Whats better for your traps?

kreechy · Post by **kreechy** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:04 pm

Upright rows or shrugs? for building traps mass not the neck part and back part of traps?

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 11:01 am

Difficult to say. I do think though that Shrugs are more versatile, as you have a Barbell and a Dumbbell variation.

Upright rows with Dumbbells can cause sloppy technique, when the Arms are forcing each other to go through the correct range of motion.

Though I can't say 100% that makes them better, just more versatile, so I would say do either, but if you want to do a Dumbbell exercise for Traps, do a Shrug version.

benjamteal · Post by **benjamteal** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 6:58 pm

That is an excellent question, and not one I have thought about often...

initial reaction is that because the upright row is a compound movement, it would be better for mass, but you get a lot of deltoid recruitement. Plus getting the form just right is hard.

The shrug on the other hand has a couple of advantages. The first is that the primary mover is definitely the traps. The movement it quite easy to get right - shoulders to the ears. Finally, in experience at least, you can move a lot more weight with shrugs than you can with upright rows, which is excellent for packing on mass.

Also, as the Big Boss Man indicates, you have a lot of different ways to vary the shrug, so you can hit the muscle from more angles as well.

In mind - definitely the shrugs are the better mass builder.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:50 pm

none of them

deadlifts are way better and using a snatch grip is even better than that

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:16 am

How would something that targets muscles like the Illiocostals and Erector Spinae, be better for Traps, than any afformentioned exercises?

In mind that sounds unrealistic.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:54 pm

today, and i mean today do 4 sets of 8 snatch grip deadlifts as heavy as you can and see how your entire upper feels tomorrow...i dare you bossman

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:58 pm

I would, but training situation dosn't allow that.

When I train at home, space is at a premium, so things like that aren't safe, and gym doesn't have anything good for Deadlifting.

old one did, and I Deadlifted, usually twice a week.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:10 pm

if you've got a bb, and 3 x 2 meters of room you can do them...i squat in the lounge room of 1 bedroom apartment so room can't be an issue...just go moderate wt you'll still feel it

benjamteal · Post by **benjamteal** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 11:59 pm

I wouldn't suggest not doing the deadlifts, because I definitely agree that the deads will work the traps (along with most every other muscle group). Without a doubt, the are a must in workout routine.

The traps, however, are not the primary mover of the deadlifts, and if you really wanted to blast the traps, then you need to supplement the deads with shrugs or upright rows.

nitecrawler · Post by **nitecrawler** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:10 am

have any body tried overhead shrugs ??
http://www.musclewithattitude.com/readT ... id=1597765

besides some basic O-lifts I just do jump shrugs for trap. haven't tried overhead shrugs but maybe will try it some time next week.

In2work · Post by **In2work** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:37 am

I think I should back up nitecrawlers claim to overhead shrugs with this article (new) from t-nation.

Kudos to him though for thinking of it first.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1597765

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:01 am

with any shoulder press movement you should be basically performing a overhead shrug anyway...posturally big strong traps are probably the worse thing you can do