Hey, I was wondering if anyone knew what the best pull-up variation is to minimize trap involvement. Thanks.
first off, chins dont really work the traps, or should i say most of the trap with little involvement of the lower fibers at the full completion of a rep with a neutral grip. your best bet to minimize trap involvement woult be use the supinated or pronated grip, but contract the lats through the lower 3/4 of the movement, but dont bring your chin over the bar, as that will activiate more of the upper back. also with elbo position, keep them in the frontal plane for increasing width, or elbow forward of the frontal plane for more thickness and lower lat development.
I’m just curious, why would you want to do that?
I recently read an article here (I forget which one) that talked about the doing 10x10 of chinups to help develop thickness (front to back width).
My biceps are lagging and my thickness isn’t great either so I decided I’d try it out.
No-traps because I want to focus on bi’s/back and keep my traps from developing any more for fear of imbalance. Plus, I’ve never been one for the huge trap look.
[quote]P1 wrote:
I recently read an article here (I forget which one) that talked about the doing 10x10 of chinups to help develop thickness (front to back width).
My biceps are lagging and my thickness isn’t great either so I decided I’d try it out.
No-traps because I want to focus on bi’s/back and keep my traps from developing any more for fear of imbalance. Plus, I’ve never been one for the huge trap look. [/quote]
Your line of reasoning is flawed. First, trap development is crucial for front to back width (which is commonly referred to as thickness). In fact, back exercises which are notoriously good back thickness builders (as opposed to width builders) work the traps to a great extent (i.e. rows).
The traps or trapezius are more than just the muscles you see from the front that go from the shoulders to the neck, it also performs scapular retraction and assists in scapular depression.
If you really want to build back thickness, then you’d probably be better off doing rows instead of any pull-up variations. If you really want to focus on width, then I’d suggest doing wide grip pull-ups. But, that’s just my opinion.
Good training,
Sentoguy
The upper traps are not really used in pull ups so you don’t need to worry. The lower traps are used more and do need more attention. Your fear in a huge neck is unfounded.
[quote]P1 wrote:
I recently read an article here (I forget which one) that talked about the doing 10x10 of chinups to help develop thickness (front to back width).
My biceps are lagging and my thickness isn’t great either so I decided I’d try it out.
No-traps because I want to focus on bi’s/back and keep my traps from developing any more for fear of imbalance. Plus, I’ve never been one for the huge trap look. [/quote]
This is a sad day when guys start ignoring major muscle groups that are influential in so many other movements…because they are “afraid of an imbalance”. I do believe I have now seen it all.
50 bucks says if this guy posted a picture, no one would write, “wow…HUGE traps”.
I’m speechless. Good thing I can still type.
Original poster. Here’s some advice just in case you didn’t express yourself correctly. If you want to emphasize your biceps during the chin-up, that is easily achieved by doing a few sets of curls beforehand. Don’t go all out but do get pretty close to that point. Your biceps will become the weakest link in the exercise and thereby getting heavily taxed.
I sincerely hope this helps. You have 15 posts and you seem to be new/inexperienced with basics of bodybuilding. It would be worth your time to get answers on more general questions. You can do so here on the forum or just going to google and type away. Good luck.
Thanks for the responses.
To Prof.x: I’m not ignoring a major muscle group, I’m only looking to minimize the involvement of the traps in one specific exercise- chinups. I don’t see what’s wrong with not wanting to have imbalances.
To Majin: I wrote minimize trap involvement because I want to emphasize not only back but biceps as well.
My question is what variation (based on hand position) is going to activate the traps the least? I’m sure some grips or body angles work the traps more than others.
[quote]P1 wrote:
Thanks for the responses.
To Prof.x: I’m not ignoring a major muscle group, I’m only looking to minimize the involvement of the traps in one specific exercise- chinups. I don’t see what’s wrong with not wanting to have imbalances.
[/quote]
Of course you don’t. You don’t see what is wrong with your line of thinking because you are a NOOB. You obviously hold the belief that “lagging parts” should be worked on as a beginner when the truth is more likely that your entire body is lagging and, like so many beginners before you, you think any growth at all in certain muscle groups means you need to start dissecting your body and working certain parts less and other parts more and more.
YOUR TRAPS ARE NOT WORKED AS A PRIMARY MUSCLE GROUP IN CHIN UPS. See, I typed in really big letters because you ignored this when Majin typed it earlier. That alone yells “NEWBIE” to anyone who isn’t one.
Chin ups involve the biceps and lats as the primary movers, not traps. You traps are worked with PULLING movement that would be working against the force anywhere from straight down to parallel in front of you with less and less involvement the closer the angle is to 90 degrees in relation to the body.
Wait, I bet you missed it again so let’s end with this
YOU DON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT WORKING TRAPS LESS WITH CHIN UPS BECAUSE TRAPS AREN’T WORKED IN THE FIRST DAMN PLACE TO ANY SIGNIFICANT DEGREE.
profx: we’ve never met, you’ve never seen pictures of me- you have no idea about my build. It’s ridiculous to try to tell me what part of me is or isn’t lagging.
My question was what variation will work traps least- hardcore answered it by pointing out that to minimize the traps don’t bring the chin above the bar. That’s the answer to the question. I have no idea why you are going off about me having imbalances or ignoring muscle groups.
Even if he was ignoring his traps. Who died and made you king of heaven to say that YOUR perception of a perfect physique is THE perfect physique. He asked a question of how to reach his goals, and all you do is attack his goals. That wasn’t the point of this thread. Now we have this post, another useless one, attacking the person who attacked someone’s goals. This gets us nowhere.
I am sorry for this OP, as I hope Professor X is.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
P1 wrote:
Thanks for the responses.
