The trapezius muscle is located on the upper back of the body. The trapezius is a large muscle that forms part of the upper back, neck and shoulder. The muscle is flat, wide and superficial and it originates from the occipital bone which forms the base of the skull and the back. The connection points of the trapezius muscle are the clavicle, acromion and the shoulder blade.
Exercise Guides For Your Trapezius!
Barbell Shrugs
Barbell shrugs are an often neglected exercise that can have a big impact on your physique. If someone has paid attention to their trapezius muscles then you know they are a lifter. There are few exercises that work your shoulders better than barbell shrugs. Here’s some more information on one of the best isolation exercises for one of the most important muscle groups.
Muscles Targeted: The barbell shrug targets your upper trapezius and your rhomboids primarily. Your trapezius muscles are responsible for supporting your neck and bringing your shoulders closer to your ears. Your rhomboids control the movement of your shoulder blades. Your biceps and forearms get worked indirectly on this exercise.
Exercise Instructions: Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart and hold a barbell with both hands. Using an overhand grip, allow the barbell to hang down in front of your body so that your arms are fully extended. To execute this movement, simply shrug your shoulders up while keeping your arms completely straight. Be sure that you hold your shoulders in the shrug position for a one-count at the top of the movement. Return to the start position and repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.
Why This Exercise is Important: Barbell shrugs are a great way to target your trapezius muscles. These muscles are responsible for protecting and supporting your head and neck. Anyone who has ever gotten a crick in their neck knows how critical these muscles are. Dedicated shrugging can help improve your posture. It can also help prevent injuries in high impact sports such as wrestling and football. When fully developed the trapezius lets other lifters know that you are capable of handling heavy poundage. Lifters can work up to very respectable weights when performing barbell shrugs and this can give the lifter a psychological boost when using heavy weights on other lifts. This can lead to decreased anxiety about heavy poundage and increased performance on other exercises.
Things To Avoid: You want to maintain good posture when you are performing barbell shrugs. Don’t bend forward or backward at the waist as this will expose your lower back to additional strain. Use good technique when lifting and don’t use any leg drive to pull up the weights. Don’t jerk the weights up, pull smoothly and focus on the contraction at the peak of the exercise. Avoid having your shoulders move in any direction other than up or down when lifting. Gravity only works in one direction and you are not working anything by going back and forth. Don’t pull the weight up with your biceps or bend your wrists when lifting.
Reps and Sets: Typically barbell shrugs are performed fairly heavy. Many lifters prefer to use wrist straps on this exercise as the weights can quickly fatigue your grip well before your trapezius muscles. For size, use sets of 2-4 and reps from 6-12. If you’re looking for strength to help the lockout on a deadlift exercise, then stick with sets of 3-5 and reps from 3-6.
Other Exercises To Use: Use this exercise in conjunction with barbell deadlifts to really round out your upper back. Power cleans are another good substitute for barbell shrugs. If you have an upright posture while performing barbell rows, they also hit your trapezius and rhomboids in a similar manner. View our extensive database of exercise guides for a comprehensive list of exercises that target the trapezius muscles.
Mix barbell shrugs frequently into your routine so that you will gain all the benefits of this important isolation exercise. People will really take notice of you after you’ve made progress on barbell shrugs as your posture improves and your shoulders grow. Make sure you are shrugging your shoulders up and down and not back and forth. Not only will you look silly but you could end up hurting yourself.
Barbell Upright Rows
Exercise Instructions: Stand with your feet approximately shoulder width apart. Using a narrow overhand grip, grasp the barbell with both hands and let the bar and your arms hang down in front of your body, fully extended. Next, raise the barbell up to just under your chin. You will do this by flaring your elbows up and out. Hold for a one-count at the top of the movement and then return to the starting position and repeat.
Barbell Shrugs Behind The Back
Exercise Instructions: This exercise is the same as the regular Barbell Shrugs except that you will be holding the barbell behind your back instead of in front of your body. Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart and hold a barbell with both hands. Using an overhand grip, allow the barbell to hang down behind your back so that your arms are fully extended. To execute this movement, simply shrug your shoulders while keeping your arms completely straight. Be sure that you hold your shoulders in the shrug position for a one-count at the top of the movement. Return to the start position and repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.
Cable Shrugs
Exercise Instructions: Stand facing a cable pulley machine with your feet about shoulder width apart. Attach a short bar to the low cable pulley. Grasp the short bar with both hands using and overhand grip and allow your arms to hang down completely straight. To execute this movement, simply shrug your shoulders while keeping your arms completely straight. Be sure that you hold your shoulders in the shrug position for a one-count at the top of the movement. Return to the start position and repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.
