My traps SUCK!!!

[BennyGunnz]

Honestly i never really had a full proof plan for traps, i figured that i could train them enough with deads. Once a week i hit them up with DBs for about 5 sets, really heavy but they still wont grow. What the hell can i do to get a response from these frigging things.

 

[ErikZ]

Power shrugs with a barbell... REALLY HEAVY. That should get your traps huge in no time.
3 sets of 10 should do it

 

[SgtSlaughter]

Power shrugs with a barbell... REALLY HEAVY. That should get your traps huge in no time.
3 sets of 10 should do it

^^^ Agreed.

Heavy as you can... 700lbs if need be to overload the traps.

Farmer's walks with big dumbells work nicely as well.

 

[ErikZ]

As you can see, the idea here is to use BIG weights... like, REALLY BIG. Use straps if you need 'em (I do)

 

[Lextasy]

ditto to all the above...

For exampe: I use at least 2 100lb DBs 2 times a week or so.... this means you should go way heavier than that... smith machine helps sometime for a different type of shrug.. its a fan shaped muscle so you need to hit it from all different angles... my favorite trap work besides DB shrugs are incline prone shrugs... on about a 35* bench .. arms straight and shrug away... try 80's, 90's, 100's, then 110's...these really work the middle trap--make it stick out, kill em'

 

[SgtSlaughter]

I think all smith machines should be taking to a car compacter and smashed.

... but that and how I don't belive in the hitting a muscle from a millions angles is for another thread.

I agree with Erik... strap up (i do too) ... no way in hell can I hold 400+ lbs for reps with barbell shrugs.

 

[Lextasy]

I think all smith machines should be taking to a car compacter and smashed.

... but that and how I don't belive in the hitting a muscle from a millions angles is for another thread.

I agree with Erik... strap up (i do too) ... no way in hell can I hold 400+ lbs for reps with barbell shrugs.

i agree; i was just saying that a muscle that wont grow... may need more work... and if hes like me in how it takes more than heavy shrugs to grow his traps, that he may need some different workouts... and the one of about 4 that i go-to when i need more... is incline prones... puts most of the stress directly to your traps rather than spreading it around the shoulders and back, that + HEAVY = growth!

 

[SgtSlaughter]

i agree; i was just saying that a muscle that wont grow... may need more work... and if hes like me in how it takes more than heavy shrugs to grow his traps, that he may need some different workouts... and the one of about 4 that i go-to when i need more... is incline prones... puts most of the stress directly to your traps rather than spreading it around the shoulders and back, that + HEAVY = growth!

I hear you bro.

that sounds similar toooo...

Have you ever tried Glenn P. Rows? ... trap and lat destoryer right there.

it's actually a full (or as close as you can) get to 90* bent over barbell row... deweighted each rep... pull the bar tight up and you'll feel it GOOD.

 

[Lextasy]

On rows i pull to my middle abdomen...on these its the same but pull to where? your chest... at a 90*? hmmm ...


just did an "AIR" version of this and it feels like a more intense bowtie...

i like

 

[SgtSlaughter]

 

[timtim]

as noted, use super heavy bb shrugs as well as super heavy db shrugs.

from there, utilize tempo sets and deep eccentric stretches. i blew mine up over the years doing about 8 sets a week but as high as 12 a week. they are a stabilizing muscle so they will need to be crushed to grow, like calves but not as bad.

 

[Illuminati]

Honestly i never really had a full proof plan for traps, i figured that i could train them enough with deads. Once a week i hit them up with DBs for about 5 sets, really heavy but they still wont grow. What the hell can i do to get a response from these frigging things.

any kind of pulling will help. try deads, power cleans, hang cleans, up right rows...

 

[Ripped2Shredds]

genetics first of all, ask your parents...

Then, just as other muscle...they will be targeted by deads, so they will still be a strong muscle, size doesn't always mean strength, I have seen guys squat 400+ pounds and have tiny legs, that is the world of genetics.

Next, specifically target your traps, and FROM...(full range of motion) Make sure you have proper form as heavy as you can go, use straps for shrugs, I usually start light with dumbells at 90 pounds and work my way up to 140lbs. You have to hit specifics for muscles to grow, deads are great, but may not yield indivual results. Traps are like Calves, some peopel have them some people they don't grow as large. How many BB'ers have u seen with tiny calves...millions.

