Hey guys.. I was looking in the mirror and realized that i would really like to have bigger traps, i was wondering if anyone here has had success with certain training strategies, i would really appreciate it. I feel as though my traps are pretty strong but they still dont bulge the way i would want them to.. maybe i am training them incorrectly? Do you guys do high reps? Barbell shrugs or dumbell? do you hold and squeeze at the top? do you hang your arms by your side or infront or behind.. thanks

i recently started dumbell shrugs, however military/shoulder press really worked my traps good :)

I haven't focused on them, but they've been coming along nicely between shrugs, standing press, high pulls, and various rowing movements. What does your routine look like now?

Heavy BB shrugs... learn to love them... and do them correctly.

Hmm for shoulders i do dumbell military press, arnold press and dumbell shrugs in addition to front/side/bent over delt raises.. I used to do Barbell shrugs but then i gave up using lifting straps and its just too hard to hold the weight with my forearms... but i think i got better gains with teh barbell shrugs so i might go back to that

Hey guys.. I was looking in the mirror and realized that i would really like to have bigger traps, i was wondering if anyone here has had success with certain training strategies, i would really appreciate it. I feel as though my traps are pretty strong but they still dont bulge the way i would want them to.. maybe i am training them incorrectly? Do you guys do high reps? Barbell shrugs or dumbell? do you hold and squeeze at the top? do you hang your arms by your side or infront or behind.. thanks

I don't have huge traps, but one of the trainers at my gym has killer traps. He uses:

Dumbell shrugs
Barbell Deadlifts

I don't have huge traps, but one of the trainers at my gym has killer traps. He uses:

Dumbell shrugs
Barbell Deadlifts


off topic but one of my friend has enormous traps and he doesnt even work out.. and his quads and calves are some of the biggest ive ever seen and he has only done "leg day" twice in his life..

...damn genetics

I'd vote for barbell shrugs and behind the back barbell shrugs - as heavy as you can with a squeeze at the top.

The guys I always see with the biggest traps are also the guys who do heavy deads on a regular basis.

I agree with IWAC that Olympic style pull moves help a lot. Clean variants, jump shrugs, high pulls, etc. Deadlifts are where I think I've gotten the most trap growth. Snatch grip deadlifts seem to hit the traps even more than normal deads.

While there's no denying that heavy weights and Shrugs and Deads are good for the Traps It is important to remember that Traps are basically slow twitch fiber.

So while going heavy produces results you might be shortchanging yourself on Trap growth if you don't include some high rep work in the mix.

Say 15 to 20 reps a set. And at the end of that set you should not be able to do another rep ..period.

Mix this up with low rep work where you're going heavy for 5 or so reps.

While there's no denying that heavy weights and Shrugs and Deads are good for the Traps It is important to remember that Traps are basically slow twitch fiber.

So while going heavy produces results you might be shortchanging yourself on Trap growth if you don't include some high rep work in the mix.

Say 15 to 20 reps a set. And at the end of that set you should not be able to do another rep ..period.

Mix this up with low rep work where you're going heavy for 5 or so reps.

This is essentially what I do. Heavy deads 4-6 rep range and then I immediately follow with 3-4 sets of burnout DB Shrugs

Good point- burnouts do help - like for calves.

I should clarify- when I say heavy shrugs... I don't mean 4-5 rep heavy... I've always thought of shrugs as around 12-15. But you'd better be putting 275 or whatever you see as heavy... keep those reps slow, and squeeze at the contraction.

It seems that traps, much like calves, are determined by genetics. I know guys that don't do anything for them but they continue to grow. :mad: If traps are a problem you can still make improvements but, I believe shrugs are an inferior movement, unless of course, you are shrugging some heavy, heavy, heavy weight. Bringing up a lagging bodypart sometimes means trying different movements - behind the back BB shrugs using a curl grip, farmers walk, snatch grip high pulls, power hang cleans, and if you want a pure trap movement which allows for no cheating, try doing shrugs in the standing calf raise machine. Keep deadlifts in there too, and if you are able to work up to some heavy weight with RDL's, I think they are also very effective due to the static nature of the exercise. :bb:

Thumbs up for behind-the-back BB shrugs, squeezing and holding at top of movement....:tucool:

Also behind-the -back DB shrugs where you start at the sides and move them around to the back on the way up....:tucool:

But I agree with Mastover too....you've got to add more ingredients to the soup to get it up to full potential.

My traps have always done fine by a variety of Olympic pulls (which all include a "shrug"), conventional and romanian and snatch-grip deadlifts, overhead movements (big isometric component), and, of course, rows. Keep in mind that the upper traps aren't the only muscle in the group. Shrugs, unless they're done very heavy (and probably of a "power" variant), have always seemed like a frat boy's feel-the-burn exercise to me, yielding more feeling than results.

It seems that traps, much like calves, are determined by genetics. I know guys that don't do anything for them but they continue to grow. :mad: If traps are a problem you can still make improvements but, I believe shrugs are an inferior movement, unless of course, you are shrugging some heavy, heavy, heavy weight. Bringing up a lagging bodypart sometimes means trying different movements - behind the back BB shrugs using a curl grip, farmers walk, snatch grip high pulls, power hang cleans, and if you want a pure trap movement which allows for no cheating, try doing shrugs in the standing calf raise machine. Keep deadlifts in there too, and if you are able to work up to some heavy weight with RDL's, I think they are also very effective due to the static nature of the exercise. :bb:
:nod:

I'd vote for barbell shrugs and behind the back barbell shrugs - as heavy as you can with a squeeze at the top.

So just how the heck do you keep your A$$ out of the way of the bar? Am I the only one who has trouble with this. My arms are of the length that it's a real pain to behind the back BB Shrugs. As much as I want to do them, I usually go for the front BB, or DB.

>>>--->

The traps in my avatar I owe to doing Heavy Deads, Rep Deads, Shrugs of several kinds and Rowing with the elbows up high and wide grip.

No Olympic stuff for mine.

GRCRYSTYK:- If you can't do a behind-the-back shrug try doing a front one but leaning forward a little.
If you do them pulling bar straight up vertical while standing straight and vertical you only hit top end of traps basically. Forward lean shifts the focus a bit.

off topic but one of my friend has enormous traps and he doesnt even work out.. and his quads and calves are some of the biggest ive ever seen and he has only done "leg day" twice in his life..

...damn genetics

Well the guy I'm talking about is 54 years old and he's been working out for decades. So I don't know if it's his genetics.

I do know that I can't do his workouts.

While there's no denying that heavy weights and Shrugs and Deads are good for the Traps It is important to remember that Traps are basically slow twitch fiber.

Or not: Fiber type composition of the human male trapezius muscle: enzyme-histochemical characteristics. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2148051&dopt=Abstract).

Shrugs, unless they're done very heavy (and probably of a "power" variant), have always seemed like a frat boy's feel-the-burn exercise to me, yielding more feeling than results.

The guy I'm talking about was shrugging once and it occurred to me "if he doesn't stop doing that he'll go deaf".

He's not shrugging all that heavy - just a pair of 100# dumbells (as heavy as the gym goes). It's just plain old dumbell shrugs, too.

i did barbell shrugs today with 8 reps of 135 then 225 then 275 and then 6 reps of 315....

I guess i'll try doing 15ish reps and see if it makes a difference, and working some other things into the routine..

3 sets of 30, first front then rear...heavy but not too heavy