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The Secret to developing A Great Set of Trap Muscles
Developing Your Upper Back!
There are only really 2 exercises designed to specifically target your traps but there are a number of variations to the exercises that will hit the muscle group from different angles. I will describe each exercise and then give you a run down of the different variations that you can apply.
There are only really 2 exercises designed to specifically target your traps but there are a number of variations to the exercises that will hit the muscle group from different angles. I will describe each exercise and then give you a run down of the different variations that you can apply.
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The Shrug
Position yourself in a strong standing posture, have your knees approx shoulder width apart and with a slight bend to absorb the weight you are about to lift. Take control of a heavy dumbbell in each hand and allow them to hang naturally at the side of your body. Now, slowly lift your shoulders in an upward motion using your trap muscles.
Position yourself in a strong standing posture, have your knees approx shoulder width apart and with a slight bend to absorb the weight you are about to lift. Take control of a heavy dumbbell in each hand and allow them to hang naturally at the side of your body. Now, slowly lift your shoulders in an upward motion using your trap muscles.
The dumbbells should rise from their original position between 2 – 4 inches only. You should feel the concentration of the trap muscle as you carry out this movement. Once you reach the top of this movement (when you cannot move your shoulders anymore) slowly release the tension and allow the dumbbells return to their original starting position. That is it for a simple shoulder shrug. The variations on the shrug include hand position and equipment used. You can use dumbbells, barbells or an EZ-bar. You can use a narrow grip, medium or wide grip, each will place emphasis on a slightly different area of the trap. You can also carry out shrugs with a barbell, both in front of the body or behind the body. You can carry out shrugs with a smith machine that will force you to use different type of movement when you complete the movement.
The Upright Row
The upright Row uses a larger range of movement within the traps. To complete the exercise, take control of a barbell in an overhand narrow grip, the start position is when you arms are extended down in front of you. Now lift the barbell until it is directly under your chin, at all times you need to keep the bar close to the front of your body so that you do not place any strain on your back or shoulders. Your elbows you move out to the side of your body as you follow the movement of the exercise. On completion of the exercise your elbows should be higher than the barbell with your grip still facing downwards. Keeping the barbell under control slowly lower it back to its starting position. Again, there are a lot of variation to this exercise, narrow, medium and wide grip being the most prominent. You can use the Smith machine to place emphasis on a different area of the traps. The upright cable row is also a very popular exercise that will change the movement of the exercise so that it hits different areas of the traps.
The upright Row uses a larger range of movement within the traps. To complete the exercise, take control of a barbell in an overhand narrow grip, the start position is when you arms are extended down in front of you. Now lift the barbell until it is directly under your chin, at all times you need to keep the bar close to the front of your body so that you do not place any strain on your back or shoulders. Your elbows you move out to the side of your body as you follow the movement of the exercise. On completion of the exercise your elbows should be higher than the barbell with your grip still facing downwards. Keeping the barbell under control slowly lower it back to its starting position. Again, there are a lot of variation to this exercise, narrow, medium and wide grip being the most prominent. You can use the Smith machine to place emphasis on a different area of the traps. The upright cable row is also a very popular exercise that will change the movement of the exercise so that it hits different areas of the traps.
