I think its quite common but I dont know its name. You start off in the lockout position of a flat bench press and sort of try to push the barbell further toward the ceiling still keeping the arms at lockout. The movement is very small and could be described as a kind of shrug. Any ideas on what its called and what muscles it works?
[quote]steven alex wrote:
I think its quite common but I dont know its name. You start off in the lockout position of a flat bench press and sort of try to push the barbell further toward the ceiling still keeping the arms at lockout. The movement is very small and could be described as a kind of shrug. Any ideas on what its called and what muscles it works?[/quote]
Serratus anterior.
Shoulder raises.
It’s just a pushup plus, but with a barbell.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
datta wrote:
Shoulder raises.
He said it was flat, not incline.
Bushy[/quote]
That is why he didn’t say incline shoulder raises. 
[quote]Brant_Drake wrote:
It’s just a pushup plus, but with a barbell.[/quote]
I dont know about that. I think the pushup activates the serratus anterior because the SA has to contract to keep the ribcage and the scapula connected. This means that without the SA working, if you went to do a pushup your ribcage would just hang down while your scapula pushed into your back.
This is why the bench press doesnt activate the SA the same way. The force of the movement wouldnt seperate the scapula from the ribcage because both are supported by the bench.
I think the exercise described by the OP would primarily hit the pec minor.
Of course, I could be completely wrong.
[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
I dont know about that. I think the pushup activates the serratus anterior because the SA has to contract to keep the ribcage and the scapula connected. This means that without the SA working, if you went to do a pushup your ribcage would just hang down while your scapula pushed into your back.
This is why the bench press doesnt activate the SA the same way. The force of the movement wouldnt seperate the scapula from the ribcage because both are supported by the bench.
I think the exercise described by the OP would primarily hit the pec minor.
Of course, I could be completely wrong.[/quote]
You’re over thinking it.
If you were placing both scapulae directly on the bench in correct pressing setup, as you are visualizing, the movement would be impossible to do anyway. But he wasn’t talking about bench pressing.
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1053531
Scroll down to Shoulder Saver #2: Serratus Anterior Activation Work, and watch the videos. The exercise he described is the same, just with a barbell instead of bodyweight, or a dumbbell. I’m sure that doing it with a barbell will limit scapular movement, but it’s still primarily a serratus exercise.
The pec minor is used to being your shoulder down, not forward. Think about how pull-overs hit the pec minor. So if you were to do a similar movement using the dip station (shrugging your shoulders up and down) that would be more of a pec minor exercise.
[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Brant_Drake wrote:
It’s just a pushup plus, but with a barbell.
I dont know about that. I think the pushup activates the serratus anterior because the SA has to contract to keep the ribcage and the scapula connected. This means that without the SA working, if you went to do a pushup your ribcage would just hang down while your scapula pushed into your back.
This is why the bench press doesnt activate the SA the same way. The force of the movement wouldnt seperate the scapula from the ribcage because both are supported by the bench.
I think the exercise described by the OP would primarily hit the pec minor.
Of course, I could be completely wrong.[/quote]
The biggest difference between it and a pushup + is the p-up + doesn’t involve any scapular pinning and is also a stability drill.
Bushy,
I’m not trying to say that it’s not involved, just that it’s not the “primary” target.
The more I think about it, I think the ratio of serratus/pec minor activation will depend a lot on the individual’s bone structure, exercise setup, and the different developmental proportions of muscles involved.
So it comes down to, try it and see where you feel it.
[quote]Brant_Drake wrote:
CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
I dont know about that. I think the pushup activates the serratus anterior because the SA has to contract to keep the ribcage and the scapula connected. This means that without the SA working, if you went to do a pushup your ribcage would just hang down while your scapula pushed into your back.
This is why the bench press doesnt activate the SA the same way. The force of the movement wouldnt seperate the scapula from the ribcage because both are supported by the bench.
I think the exercise described by the OP would primarily hit the pec minor.
Of course, I could be completely wrong.
You’re over thinking it.
If you were placing both scapulae directly on the bench in correct pressing setup, as you are visualizing, the movement would be impossible to do anyway. But he wasn’t talking about bench pressing.
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1053531
Scroll down to Shoulder Saver #2: Serratus Anterior Activation Work, and watch the videos. The exercise he described is the same, just with a barbell instead of bodyweight, or a dumbbell. I’m sure that doing it with a barbell will limit scapular movement, but it’s still primarily a serratus exercise.
The pec minor is used to being your shoulder down, not forward. Think about how pull-overs hit the pec minor. So if you were to do a similar movement using the dip station (shrugging your shoulders up and down) that would be more of a pec minor exercise.
[/quote]
Perhaps I am.
But it looks like the second video (the one arm scapula protraction, I think it was called) has the person hanging off the bench enough that the scapula is unsupported. Again, forcing the SA to contract to keep the scap from detaching from the ribcage.
It would be impossible on a normal bench to do this with both arms at once, because both scaps would be supported by the bench, hence the SA would have no reason to activate.
My money is on bushy.
[quote]grrrsauce wrote:
My money is on bushy.[/quote]
Bushy ftw?
for the win
They are called BENCH PRESS SHRUGS.
You could knitpick it to death, but it’s a scapular abduction movement, so pretty much serratus anterior… The scapular adductors (rhomboids, traps) would be antagonists.