Weight Lifting Exercises for your TRAPEZIUS
The traps, as they are commonly called, are the Trapezius muscles. They connect your back and your neck (to put it simply). Most often they are trained when working out the shoulders or back. There are only a few exercises you can use to train these muscles. But don’t let that put you off. You can achieve massive growth in this are using just a few simple movements. Often it’s enough to simply do a few shrugs after your main workout exercises.
The main movements that utilise the traps are the Shrug, and The Upright Row.
The first exercise is the shrug.
This exercise should be done with dumbbells or a barbell. It is possible to do these exercises in the front or in the back.
All you will have to do is hold the weight and shrug your shoulders. That is all you have to do. Some bodybuilders will use a variation of this exercise by rolling the shoulders instead of simply lifting them up and down. All you do to do this is roll your shoulders when you are performing the shrug.
Here is how the shrug is done.
1. Grab the weight and hold it at arms length in front of your body using an overhand grip
2. Lift your shoulders and try and touch them to your ears.
3. Hold your shoulders up and then lower them slowly, repeat the movement.
One of the most important parts of this exercise is the amount of control that you use when you are lifting your shoulders. Avoid straining the neck and keep control over the movement. You can use a very heavy weight because of the small range of motion. There are other exercises that you can do, including the upright row. This is often used as a part of the shoulder exercise and it can work the traps and the shoulders at the same time.
Here is how the upright row is done:
1. You should use a wide grip if you are going to be giving the traps a greater intensity.
2. You should hold the bar in front near to your thighs
3. Lift the bar straight up along the line of your body until you get to about the hight of your chin
4. Hold the bar in place and slowly lower the bar, repeat the movement.
Make sure that you keep your elbows higher than the bar while you are doing the exercise. When you use these two exercises and make sure that you perform shoulder exercises as well, you will be getting a strong neck and trap muscles for your efforts.
Filed under: Training