The 6 Best Trap Exercises (YOU’VE NEVER DONE!)

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There are a lot of trap exercises that will help you to build a pair of massive traps. The problem is, we tend to fall in love with just shrugs and that is a big mistake on many levels. In this video, I’m going to show you 6 of the best trap exercises that you’ve never done while making sure to mix in lower trap exercises as well. No balanced set of trapezius muscles will ever be complete without paying attention to the bottom half of this important and large muscle group.

It helps to first understand the anatomy of the traps. This kite shaped muscle is one of the largest in your back as it spans from the top of your lower back all the way up to the back of your head. The more commonly associated area of the muscle is this area near the top that sticks up on top of your shoulders and gets noticed whenever someone looks at you from the front. The lesser known area is the lower traps which plays an important function in shoulder balance and postural integrity.

Here, we are going to cover 6 trap exercises that hit both the upper and lower portions of the traps. We start with the upper however by performing the common shrug exercise, but this time from our knees. The benefit of doing the exercise from your knees is that it removes the legs from the equation and prevents you from generating too much momentum during the more commonly performed standing barbell or dumbbell shrug.

Next we stay in the kneeling position and perform the overhead trap raise. I’m demonstrating this with a cable here but you can easily do it with a resistance band as well. The key is that this move shifts the focus to the lower traps and really fires them up. The goal is to raise your arms up overhead as far as you can while keeping your arms straight. Slowly lower on the way down and repeat until your lower traps are on fire.

Next we look at the twisting trap raise. Here we are taking advantage of the direction of the fibers of the upper traps. These muscles run more east to west than they do up and down. This means that if we want to contract this muscle best we want to give it an opportunity to fire in the same direction. The cable trap twist lets us do this while still allowing us to get an all important retraction of the scapula at the top of the move with resistance.

The dumbbell trap row is a killer but worth the pain it delivers in helping you to build bigger traps. Here you are going to perform a dumbbell row but will be initiating from the traps on every rep. Squeeze as hard as you can and maintain that as you perform each row. This one is a definite burner but so rewarding.

Finally, the two lightest exercises for your traps may be the hardest. Here you want to squeeze your lower traps to perform the prone press. You may find that you can’t use any weight here at all and that is not a problem. The key is to overload the lower traps and force them to work. The tubing reverse trap fly is yet another example of how light resistance can still hammer your traps and get them to respond to your training.

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athleanx
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Exercise list:


1.- 0:35 Kneeling dumbbell shrug
2.- 1:25 Cable overhead trap raises
3.- 2:22 Twisting trap shrug
4.- 3:22 Dumbbell shrug row 3:36 (demo)
5.- 4:26 Dumbbell prone press
6.- 5:18 Reverse trap fly

Carberryi
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*Summary:*
*Exercise 1:* Kneeling dumbbell shrug (0:36) The benefits is that the lower body out of exercise to remove momentum. When shrugging, imagine bringing the shoulders up and towards the ears.
*Exercise 2:* Cable overhead trap raises (1:28) This exercise works the lower traps which are crucial for shoulder balance
*Exercise 3:* Twisting trap shrugs (2:23) The goal of this exercise is to allow a maximum stretch on the muscle and it also follows the fibers.
*Exercise 4:* Dumbbell shrug row (3:38) The benefits is that we initiate with the traps which gives extra trap work without much extra time.
*Exercise 5:* Dumbbell prone press (4:27) This is an incredible lower trap builder by demanding the lower traps to stabilize. This also works the rhomboids a little.
*Exercise 6:* Reverse trap flys (5:20) It may look like a face pull, but remember to shrug the shoulders as you pull back.

hamzabatroukh
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Jeff isnt the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed

Pillowmountain
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Jeff's back muscle definitions are clearer than my future.

Blazar
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Me: *breathes*
Jeff: You're using your body's momentum to complete that breath...

NovaRocket
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Tomorrow's VShreds Vid "6 Trap Exercises You Have To Try"

TheMFingCoo
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this guy earns his suscribers. Best one out there

nicolassinclair
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Jeff. You are amazing. I've been working out at home for about 3 months. 2 of those months I only missed 4 days and I was doing 2 to 4.5 hours a day. All my routines are from your videos. Ive gained like 4 pounds of muscle, and some strength and confidence along with it. I feel better inside and out. Thank you Jeff. Keep up the incredible work.

thegamejunky
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I am literally creating my own workout from Jeff’s exercises.

eidroegtreblig
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Hey Jeff I just wanted to say thank you. I’ve been watching you for over a year now and you’ve helped me completely turn my life around. I’m in the best shape of my life. Every single one of your videos has made me take my workouts to a new level, allowing me to get better gains. Legit I owe you everything

kevinaclan
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Those dumbbell prone presses are insane, not to mention easy to do at home. I think I just found my favourite traps exercise!

JoshNpublicgplus
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How many more vids can Jeff make? It has to be getting hard coming up with new content.

MrChickinface
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Jeff’s upper pec separation during that kneeling db shurgs, awesome!

Moodamage
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#5 dumbell prone press just changed my life! Finally got the traps to release their tension and relieve a multi-day migraine.

GrimmusiKRecords
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After having rotator cuff repair surgery, I appreciate the techniques and suggestions for building my shoulders.

leoncarpenter
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Jeff I swear you have superpowers (mind) every time Im trying to add something different to my workout or trying to figure out what I should do you always drop a video right when I’m thinking of it. Anyways wanted to thank you and show love your channel

TheDJN
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After watching and trying thousands of YouTube workouts, simply put, Jeff is the best.

jakedougherty
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Your workouts are helping me a lot Athlean x

RohithReddy
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Just laid prone to perform shoulder press exercise and I'm surprised how difficult it was to complete. Thanks Jeff!!

polena