Trapezius Exercises

I’m seeking to get this part of my body a very distintive look. I want the muscles to show and when I put on a shirt, I want the sides of the collar to touch my ears. (not literally) I currently don’t have access to the gym ( car troubles ) so all I have is free weights and bars. Any weight lifting exercises to fulfull what i’m seeking?

just a guess, but how about shrugs

[quote]liftforstars wrote:
all I have is free weights and bars. /quote]

That’s like all you need to do shrugs. Or any other heavy objects. Like a wheelbarrow.

I used to do shrugs with a 100lb plate in each hand and it did nothing relative to deadlifting. Why not try that?

I find the cleans hit my traps pretty hard…plus they’re fun.

I have a friend who is a scoffolder, his job requires that he pass relatively heavy planks from a person below to a person above in a vertical line.

This constant “shrugging” movement has given him solid traps which almost make his T Shirt start from his ear. He’s not a big fella either.

Overhead shrugs
Barbell shrugs
DB shrugs
Cable Shrugs
Deadlift + shrugs
Power shrugs
Upright rows

Power shrugs rule all for trap work. if your deadlifting heavy you’ll pound them too.

I think this is a pretty good article on shrugs. Got me to pay more attention to the form.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459630

buy a shirt with a tall collar, problem solved

CT did a good article on everything trappy … forgot the name, do a search you lazy fellow

[quote]Donut62 wrote:
Power shrugs rule all for trap work. if your deadlifting heavy you’ll pound them too.[/quote]

Power shrugs? Would these also be called heaves? Oh. and to add to the thread…power cleans kill my traps.

[quote]Willus wrote:
I think this is a pretty good article on shrugs. Got me to pay more attention to the form.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459630 [/quote]

Wow, a very comprehensive article, I certainly will pay attention to my form too. Thanks for the reminder of this article.

The second part to that series can be found here…

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459627

Strangely it has an earlier date on it. IM looking for that CT article that was mentioned earlier.

[quote]Hatebreeder wrote:
Donut62 wrote:
Power shrugs rule all for trap work. if your deadlifting heavy you’ll pound them too.

Power shrugs? Would these also be called heaves? Oh. and to add to the thread…power cleans kill my traps.[/quote]

I’ve never heard them called heaves, but I guess that adequately describes the motion.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=514427

[quote]Donut62 wrote:
Hatebreeder wrote:
Donut62 wrote:
Power shrugs rule all for trap work. if your deadlifting heavy you’ll pound them too.

Power shrugs? Would these also be called heaves? Oh. and to add to the thread…power cleans kill my traps.

I’ve never heard them called heaves, but I guess that adequately describes the motion.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=514427 [/quote]

Never heard them called that either. But they’re a great workout for the traps. Got a 400 barbell shrug about two weeks ago. :slight_smile: Just thought I’d throw that in there.

CT’s article was called “The Power Look”.

[URL]http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459280[/URL]

[quote]liftforstars wrote:
I’m seeking to get this part of my body a very distintive look. I want the muscles to show and when I put on a shirt, I want the sides of the collar to touch my ears. (not literally) I currently don’t have access to the gym ( car troubles ) so all I have is free weights and bars. Any weight lifting exercises to fulfull what i’m seeking?[/quote]

how much do you deadlift?

Well, I happen to call them jump shrugs…not that I can leave the ground with the weight I’m using.

Do you guys use an over/over or an alternating grip when you do them? I’ve been using a clean-width over/over…which means I’m doing “heavy” 3’s and 5’s with 275-295 and having to reset my grip all the time. (I do regular shrugs with an alternating grip, natch.)

[quote]DON D1ESEL wrote:
Well, I happen to call them jump shrugs…not that I can leave the ground with the weight I’m using.

Do you guys use an over/over or an alternating grip when you do them? I’ve been using a clean-width over/over…which means I’m doing “heavy” 3’s and 5’s with 275-295 and having to reset my grip all the time. (I do regular shrugs with an alternating grip, natch.)[/quote]

I use an over/over with straps. Considering the ridiculous amount of weight you can use on them, it’s a lot easier to concentrate on throwing the hips forward and getting a hard, high shrug with the straps.