Aiming for a robust and more defined upper back and neck means prioritizing your trapezius muscles. The trapezius, a diamond-shaped muscle spanning your shoulders, neck, and upper back, requires specific exercises for optimal development and strength. These exercises include various movements such as lifting, pulling, or stabilizing weights, directly engaging the traps. Whether your interest lies in contact sports, weightlifting, or simply improving your upper body appearance, regular trap exercises can significantly impact your physique. Here, we’ve put together 15 elite workouts to assist you in building stronger and more noticeable traps.
15 Best Exercises for Traps
Below are the 15 premier exercises for traps to help you boost mass, power, and muscular endurance.
- Barbell Shrugs: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, hold a barbell in front, and lift your shoulders towards your ears.
- Dumbbell Shrugs: Similar to barbell shrugs but using dumbbells for a larger range of motion.
- Upright Rows: Hold a barbell or dumbbells in front and lift them to your chest, keeping the weights close to your body.
- Face Pulls: Utilize a cable machine with a rope attachment. Pull the rope towards your face while keeping your upper arms level with the ground.
- Farmer’s Walk: Carry heavy weights in each hand and walk a set distance, engaging your traps as you stabilize the weights.
- Kettlebell Swings: Swing a kettlebell to work your lower body while also engaging your traps to control the weight.
- Deadlifts: Primarily a lower body exercise, deadlifts also target your traps, especially as you lift the weight to an upright position.
- Rack Pulls: A variation of deadlifts starting with the bar elevated to focus more on the upper back and traps.
- Smith Machine Shrugs: Doing shrugs on a Smith machine offers stability and allows concentrating solely on shrugging motions.
- Cable Shrugs: Utilize a cable machine for shrugs to ensure constant tension on the traps.
- Snatch Grip High Pull: A compound exercise lifting a barbell from the ground to your chin using a wide grip.
- Seated Dumbbell Shrugs: Perform shrugs while seated to minimize momentum, increasing the challenge.
- Butterfly Shrugs: Shrugging with arms extended to the sides, akin to a butterfly’s wings, usually with dumbbells.
- Incline Dumbbell Shrugs: Done on an incline bench, this variation shifts the angle of the shrug, targeting different trapezius fibers.
- Barbell Row to Neck: Similar to a standard barbell row, but pull the bar towards your neck to emphasize the traps.
Tips for Effective Trap Training
To maximize your trap exercise benefits, consider the following essential tips:
1. Focus on Proper Form:
Maintaining correct form during trap exercises is crucial. Proper form not only efficiently targets the traps but also lowers the risk of injury. Ensure you monitor your posture, engage your core, and use controlled movements to activate the muscles accurately.
2. Gradually Increase Weight:
For muscle hypertrophy and strength advancement, progressive overload is vital. As you grow comfortable with a specific weight, progressively increase it to continue challenging your traps. This could be done by adding more weight, incorporating resistance bands, or altering the exercise angle.
3. Incorporate a Variety of Exercises:
To stimulate the traps from multiple angles and promote thorough growth, it’s important to include a variety of trap exercises in your training regimen. This ensures all regions of the traps are engaged and developed. Some effective workouts to consider are shrugs, deadlift variants, upright rows, and face pulls.
4. Don’t Neglect Recovery:
Recovery is equally as important as the workout. Include rest days in your training schedule and prioritize good nutrition and sleep. This provides your muscles with time for repair and growth, thus enhancing overall trap development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do pushups work traps?
Yes, pushups can engage the lower trapezius muscles. Narrow-base push-ups are particularly effective for strengthening these muscles irrespective of the support surfaces used.
How do you hit traps properly?
To effectively target the traps, incorporate exercises like shrugs, barbell deadlifts, rack pulls, upright rows, and face pulls into your workout regimen. These moves work the trapezius muscles from different angles, promoting their development and strength.
Should I go heavy on traps?
Using heavy weights alone may not be the most effective strategy. Utilize lighter weights with a complete range of motion and perform shrugs with controlled, deliberate speed to effectively develop your traps.