 

[Lee]

I agree with sgt and ripped totally. I do shrugs once a week and deads once a week. heavy shrugs are key. I would personally recommend doing 5 sets of 5 really heavy. Also avoid using straps for as long as possible to help build up that grip strength. I'm yet to use straps and am hoping to not use em til im shrugging 400+

 

[timtim]

I would personally recommend doing 5 sets of 5 really heavy. Also avoid using straps for as long as possible to help build up that grip strength. I'm yet to use straps and am hoping to not use em til im shrugging 400+

5 sets of 5 for slow twitch muscle? you realize the traps are stabilizers so hitting them for sets of 5 is practically pointless. you wouldnt hit your calves for 5 sets of 5 would you?

 

[ChinkNasty]

heavy power shrugs (5 sets of 6-8)

 

[Lee]

5 sets of 5 for slow twitch muscle? you realize the traps are stabilizers so hitting them for sets of 5 is practically pointless. you wouldnt hit your calves for 5 sets of 5 would you?

thanks for poiting that out when i know for a fact that 5x5 works for traps since mine have grown quite a bit in size and strength from doing it. i wouldnt say something if i didnt know what i was talking about.

 

[boss_]

Honestly i never really had a full proof plan for traps, i figured that i could train them enough with deads. Once a week i hit them up with DBs for about 5 sets, really heavy but they still wont grow. What the hell can i do to get a response from these frigging things.

If you want results, don't do them as an afterthought.

Here's what I do:

Put them early in your workout (Right after heavy rows)
Heavy BB Shrugs (Change up weights/reps, but go heavy)
DB Cleans
Face Pulls (Traps/Upper Back)

Don't be afraid to hit them with alot of sets. (I do around 12). Whatever it takes...

 

[timtim]

thanks for poiting that out when i know for a fact that 5x5 works for traps since mine have grown quite a bit in size and strength from doing it. i wouldnt say something if i didnt know what i was talking about.

relax buddy, i wasnt questioning your methods just pointing out that the muscle isnt fast twitch dominate making low reps not the most stimulating. keep chasing 400 and i'll continue with 550 for 10 to 12 and we'll see who ends up bigger. thanks.

 

[B0ARDIN087]

My traps blow up from heavy deads....... but you might be at a point in ur deads where traps aren't the thing that limits right now.

id try cleans and stay away from the strange 10 set 78.34343 degrees "stuff"

 

[Lee]

relax buddy, i wasnt questioning your methods just pointing out that the muscle isnt fast twitch dominate making low reps not the most stimulating. keep chasing 400 and i'll continue with 550 for 10 to 12 and we'll see who ends up bigger. thanks.

lol ok. and how long have u been lifting for?

 

[timtim]

18 years.

 

[al420]

I like Jump Shrugs more than power shrugs

 

[thesuaveone]

Honestly i never really had a full proof plan for traps, i figured that i could train them enough with deads. Once a week i hit them up with DBs for about 5 sets, really heavy but they still wont grow. What the hell can i do to get a response from these frigging things.

Full range of motion? It's the biggest mistake I see with guys in the gym. They think they are loading the muscle up by hitting them with 500+ lb shrugs, their problem is, their shrugs aren't really shrugs. If you want to see some growth, try this, try a full range shrug, meaning, take the movement up to the point where your traps are going to hit your ears. Then hold the bar for 1 to 2 seconds, and let the bar down slowly.

Too many times I see these guys throwing 6 and 7 plates on a side, then then basically rolling their shoulders. A proper shrug should be a straight up and down movement as opposed to a should roll.

*shrugs* Another way to get your traps growing is to alternate the location of the bar, (front or behind) standing and seated. Every few weeks I will get a shrug barput it under a bench and shrug with the bar under my thighs. There are many different methods, but the biggest thing I can suggest is to make sure you hit the full range of motion, and not to worry, how many plates you have on the bar, as long as you get the burn, who cares?

 

[maldorf]

Full range of motion? It's the biggest mistake I see with guys in the gym. They think they are loading the muscle up by hitting them with 500+ lb shrugs, their problem is, their shrugs aren't really shrugs. If you want to see some growth, try this, try a full range shrug, meaning, take the movement up to the point where your traps are going to hit your ears. Then hold the bar for 1 to 2 seconds, and let the bar down slowly.

Too many times I see these guys throwing 6 and 7 plates on a side, then then basically rolling their shoulders. A proper shrug should be a straight up and down movement as opposed to a should roll.

*shrugs* Another way to get your traps growing is to alternate the location of the bar, (front or behind) standing and seated. Every few weeks I will get a shrug barput it under a bench and shrug with the bar under my thighs. There are many different methods, but the biggest thing I can suggest is to make sure you hit the full range of motion, and not to worry, how many plates you have on the bar, as long as you get the burn, who cares?

