so i try traps twice a week with moderate weight and on the high side of volume. I have seen good results with my upper traps, but i would love to have the middle and lower traps in proportion with my upper traps. Would training traps everyday with a couple of sets be overkill? any suggestions would be great
It depends on how you choose to train your traps. Choose the movements that specifically hit the mid and lower traps.
Another option: add 100lbs to your deadlift and rows.
Heavy barbell shrugs is all I’ve ever done, but my traps seem to grow like weeds. I only really train them every other shoulder day otherwise they start to dwarf the rest of my body.
I kinda stumbled onto a nice little trap move one day just playing around
Its called the trap squeeze shrug
Db in each hand
Lean forward a bit
Press dbs together as hard as possible…palms facing each other…hold this for the whole set
Then shrug back and up
as mentioned deads, rack pulls, heavy rows will improve traps. shrugs while leaning forward, i like to use the shrug plate loaded machine @ my gym. w/ my ass against the back rest i lean forward keeping i nice back position, think dorian’s pitch when rowing or even higher (go lighter than when standing/seated w/ back in the vertical position) then shrug. this hits the mid/lower traps nicely.
alternative to this, same principal but even more supported, shrug w/ chest on an incline bench. as w/ the other, pitching forward moves the contraction further down the trap.
partial deadlifts seem to really hit the traps…so much in fact…that I don’t perform shrugs anymore.
[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
I kinda stumbled onto a nice little trap move one day just playing around
Its called the trap squeeze shrug
Db in each hand
Lean forward a bit
Press dbs together as hard as possible…palms facing each other…hold this for the whole set
Then shrug back and up
[/quote]
trying this!
I seem to find over-head shrugs really tax the trapezius super set these with incline DB shrugs. I only perform a super set once a week as the trapezius gets used for rowing, deadifts and pressing movements.
The push press also helped me to develop my trapezius along with heavy deadifts and rack pulls as mentioned before.
Maybe this helps?
These threads pop up seems like every month.
Get your plain old BB shrug up to 495x20…
Long before you get there you will be able to answer your own question and not give a fuck what anyone on the internet says.
thanks for the responses, sorry ive been extremely busy with school this week, but im going to try the dorian row, more upright and hopefully thatll target that middle to lower trap better
[quote]zachb27 wrote:
thanks for the responses, sorry ive been extremely busy with school this week, but im going to try the dorian row, more upright and hopefully thatll target that middle to lower trap better[/quote]
Where is your BB shrug right now. You say moderate weight.
To me, on shrugs, 5 plates is moderate.
Look my point is this:
Numbers are NOT everything. Just because someone can bench 405 for a triple doesn’t mean they will have a great chest, and just because someone has a chest doesn’t mean they will have an awesome bench #. BUT, I would venture to guess the guy who sees 405 as a “moderate weight” on shrugs is going to have a greater chance of having better traps than the newb bitching about his mid traps and can’t even power shrug 315 for more than 6 reps.
Superstar genetics aside, why not get brutally strong on the basics? Not that rows aren’t the basics, but I have to actively try and not have my traps take over when I row. I row for my lats and shit, and shrug for my traps and shit…
Make sense?
Maybe I’m crazy.
[quote]Blackaggar wrote:
[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
I kinda stumbled onto a nice little trap move one day just playing around
Its called the trap squeeze shrug
Db in each hand
Lean forward a bit
Press dbs together as hard as possible…palms facing each other…hold this for the whole set
Then shrug back and up
[/quote]
trying this![/quote]
lol sweet…not much weight is needed so consider that when you give them a go.
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
These threads pop up seems like every month.
Get your plain old BB shrug up to 495x20…
Long before you get there you will be able to answer your own question and not give a fuck what anyone on the internet says.
[/quote]
Who really needs more than shrugs and rows?
It is like you get an award lately for making this more complicated.
It isn’t like the more exotic the movement the better the results.
[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
[quote]Blackaggar wrote:
[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
I kinda stumbled onto a nice little trap move one day just playing around
Its called the trap squeeze shrug
Db in each hand
Lean forward a bit
Press dbs together as hard as possible…palms facing each other…hold this for the whole set
Then shrug back and up
[/quote]
trying this![/quote]
lol sweet…not much weight is needed so consider that when you give them a go.
[/quote]
I’ve also done something semi-similar with great success. Holding DBs, chin touching the upper chest, shoulders back, 5 second hold on the contraction. Awesome.
Varying that with, of course, retardedly heavy BB shrugs.
i like going a little stricter and squeezing a tiny bit longer
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
These threads pop up seems like every month.
Get your plain old BB shrug up to 495x20…
Long before you get there you will be able to answer your own question and not give a fuck what anyone on the internet says.
[/quote]
Who really needs more than shrugs and rows?
It is like you get an award lately for making this more complicated.
It isn’t like the more exotic the movement the better the results.[/quote]
This is what I’m saying lol.
Adding complication for the sake of it is counter productive. Shit, as you advance you need more complication just to make half the gains you did before.
Enjoy the times when simple still = super effective.
Heavy deadlifts, rack pulls near knee level, rows and shrugs.
It’s not rocket science.
Everytime someone open thred like this, everybody is running in telling how easy it’s to get big traps. It’s like telling ‘drinking water is good for you’, yet nobody seems to know answer for the real question about LOWER AND MIDDLE traps.
World is filled with big upper traps, yet there’s so many weak backs there.
Lower and middle traps (i kown it’s not different muscle, i like to drink water) should be trained differently?!
[quote]Aaargh wrote:
Everytime someone open thred like this, everybody is running in telling how easy it’s to get big traps. It’s like telling ‘drinking water is good for you’, yet nobody seems to know answer for the real question about LOWER AND MIDDLE traps.
World is filled with big upper traps, yet there’s so many weak backs there.
Lower and middle traps (i kown it’s not different muscle, i like to drink water) should be trained differently?!
[/quote]
Gee, I could have sworn I wrote the words “rows” in there as well.
Just a hint, but you may want to see who has pics up before taking advice. If they have no back, quit listening to them.
Your middle and upper traps are activating with any rowing movement that would involve the angle from when your arms are straight in front of you to when they are down in a shrug position.
Hammer Strength makes great back equipment. They helped my back get bigger than most of the people who seem to be on the “rack pull” bandwagon all of a sudden.
Heavy shrugs and rows work. Deadlifts are a great exercise for some people also. Why do we need to rewrite that?