Cable Upright Rows
Exercise Instructions: Stand facing a cable pulley machine with your feet about shoulder width apart. Attach a short bar to the low cable pulley. Grasp the short bar with both hands using and overhand grip and allow your arms to hang down completely straight. To execute this movement, simply raise the short bar up to just under your chin. You will do this by flaring your elbows up and out. Hold for a one-count at the top if the movement and then return to the start position and repeat.
Dumbbell Shrugs
Exercise Instructions: Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing in toward your body. Allow the dumbbells to hang at your sides so that your arms are fully extended. To execute this movement, simply shrug your shoulders while keeping your arms completely straight. Be sure that you hold your shoulders in the shrug position for a one-count at the top of the movement. Return to the start position and repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.
Dumbbell Upright Rows
Exercise Instructions: Stand with your feet approximately shoulder width apart and grasp a dumbbell in each hand allowing the dumbbells to hang down in front of your thighs with your palm facing in toward your body. Simultaneously raise the dumbbells up to just under your chin. You will do this by flaring your elbows up and out. Hold for a one-count at the top if the movement and then return to the start position and repeat.
Low Cable Rows To Neck
Exercise Instructions: Place a flat bench facing a low cable pulley machine. Sit at the end of the bench and grasp a short bar attached to the low cable pulley. Using a narrow overhand grip, let the bar and your arms hang down in front of your body, fully extended. Keep your back straight, but allow it to lean backward slightly. Next, raise short bar up to just under your chin. You will do this by flaring your elbows up and out. Hold for a one-count at the top if the movement and then return to the start position and repeat.
Smith Machine Shrugs
Exercise Instructions: This exercise is the same as the regular Barbell Shrugs except that you will be using a Smith Machine instead of a free weight barbell. Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart and hold a barbell with both hands. Using an overhand grip, allow the barbell to hang down behind your back so that your arms are fully extended. To execute this movement, simply shrug your shoulders while keeping your arms completely straight. Be sure that you hold your shoulders in the shrug position for a one-count at the top of the movement. Return to the start position and repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.
Smith Machine Upright Rows
Exercise Instructions: Stand with your feet approximately shoulder width apart in the Smith Machine. Using a narrow overhand grip, grasp the barbell with both hands and let the bar and your arms hang down in front of your body, fully extended. Next, raise the barbell up to just under your chin. You will do this by flaring your elbows up and out. Hold for a one-count at the top if the movement and then return to the start position and repeat.
Physiology of The Trapezius Muscles
The trapezius muscles consist of three areas and these include the upper zone, middle zone and the lower zone.The upper zone is also known as the superior fibers and it extends from the base of the skull and down to the lower thoracic spine. It covers the posterior and the lateral sides of the neck to the shoulder. It inserts into the clavicle and acromion of the scapula elevating the scapula. The middle zone can be divided into two sections which include the upper middle and the lower middle. They both originate from the thoracic vertebrae joining into the acromion and scapula. The lower zone is also known as the inferior fiber and it originates from the thoracic vertebrae and connects to the spine and the shoulder blade. The two trapezius form a diamond-shaped trapezoid, hence the name of the muscle group being called the “trapezius”.
The trapezius muscle has different functions depending on the zone. However, the main function of the trapezius muscle is to provide stability and movement of the shoulder blade by contracting all of its fiber bands lightly and simultaneously. The different functions include:
- The upper and superior region’s main function is to support the weight of the arms. It elevates the shoulder blade when a weight is being carried. The superior fiber extends the head at the neck by pulling the occipital bone closer to the scapular.
- The function of the mid-region is to pull the scapula closer to the spine. It works by retracting and adducting the scapula by pulling the scapula closer.
- The lower and inferior region’s function is to rotate the scapula in an up-and-down direction which supports the uppermost part of the upper arm. The inferior fiber depresses the scapula by pulling it closer to the thoracic vertebrae.
- The trapezius muscle also assists in breathing by enlarging the upper region of the chest in order to increase the breathing capacity of the lungs.
- The trapezius also helps with the movement of the side of the head and neck and also in a backwards direction.
It is possible to feel the trapezius muscles contract when lifting weights and this should be the goal when performing exercises like barbell and dumbbell shrugs. You can try to stretch the arm in front of your body and use your other hand feel the area between the neck and shoulder to really get a good sense of which muscles are being engaged. The upper region of the trapezius muscle is developed with exercises like the hang clean. The middle region can be developed by pulling the scapula together and the lower region can be developed by drawing the shoulder blades downward ensuring that you keep the arms straight.
