Serratus wall slides. An exercise that was introduced to me after I searched for years to try and improve my shoulder mobility.
I played basketball for just about 20 years, high school, collegiately and professionally.
So my shoulders (especially my shooting arm) just would nag when I would do some shoulder exercises, even had a little bit of shoulder winging.
In this post I’ll show you how to:
- Which muscles to foam roll
- How to activate your serratus anterior muscle with wall slides
- And show you a few other exercises you can add in to help with your shoulder mobility
If you want to improve your shoulder mobility with my best mobility drills and activations.
Serratus Wall Slides
My guess is a physical therapist/trainer recommended you to do these to help your shoulder mobility.
They aren’t wrong.
This will help you “activate” the proper musculature to help your shoulder move the way it is supposed to…
…IF you do it properly just like anything else right?
Having poor t spine mobility and shoulder function looks a bit like this.
You want to have your shoulders stacked with your spine and you should have your arm BEHIND your ear.
By the way here are my top 5 thoracic spine mobility drills.
However in this video below I go over in detail how to perform the serratus wall slide and how protracting and actively pushing away is what is going to make the difference.
Check out the video below.
What Muscles Do Scapula Wall Slides Work?
What we are trying to do is to get your lower traps to work. You ever see the physique of boxers and see those muscles near the armpits and above their obliques?
That’s the serratus anterior muscle.
Do This Before Wall Slides
Anytime you are trying to improve shoulder mobility/function or activation you should do this:
- Foam Roll First- target your lats for two minutes per side
- Then do this stretch for your lats
After doing some tissue prep with the form roller and lengthening the muscle that are restrictive then you can begin to work on strengthening with the “new” range of motion you have created.
Do This After Wall Slides
After you have foam rolled, stretched, and worked on some shoulder mobility you want to begin to “load” the new range of motion.
What this does is essentially tells your body that this “new” range of motion is a safe position.
That’s ONE of the reasons mobility is tough to correct…
…stretching feels good but if you never load the new range of motion with weight or challenge the stability then your body will not see change.
For instance, try this shoulder mobility drill after to challenge both stability and strength:
The challenge with this exercise is that the stability is INTENSE!
But that is what is going to help you reduce pain in your shoulder.
Strengthening all the little muscles all around…
…so do them more often 🙂
Conclusion
Serratus wall slides are a great shoulder mobility drill to help improve shoulder function, mobility and activation.
- Foam roll first
- Stretch your lats
- And when performing the exercise make sure that you PROTRACT your upper back and shoulders
- "Load" and challenge the stability of the new range of motion
Want to improve your mobility and activation? Join my FREE 3 day mobility workshop here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do serrates wall slides do?
It's an exercise that essentially helps your shoulders function properly. The serrates anterior is a muscle that is often neglected and this helps to active it. Be sure to round out your shoulders!
What muscles do scapular wall slides work?
Your serrates anterior, rear delta you are trying to learn how to active your lower traps which is tough to do because most of us our so tight in our neck area (traps)
What exercise is good for Serratus anterior?
When done properly push ups, planks, wall slides.
Check out the links below if you want to learn the proper form:
- Learn how to plank properly.
- Push up with correct form.
If you have any additional questions leave them in the comments below and I'm happy to help!
