Shoulder Elevation

Lately, the day after I finish my PPP and Planch Leans, I've been feeling very sore in my traps. The only thing I can chalk it up to is when I go into a hollow body position, I noticed my shoulders elevate as well as protract. Is this normal?

Normal but not desired. Keep them down to engage the serratus more. Or interpret it the other way. Engage the serratus to keep them down.

How exactly would that work? I've always had experience in activating lats, shoulders, and core for movements but not the serratus.

Unfortunately there is no way to tell you how to activate a muscle over the web. The best cue is to keep your shoulders pulled down and hold strong protraction. These are the key features of the planche.

For practice you can go up to a wall standing. Then place your palm of the wall in front of you and slightly to the side as if you were about to perform a floor maltese. Push straight into the wall with your shoulders elevated to feel the wrong position. You may notice you can't generate that much force. Then lower the shoulders and lock the arms down and push. You should feel force being generated across your back and through your serratus.

Awesome, thank you. I looked up some other movements that targeted the serratus doing the motion, and the big one was using the lat pull down in front of you with straight arms. When looking at the leans from a vertical view, I noticed they have the same type of positioning. So, I gave it a try and noticed even my lats were starting to get more involved in the holds.

 

 

Thank you for the ques!