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Traps - Work them with shoulders or back?

depends what your shoulder and back workout look like. i do 5 exercises for my back so i just throw shrugs with shoulders. also i do upright rows for shoulders and that involves the traps when you squeeze up top so i just do shrugs right after upright rows.
 
I personally do my traps with both shoulders and back. For me, it's like doing calves and abs, I can do them more than once, I don't always do traps twice but do it often!!
 
If you hit the deadlifts hard shrugs are unnessecary - technically thio I would class traps as back - tehy cover 2/3 of the back area
 
Do farmers Walk on shoulder day without straps that will bulk you forearms and traps :evil: the only reason i say on shoulder day is because after deads rows and pulldowns your grip will probably already be wasted and so farmers wont work too well...

I must add though I have never done a routine with shrugs in it, my traps came from deadlifts, bb rows and the occassional farmers walk which Im planning on doing more of now.
 
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I like to do them on back day
 
Whats a farmers walk!!!??

grab a set of heavy ass db's and walk, just make sure you make it back to your starting point before your grip fails
 
Farmers walk is a strongman move where they cary anvils or other heavy objects for distance, in a gym yeah you just get some heavy ass db's. Dont hunch your shoulders up, let them drop down and relax but keep a good posture at the same time. Just walk up and down the gym. Big_BK has some sick farmers walk videos on his youtube channel...

I do it a bit lighter than most, strongmen do like 30-60ft idk how far that is actually but last time I used the 50lb DB's and went the length of my gym 6 times, Im gonna start doing them heavier now though, I had great forearm and grip results from doing this and it burns your traps, just dont use wrist wraps!! (my forearms have grown a little over 3 inches since september 08, in my avatar they are 13.5 inches)

Oh and you asked what areas it works, its a full body move really but most people consider it a trap/forearm exercis, give it a try!
 
I've tried both...they both work just fine

Although I would prefer to work the traps on the day of my deadlift routine...since you get a pretty good traps workout when deadlifting
 
Deads and farmers walk are the only trap work I do and I do farmers after any workout which I have a bit of spare time afterwards. Iv only ever done shrugs once i did 3 sets 15 reps and hated them.
 
I don't do shrugs that much because it is over kill sometimes in my routine. EM is right about the farmers they will really build your traps up. Doing farmers walk with DB's is quite a bit harder then using the actual farmer handles that are made for strongman. If you want to get into them just use the heaviest DB's your gym has (im guessing you have up to like 140-150lb dbs) and do 50-100ft runs with them.
 
With your routine id do them on both days, barbell one day, dumbell other...a good one for hitting traps slightly differently is doing shrugs on a steep incline bench. You cant use much weight but it will hit the middle traps, which shrugs dont do (they hit upper).
 
With your routine id do them on both days, barbell one day, dumbell other...a good one for hitting traps slightly differently is doing shrugs on a steep incline bench. You cant use much weight but it will hit the middle traps, which shrugs dont do (they hit upper).

You mean with your stomach laying on a bench thats at a 120 degree angle? and shrugging? :confused::confused:
 
You mean with your stomach laying on a bench thats at a 120 degree angle? and shrugging? :confused::confused:

Yes Imagine your doing a prone incline lateral raise and let the DB's hang infront of the bench and shrug your shoulders back and squeeze your shoulder blades, you would be in a position like you are leaning forward, like this:




Also look on this thread by SL, it has some information on trap development and some ideas for exercises on there, http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/weight-training-weight-lifting/how-do-i-develop-my-yoke-617916.html
 
usually depends on the length/punishment of either workout. personally i prefer training with back though...
 
Try doing them with your back. I actually do back/bi/traps for one day. I usually do about two trap workouts and superset them between two bicep workouts so that I get a nice sweat going (and consolidate my time at the gym).
 
I do high pulls/power shrugs on back day.

Your traps are designed to move heavy weights and to move those weights fast.
 
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