do this exercise.....
should your back be absolutely flat to the floor/wall when you do this? or is some room between your spine between the scapula and the floor acceptable? Great video!
Hey this video was really helpful. I recently have a winged scapula so I’m going to try this exercise. I just have a question. You mentioned that the shoulders stayed depressed the whole time but I wanted to know if your shoulder blades stay retracted the entire time as well? Thanks
I definitely have the compensation pattern where "elevation is only elevation of the superior angle of the scapulae around a relatively fixed glenoid fossa." What should I be focusing on (releasing, keeping positition, ect) for this compensation?
Hi Brent! What we cant make it to the ground and can only reach 90 degrees, for example. Do we try every day to see if we can get further? Or is there a baby step we should be doing before this? Thank you so much for your time! I’ve had rib problems for years and I think my serratus is part of the problem! Now if only I could figure out how to get it to participate.
Great question, Think of this exercise as an exercise to work toward (starting with the lowest regression). Start with mobility and external rotator activation, then start adding cobra progressions... as symptoms reduce you should be able to add this exercise in. Dr. B2
Hi Brent, loved the video clip! Thank you for posting good stuff. When patient is doing standing upward rotation, she complained the soreness of deltoid first and not was not able to do more reps. Would you consider the soreness due to weakness of her deltoid or she has an over-dominant deltoid during upward rotation. She complained about SA soreness 3 reps later. What would you do with this patient? Thanks.
Hey Lexie Liu, Check out my article on Upper Body Dysfunction - brentbrookbush.com/articles/postural-dysfunction-movement-impairment/upper-body-dysfunction-ubd/ Dr. B2
Great video, thank you! When I try the hands to floor exercise with scapular depression, my coracobrachialis on my right side feels really tight at about 45 degrees from the floor. Any ideas what could cause this?
My right Supraspinatus and Infraspinatus are permanently detached and my left supraspinatus is detached. My future bilateral corrections are reverse shoulders. What do you recommend to stay away from the knife?
If your shoulder dysfunction is really bad, and can you can't get your thumbs to the floor without scapular snapping, can you start from knees to 90 degrees of shoulder flexion, working your way to 120 degrees on up, etc? Or do you not activate the serratus anterior at this limited arc?
I have winging scapulas and one shoulder is internally rotated. I was told by one PT that until you fix those issues especially the internal rotation, that there’s no point in strengthening the serratus b/c it’s like pissing in the wind. I think he may be right. Every time I was trying other exercises for the serratus, I would end up getting burning in both scapulas and the serratus posterior inferior, also the lats were killing me. So my question is what happens if I can’t fix the internal rotation am I never supposed to do strengthen the SA? I just don’t buy that. I’m going to try this exercise and hope/pray Brent’s exercise works.
If you have AC joint injury (which is a common outcome for those with upper body dysfunction) putting you arms into that end range position above the head seems like a pretty bad idea. Also, why would you claim that a scapula pushup inherently activates the pec minor? My understanding is that done properly, one's upper body weight is resting on the skeleton on a four point (hands and knees) posture and arms do not bend at all.
If. We are supposed to keep our shoulder blades down , would it be better to perform these exercises on the floor before doing them against the wall or door ? I’m going thru thoracic z/ core exercises. I think my dad PT has me stretching & strengthening my stratus anterior muscles
What is your suggestion for getting the forearms lying on ground when doing the floor scaptions? Continue the scaptions until the forearms finally hit the ground or is there another exercise to help increase this full range of motion?
There are a lot of other exercises. Generally speaking Joshua, I never address any issue with just one technique. Mobility issues like you describe may come from thoracic mobility, scapular mobility or shoulder mobility issues. Checking out my article on Upper Body Dysfunction (UBD) may be a good place for you to get an idea of how to address the issue. Dr. B2
I'm so confused about the serratus. Some the trainers seem to think it pushes the shoulders forward like the pecs; some think it pulls them back like the traps; some say it raises them up overhead. All of them use terms like "external rotation" and "protraction", and I can't figure out what that means. I can't tell even what the serratus is supposed to do from studying the anatomy (and different drawings of their position are different!), and I can see them in the mirror but haven't figured out any movement that appears to flex them. At this point I''m almost willing to inject botulin toxin into them and see what movements I then can't do.
I had a long nerve thoracic paralysis (during Crossfit training - burpees with medicine ball). I now know when the serratus anterior is involved. At the time I was not able to raise my arm above 90°. Push press was also impossible. Now (more than 1 year after injury) the muscle is still weak but my body has balanced with other muscles (like the trapezius).
Great Question Stellyboots, 1-2 sets, 12 -20 reps, slow controlled tempo, minimum 3 days per week, can be done every day. If this were part of a home exercise program for a client I would often combine it with other techniques and recommend one set, every day. Dr. B2
Instant favorite. Thank you. I'm curious why upper trap contribution is not desired? I know in the NASM text they are often indicated as over active in upper body dysfunction... But in relation to getting the arms overhead, isn't the upward rotation desirable? Avoiding the levator scap makes sense to me since it is associated with downward rotation which is not what we want... I'd love to get your thoughts!!!
The upper trapezius can also anteriorly tip the scapula, which is associated with shoulder pathology and included in our predictive model of upper body dysfunction. Dr. B2
When doing well slides, having the correct form, I feel a pinch in my shoulder or like something is stuck. What does that mean? Please answer, I’ve been trying to figure it out for years.