Listen to this guy! He knows what he is talking about. I get much more out of shrugs when I do full range of motion with lighter weights. You see many guys with no traps throwing around 400+ lbs on shrugs. When you watch the technique youll see that they use their thighs and calves to get the weight started and even use their delts and biceps to get it up. By the time they are done, the traps do very little work. My traps are one of my best features and all I really did for them for a long time was dead lifts. Recently I started up barbell shrugs and Im using less than 300 lbs now.

 

[al420]

I think form is important on all lifts - with that said once you have down the form and are doing the exercise properly you should use as much weight as possible - IMO.

W/ Jump Shrugs or Power Shrugs you are using some leg drive to start the weight, but if done correclty you will know it is a trap exercise as you will barely be able to stand the soreness the first few times.

 

[Ripped2Shredds]

FROM + heavy= Growth

P.S. - If you ain't eating right...quit while you're ahead...if everything else is froing and your neck isn't...then you are eatign right and you have diff genetics...remember to grow you have to eat...

 

[Tweakle]

deads

anyone who disagrees please get back to me when you're pulling 700+ from the floor, or repping 800+ in the rack and see if you've changed your mind

you can have a big bench without a big chest, a big squat without big thighs but a big pull = big traps.

 

[MARK67]

bennygunz, listen to these guys, my traps were always preety decent, but until i tried power shrugs, they just didnt have the mass i was looking for, ive been doing them for about 6 mons now and they are great, my neck right down to my center back , are just awesome, i get compliments all the time from everyone,you now can see a "split"where my neck and traps are clearly seperated, go very heavy, i do 5 sets 5-8 reps, with straps, 500 + , this is what you must do for huge traps, nothing like em. good luck

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Heavy, heavy power shrugs are the way to go bar none.

You might want to consider that regardless of straps, holding 600 or more pounds in your hands is putting a very great strain on your traps to keep your shoulder blades from tearing out which lends alot of cred to what tweakle says about heavy deads as every guy I have met that can dead over 600 don't even do shrugs typically and have huge traps...

Combined with some power shrugs and there traps would probably be too big which doesn't seem possible lol.

Now if you aren't putting up real big weights in the dead yet or are, but want to focus on making your traps the best they can be, power shrugs will do it.

As for the movement itself, I like to think of it as an explosive, brutish hip extension exercise that rips the traps a new one. When I do them I bring the weight down to just above the knee cap and explode up, popping the hip forward and trying to full body jerk the weight up as hard as I can and when it reachs the peak height of the movement I just naturally jerk the traps up HARD as my head wants to go down. That's the best way I can describe the way I do it. I also have an explosive rhythm with it and prefer sets of 10-15 reps increasing weight over about 5 sets when I do them.

I've done textbook technique full range of motion shrugs with as much weight as I could possibly shrug up strictly and they didn't do jack for me. The first time I did power shrugs(which feels like the top most part of a heavy power clean imo)
I worked up to 315 for 15. Not that heavy, but heavier than I had ever used to work traps before having topped out on 110lbs DB's for strict reps. OMFG. I felt liek I was going to die for about the next 4 days. I have never had that amount of extreme muscle soreness before and believe me, I used to tear myself a new one in high school.

Within 2 weeks (power shrugs twice a week) my traps probably grew a visible half inch in size. Trust me when I say that is immediately obvious to anyone when it comes to traps.

Due to my lazy nature and things in lfie beyond my control I didn't go past about 3 weeks on the power shrugs, but what I experienced using them sold me for life on em.

Best advice I can give on doing them is don't worry about being textbook on them so long as you know how not to injure yourself. Get nasty when you do them and really explode that weight up and go as heavy as you can whiel gettign a reasonable range of motion. You will be gasping for air and feeling the pain. A side benefit will be much more explosive hip thrust which is great for all sports and lifting. When I say hip thrust I mean, short range of movement, very snappy and powerful quick thrust.

That's my 2 cents on the subject.

 

[Madcow2]

Amazing the number of people who are familiar with power shrugs now. I don't think anyone used to know about them. But the rule with these is close to instant conversion due to close to instant dramatic results.

So same answer as everyone else for me: work very hard on your deadlift and row (or cleans, snatches, pulls etc... for the OL inclined). Become a pulling beast. You want beastly traps, get to the point where you are pulling beastly weights. The upper back responds to full body dynamic pulling like nothing else.

Beyond that absolutely essential foundation (you can't build a big house on a pile of soft shit), the single best dedicated trap builder bar none is the power shrug. Here's a bunch of stuff on it: http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4712284&postcount=319