Shrugs

[Ozz2001]

Since everyone in this area has been a great help on my last post without all the b.s and good straight talk. I thought id throw my last question out to you..

I out grew my dumbells on shrugs and went to the bar for heavy shrugs but i have been doing them behind my back instead of in front..I was looking in the mirror and compareing front from back on the hiting point and seemed to look more like i got more trap that way then front and a bit easyer on the back..
Today i seen a picture of jay cutler was doing them like that too...Is there really any differents from doing front or back? Would it be a benefit to do them both ways or not? I have seen some good results from behind what do your guys think?

 

[Madcow2]

I wouldn't bother looking to ProBBers for advice or the best way to do any exercise - generally, you'll get some crackpot shit that will reveal some of the worst understandings of fundemental physiology 101 in the world. They should be very thankful they can take as much test as they want and respond well to it. Definitely for nutrition, contest prep, and drugs though.

Anyway, these are BY FAR the best way of doing shrugs. The traps and upper back respond like nothing else to dynamic pulling. These can come with a warranty for visible results in the mirror in 3 weeks. Satisfaction always guaranteed. Of the many many people who've tried them, none have ever been disappointed nor have they ever gone back to regular shrugs. The traps pull up and back - this is the only way to overload both and is by far the most powerful shrugging motion the body can muster.

Like I said, they come with a guarantee and warranty - you will be sore as hell and almost die the first few times you try to do them heavy. Stay light at first and learn the movement.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4712284&postcount=319

 

[Ozz2001]

Ok update...I read all of this grabed my bar did the motion shook my head..
So i called a good bro that goes to the gym,i work out at home told him what i thought and what you posted.So he got me a pass to his gym and let the Testing begin...See i am not a one sided person like most so i wanted a fair opinion on this on some ginnie pigs i didnt know.So the test was me 1 other i knew and 3 muscles guys that didnt know me at that gym...The crowd did seem to go on this one..Told theses guy what we want to find out and everyone agreed on a honest opinion..So shirts off and we did your power shrug first then behind the back the way id been doing it before i see that picture! Heres what everyone agreed on...

Front shrug...Pull wasnt as smooth, worked front shoulder joints and lats, pressure on back some,elbows bending..They felt and seen it more on top trap, lats were involved, weight fair..

Back shrug...Smoother lift,no lats working,no shoulder joint movement,elbows stayed straighter,seem more full trap working(some claimed),greater weight no pressure on lower back, felt it in the hole trap top to bottom.Most said they liked it more, most like would change to that..

spectator's agreed...More weight more work to just that muscle good pumps.. Well to each his own i say.. Truely less change of injury to back and pressure on the joint..as for the statement about listening to bb. no one told me about the behind the back something i did on my own and alot of ppl seen a big change in my traps since i started doing them myself..As for jay cutler i stumbled on to that picture look on the web at picture so i posted this..The guy that wins over and over is doing it there is a reason why and probably because of what everyone else seen and felt as i did..i am sure theres benefits to both ways but hiting just that muscle your working is what you want and joints and back isnt something you want to hurt...I mean no disrespect toward your post on shrugs i took it all in fairness and just put it to the test with ppl i didnt know for fair judgement! alot of people write books say this say that,there a dime a dozen the lifters are there real people that go out and do it...Ill stick to my way it just seems more safer on the body keeps the work on just the trap muscle with out using other other parts and muscles and greater weight means more strenght and mass...Feel free to try it test it with others its all good..Theres many ways to do things and different ways of doing them to get different results but joints, back, in my book are a no no when you can avoid it.being out of the game suxs.... peace

 

[Madcow2]

Feel free to try it test it with others its all good

So first - you can do what you want and the important thing is that you are happy but I'll put down a few thoughts that come to mind after reading the empirical research session above.

You do realize that this was the original shug? It's not something I thought up, this is simply the classic form of the exercise with origins in weightlifting. If you trace back and factor in the whole world, more sets have probably been done like this than any other variation of shrug. You don't see it in BBing mags or commercial gyms generally but visit a Div1, Pro, or Olympic strength complex and believe me - they are very familiar with this lift and associates. I should say it's probably the dominant way to train the movement and time tested results on well trained athletes is probably a better empirical test of the movement's effeciveness than a couple guys with no instruction doing it for the first time with a few onlookers trying to reach a consensus opinion in one session.

Also, this movement does take skill, your arms shouldn't be bending on the pull and you should be able to handle more weight than the regular shrug. Quite a few can routinely handle 100lbs+ over their best dead for reps. Also, it takes time to learn technique and explosion. The CNS has to be reprogrammed from slow lifting which generates comparatively low power (this is why they say there is a carryover to sports focusing on strength and speed). Back integrity shouldn't be an issue unless you aren't used to pulling heavy.

As to isolation, well, there's a reason why people build big quads and legs with the squat and not the leg extension. Isolation in general is a pretty horrid way to pack on muscle. The body is a system best stimulated as such.

But like I said, if it doesn't do it for you, it doesn't do it for you.

 

[WalkingBeast]

Traps has always been one of my best bodyparts. Sometimes I would hit 12 sets of traps in one session. Front barbell shrugs,behind the back barbell shrugs (even on a smith) and dumbbell shrugs are what did it for me. Deadlifts seem to thicken them somewhat, but no more then what I could get from the 3 exercises I mentioned. Try 4 sets of each of those exercises once a week (HEAVY, but 12-15 reps) and Im sure youll see some growth in the area.

 

[squatpuke]

I also do back shrugs on the smithy, WB...bout all it's good for.

Good thread.

 

[rbtrout]

I've done front, back, db, you name it and I've tried it for shrugs. I read the post on power shrugs and started doing them that way. I'm not a killer dead lifter (now upto about 400# 1rm), but I can get over 500# with the power shrug and straps. After doing about 6 weeks of the power shrugs, I really noticed some changes. I don't have the big, thick, 'Lou Ferrigno' traps that start at my ears, but my traps are very noticeable now. If you're prepping for a show, maybe doing back shrugs is better (isolation), but if you want some overall size, power shrugs are killer.

 

[Guinness5.0]

But like I said, if it doesn't do it for you, it doesn't do it for you.

You can lead a horse to water...