To Prof.x: I’m not ignoring a major muscle group, I’m only looking to minimize the involvement of the traps in one specific exercise- chinups. I don’t see what’s wrong with not wanting to have imbalances.
Of course you don’t. You don’t see what is wrong with your line of thinking because you are a NOOB. You obviously hold the belief that “lagging parts” should be worked on as a beginner when the truth is more likely that your entire body is lagging and, like so many beginners before you, you think any growth at all in certain muscle groups means you need to start dissecting your body and working certain parts less and other parts more and more.
YOUR TRAPS ARE NOT WORKED AS A PRIMARY MUSCLE GROUP IN CHIN UPS. See, I typed in really big letters because you ignored this when Majin typed it earlier. That alone yells “NEWBIE” to anyone who isn’t one.
Chin ups involve the biceps and lats as the primary movers, not traps. You traps are worked with PULLING movement that would be working against the force anywhere from straight down to parallel in front of you with less and less involvement the closer the angle is to 90 degrees in relation to the body.
Wait, I bet you missed it again so let’s end with this
YOU DON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT WORKING TRAPS LESS WITH CHIN UPS BECAUSE TRAPS AREN’T WORKED IN THE FIRST DAMN PLACE TO ANY SIGNIFICANT DEGREE.
[/quote]
[quote]P1 wrote:
profx: we’ve never met, you’ve never seen pictures of me- you have no idea about my build. It’s ridiculous to try to tell me what part of me is or isn’t lagging.
My question was what variation will work traps least- hardcore answered it by pointing out that to minimize the traps don’t bring the chin above the bar. That’s the answer to the question. I have no idea why you are going off about me having imbalances or ignoring muscle groups.
[/quote]
Dude, that is not the answer to the question. Bringing your chin above the bar WOULD STILL WORK THE LATS NOT THE TRAPS. You chose the advice of the one person who gave you wrong info. That doesn’t surprise me as much can be gathered about someone by the types of questions they ask.
I don’t have to look at you. You don’t even know what exercises work which muscle groups which means you are either a newbie…or a complete dumbass.
If I were you, I would shoot for the former, not the latter. You will get much more sympathy.
[quote]Contach wrote:
Even if he was ignoring his traps. Who died and made you king of heaven to say that YOUR perception of a perfect physique is THE perfect physique. He asked a question of how to reach his goals, and all you do is attack his goals. That wasn’t the point of this thread. Now we have this post, another useless one, attacking the person who attacked someone’s goals. This gets us nowhere.
I am sorry for this OP, as I hope Professor X is.
[/quote]
I attacked his goals? His logic was questioned. He clearly doesn’t understand many basics of lifting yet is asking how to avoid working certain muscle groups. That brings into question everything he is doing. Anyone who would ignore that should probably learn more themselves.
He initially asked for a pullup that limits trap development. A normal pullup would engage the traps because there is a rotation of the scapula. Where is his logic wrong?
In his second post he said something about chinup, but I stopped reading because I saw your name in the thread and looked for some way to get angry at you.
Contach I think your blowing things out of proportion, I see constructive knowledge shared in a way that perhaps is not “politically correct” or vetted for feminization but it’s still knowledge shared tho perhaps not on a silver platter.
I think this is a unfounded fear concerning traps and chins, don’t worry about your traps, specially if your focusing on your biceps doing a lot of the chin-up move any hope to really add more depth isn’t going to happen.
If your going to work on biceps, chinups are not the answer tho. But that’s my 2 cents.
If you want to fill out your back rows are a key essential, oh and I’m with the good morning crowd and a good dose of deadlifting o.O
k let the madness continue.
But I also question why this post is necessary. Traps and Chin-Ups should not even be something to be confused about.
In the spirit of the subject title I ask this. If a killer whale and a space monkey were to race, who would win, and why?
[quote]kinein wrote:
In the spirit of the subject title I ask this. If a killer whale and a space monkey were to race, who would win, and why?[/quote]
The space monkey of course, what kind of retard are you for even asking a question like that??? Jeez!
[quote]P1 wrote:
Hey, I was wondering if anyone knew what the best pull-up variation is to minimize trap involvement. Thanks.[/quote]
This question is flawed.
If you want to minimise trap involvement (which is little), on a chin up, then surely you best avoid every other exercises which directly or indirectly avoids the traps.
So…
Deads are out…
rows too
cleans of any description
any kind of shrug (probably want to eliminate farmers walks/holds too).
In fact - don’t pick anything up.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
P1 wrote:
profx: we’ve never met, you’ve never seen pictures of me- you have no idea about my build. It’s ridiculous to try to tell me what part of me is or isn’t lagging.
My question was what variation will work traps least- hardcore answered it by pointing out that to minimize the traps don’t bring the chin above the bar. That’s the answer to the question. I have no idea why you are going off about me having imbalances or ignoring muscle groups.
Dude, that is not the answer to the question. Bringing your chin above the bar WOULD STILL WORK THE LATS NOT THE TRAPS. You chose the advice of the one person who gave you wrong info.
[/quote]
how is my info wrong, the method i developed for myself works perfectly and I dont feel the traps working one bit. once you pull your upper arms past parallel to the ground, the scap starts to adduct and rotate, and thats when you get trap involvment.
I devised my method to maximize upper arm movement as thats where the lat attaches, and to minimize scap movement to deemphasize the use of the traps. any pulling movement to full completion engages the upper back by rotating and abducting the scap.
obviously this poster does not want that so thats why I gave him the form that I use because hopefully it will serve him well or he can learn something about his own body perhaps. I’m not claiming that the info I gave him is gospel truth for everyone, as these exercise forms have been tailored to my body.
as you know everybody’s body is constructed the same with a little variation, so i thought he could use the knowledge that i have gained.