posted Wed, 05/08/2013 - 20:04
3334
which exercises do you use to build traps?
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Personally I rarely do traps, I beleive they will grow when you do shoulders, but the past few months ( on test an eq) a lot of people were saying how huge my traps are, so I fig ill start them lol, the only trap exercises ive really done were barbell shrugs and dumbell shrugs, what are your favorites?
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Seated dumb bell shrugs take the cheating out of the movement and force you to actually use the traps to work and lift the weight.
Nice thanks
Nice thanks
I've been doing bent over rows focusing on technique and developing a solid mind muscle connection for the past 5 years. Then over the last 3 years I've focused on dead lifting heavy for 4-6 reps X5-8 sets or so.
This combined with a couple solid cycles and my traps are a bit overpowering when looking at my physique.
Power shrugs are awesome and actually fun. Here is a video that explains it a little. Its kind of long but is worth it. Good luck!
http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/video/platform_the_barbell_shrug
Modified snatches (works entire back), behind back barbell shrugs on the smith machine (Lee Haney said this was the only exercise he did for them)
Nice started doing behind the back, and it's sore
Nice started doing behind the back, and it's sore
Steroids boost traps because of the density of androgen receptors, the same way delts/upper chest seem to look better on users. But with regards to exercises, mine tend to grow nicely with high pulls, which also leads to pretty sick upper back development in general
Also an interesting one to try is to use the chest supported row bench and to shrug the weight instead of rowing it, if you contract your whole traps you can really feel it in your lower traps as well
Behind the back barbell shrugs work great. You can have to use a Smith machine if you find you have too much booty property back there that interfers with the path of the bar. Also doing your dumb bell shrugs seated will also hit them more effectively as it eliminates that “hunch” movement you see help doing where they use every muscle in the body except the traps to move the weight those few inches. Seriously, I have seen some guys doing barbell shrugs with more weight than they could hold. They would use wrist straps to secure their hands to the bar and back up and do something that resembled a standing ab crunch.
For me its all about heavy and volume. I do all the standard exercises but a ton of them and heavy. I do fifteen sets of heavy barbell rows to start. Than off to reverse barbell rows for ten sets heavy. Than dumbell shrugs for five sets. Than six sets of strict upright rows. This routine made my traps grow quite a bit.
Well, steroids do a lot for traps. When I started juicing i did 55 heavy shruggs once a week and 15 deads once a week and they grew like crazy. I had lots of people come up to me and comment on my huge traps.
Now all i do is heavy deads, rack lockouts, T-bar rows, so only indirect work.
Nice thanks
I don't train them directly at all they grew as my deadlifts increased
All jokes asides imho i have came to realize that traps will grow how u want them as long as u work them!...myself i never go over 225 on barbell shrugs and trust me they r the hardest 12 reps the whole workout!..bhind the back shrugs r a plus as well with light weight full range of motion and holdin it at the top for a 2 sec count it burns man!...but MY favorite is grabbin a 45 pound plate n each hand and shrugging a good 25 reps resting only 30 seconds and repeat until i hve 4 sets/100 reps!...they r sore everytime!..thats my opinion tho hope it helps bro!
Nicce thanks
BigBmajTrapezius is s large muscle group, take a look at an anatomy chart its huge. I have big upper traps so i never really trained them. But my chiropractor said the lower traps were weak. So I started doing short row type shrugs with dumbbells in front of me trying to engage the whole trap, especially the lower portion. That made a big improvement
Mini machine mentioned deadlifts, I agree with that, they improved my whole back.
I'm glad your chiropractor mentioned that to you. From a bio mechanical standpoint, building the upper traps by themselves is a bad idea. It contributes to poor posture with the shoulders rolled forward, head carried anteriorly and an increase in thoracic curve. Everyone lives the looks of large upper traps but we need to remember that the muscle is big in itself so training the lower trap is essential. Just my professional input!
Truth sir. Your traps aren't just surrounding your neck, they extend downwards into the middle of your back.
http://crankeffect.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/muscle1.jpg
That being said for me I like to take either a barbell or dumbbells, sometimes kettle bells and lean forward a bit (back straight ass out knees bent, almost like a standing row position) and do a few sets of shrugs. You know you're doing it right when'd you feel the stretch in the middle of your upper back. With the kettle bells, I prefer to have a sumo stance while holding them inbetween my legs. Gives your whole back a nice stretch. Hope this helps bro
Nice, thanks
Traps never really grew till I started really dead lifting
waltrbarbell shrugs, dumbbell shrugs, hammer strength shrugs
I like I like dumbbell shrugs cause I feel I can isolate them more by rolling my shoulders forward just a bit. But my true favorite is behind the back shrugs with a close grip. This way I get the lower part of my traps where they come into my back also. Makes for a nice "flow" out to other muscles.
Pull-ups going almost dead hang. I do them after deadlifts and rows and max out every set until I feel good, they also work your forearms and tris a good bit but focus on the back.
That said I don't think it gets any better than shrugs as far as isolation goes, I personally don't do them though because as soon as I start, no matter how much I focus on form, my right side gets bigger lol.
Sounds good thanks