how to shrug?

[peanut butter]

what is the best way to shrug? to pull your shoulders up hard and fast or to hold the shrug at the top with a slightly lower weight? can anyone fill me in on these as i really dont have much of a clue about shrugging

 

[BAS_FAN]

I suggest you try some seated rows with a rope and pull hard to your upper chest. Add on behind the back shrugs and you'll see big gains. I find that alot of guys that have never done shrugs load on the weight and let their shoulders roll WAY forward. when you do shrugs behind the back, rolling your shoulders is a very difficult thing to accomplish. The motion should me slow up and slow down....unless you are training for a sport then do them faster up and under control on the way down.

 

[datadog]

. Add on behind the back shrugs and you'll see big gains.

How would you compare doing back shrugs with side dumbell shrugs? I normally grab a pair of the 100s (as big as my gym has) and hold them to my side with palms facing inward. These seem to be working, but my traps haven't gotten as large as I'd like. Does the back shrug help more?

 

[CarnalSalvation]

My traps are huge.

Cheat the shrugs if you're gonna do them.

Nothing beats the combo of deadlifts and sloppy BB rows for back and trap size IMO though.

 

[BAS_FAN]

My traps are huge.

Cheat the shrugs if you're gonna do them.

Nothing beats the combo of deadlifts and sloppy BB rows for back and trap size IMO though.

Not everyone can do deadlifts or bentover rows so i didnt suggest those. But if you can do those then yeah, those are the best.
As far as comparing behind the back shrugs with DB shrugs? Both are good but since most people dont DO behind the back shrugs, the gains come quickly compared to DB shrugs, which almost everyone does. Remember, dont always do the lifts you are good at...

 

[peanut butter]

cheers

 

[rickdog]

`PB, It won't hurt to try both of them or alternate them either. Heavy Bent rows and I like Power Shrugs will develop some massive and more importantly, Powerful traps, over time.

 

[r i l e y]

I barley work traps. my traps get worked when i do lateral raises and chin ups and shit. i just do 2 sets of traps on one day of the week. keep my shoulders straight. and just shrug.

 

[Urban]

The heavy shrugging I do is power shrugs, and I typically used a load that's around 80-90% of my deadlift max. Of course, after hurting my back using 80-90% of my dl max may have gotten a lot easier. In any event I say cheat the hell out of them, my traps seem to respond best to the high weight. Pausing for a second isn't a bad Idea just to prove you can do it, but I don't do it every rep.

 

[bigdoggg]

but whats the right/best way?? i used to go all the way up and down but then this guy who has gotten good results told me not to use my shoulders and stay alot lower and pause.

 

[CarnalSalvation]

There is no set "best" way to do most exercises. It depends on you, and your body.

For most people, heavy loads moved semi-explosively will provide better results than slow stuff.

But the traps can take a TON of volume, so you could do a bunch of heavy power shrugs for 3's, then do a few 20 rep sets with iso holds at the top of each rep if you wanted.

 

[Bizarro]

When I used to do cheat shrugs I had a tendency to raise my toes off the floor. Is this bad, and if so was it just probably due to me using too much weight or something?

 

[CarnalSalvation]

It's another one of those matters of taste.

In my opinion if you're going up on your toes you're not using enough weight. Powershrugs should be explosive, but their should still be a certain degree of control.

Also, I disagree with lowering the bar to the knees to get more momentum. Keep it above the knees people, more like 3-4" of a dip.

 

[PariahCarey]

My traps are huge from powercleans.

 

[Tornado]

Nothing beats the combo of deadlifts and sloppy BB rows for back and trap size IMO though.

Amen

 

[carped33z]

 

[Mark Limbaga]

Explosive lift, pause at top then lower

 

[Fedorable]

traps seem to come easy.

 

[ChUtEBoXWaNnAbE]

i switched up this morning and used behind the back BB shrugs, as opposed to normal side DB shrugs.

my traps have been burning ever since

it made for a nice workout

 

[bigdoggg]

SOOO MANY WAYS HOW DO I CHOOSE :icon_excl AHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHHA