Barbell Shrug
Trains the Traps.
- Equipment
- A barbell
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set a barbell in a rack at roughly mid-thigh height, or deadlift it into position.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and take an overhand grip a little wider than your shoulders. Straps are a reasonable choice here, since grip usually fails well before the traps do.
- Stand tall with the bar hanging at arm's length in front of your thighs, arms straight.
- Lift your shoulders straight up toward your ears, as high as they will go, keeping your arms straight throughout.
- Pause for a moment at the top, then lower under control until your shoulders are fully down and you feel a stretch at the top of the neck.
Common mistakes
- Rolling the shoulders backward at the top. Circling adds motion the muscle is not producing and puts the shoulder joint in an awkward position under load. Straight up and straight down is the movement.
- Bending the elbows. Once the arms pull, the shrug becomes a partial upright row and the traps do less. Keep the arms straight and think of them as ropes.
- Not lowering all the way. Letting the shoulders drop fully at the bottom is what gives the upper trapezius a full range; stopping early is where most short shrugs come from.
- Doing shrugs and calling the trapezius trained. The upper fibres are roughly a quarter of the muscle. Rows and face pulls cover the middle, and overhead work and prone raises cover the lower — a program with only shrugs has trained a quarter and stopped.