Serratus anterior exercises: push-up plus, overhead reaching, and the wall slide question

The serratus anterior is a muscle along the side of your rib cage that connects to your shoulder blade. Its job is to turn the shoulder blade upward when you reach overhead, and to push it forward, as at the end of a push-up. This page lists the serratus anterior exercises the studies measured, says where the studies disagree, and puts a few into a short session.

It is about training. I'm not making any promise here about posture or pain; if a shoulder hurts, that's a question for a doctor or a physical therapist. I'm a fitness coach, not a doctor. Everything below is muscle activity in a lab session, not growth over weeks.

The push-up plus

A push-up plus is a push-up with an extra push at the top: after your arms are straight, you push the floor away so your upper back rounds slightly and your shoulder blades spread. The ordinary push-up is on the push-up page; the plus is that last inch.

• A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 studies with 356 participants concluded that the standard push-up plus elicited high serratus anterior activity. Serratus anterior activity was higher and upper trapezius activity lower on a stable surface, in full elbow extension, with the hands shoulder-width apart.¹
• In 13 healthy participants, the upper and lower serratus anterior were significantly more active in a push-up plus on an unstable surface and in a push-up plus with the shoulder turned inward than in the elevation exercises tested.²
• In 15 healthy men, bench push-up plus activity was about 65% of a maximal contraction in the middle serratus anterior and 51% in the lower part; the abstract gives no test of that difference.³

Reaching overhead

The serratus anterior turns the shoulder blade upward, so exercises that finish with the arm high ask more of it:

• In 30 healthy people doing ten exercises, the serratus anterior was activated maximally by raising the arm in the plane of the shoulder blade above 120 degrees and by a diagonal move combining shoulder flexion, horizontal flexion and external rotation.⁴
• In those same 15 men, a resisted shoulder flexion at 150 degrees produced more middle and lower serratus anterior activity than the bench push-up plus, about 81% and 96% of a maximal contraction.³
• In 30 healthy men holding a 1-kilogram dumbbell with the arm raised in front to 120 degrees, turning the palm up drew more serratus anterior activity than palm down.⁵ That was a light hold, not a set of raises. The front raise page has the lift.

The wall slide: the studies disagree

A wall slide, sliding the forearms up a wall, is one of the exercises the studies tested for this muscle, and they don't agree on it. In 21 healthy adults, a towel wall slide produced the highest serratus anterior activity of three elevation exercises in the scapular plane.⁶ In 13 healthy participants, the wall slide produced the lowest activation in all the muscles measured among the exercises tested, and two push-up plus variations produced more serratus anterior activity than the elevation exercises.² The exercises, loads and comparisons differed, so I don't make a claim for the wall slide either way; the push-up plus is the choice with more support.

A serratus session (practical)

This is a practical layout, not a protocol from a study. Add it to a push day or finish a shoulder day with it:

1. Push-up plus. Two or three sets of 8 to 15, on your knees or a bench if full push-ups are hard. Push the floor away at the top and pause.
2. An overhead reach. A dumbbell raise in front or in the plane of the shoulder blade, to above shoulder height, light weight, two sets of 10 to 15 (front raise).

Stop each set with a rep or two left. (How to judge reps left.) The 2026 American College of Sports Medicine stand found muscle growth was enhanced by ten or more sets per muscle group a week,⁷ a figure for whole muscle groups, so I don't give a separate set count for the serratus anterior; count these toward your push and shoulder days: the shoulder workout.

Common questions

Which serratus anterior exercise should I start with?

The studies don't rank one as the winner. The push-up plus has the most support: a review of 19 studies concluded it elicited high activity.¹ Reaching overhead was also at the top of the activity list in a 30-person study.⁴

Does the wall slide work the serratus anterior?

One study found it produced the highest serratus anterior activity of three elevation exercises,⁶ and another found it lowest in all muscles measured among the exercises tested.² Use the push-up plus as the main move.

Can these exercises fix my posture or shoulder pain?

This page is about training and doesn't make that promise. For pain, see a doctor or a physical therapist.

If you'd rather not plan it alone

A push-up plus and an overhead reach are quick to add; deciding where they fit among your presses, rows and shoulder work is the part a page can't do. Coaching is the version where your workouts are built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at the week you just had and rebuilds the next one. Coaching to build muscle explains how that works, and here's how to apply. Otherwise: finish your next push day with two sets of push-up plus.