Dumbbell Shrug
Trains the Traps.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing your body, arms straight.
- Set your feet hip-width apart and stand tall with your chin tucked slightly.
- Lift both shoulders straight up toward your ears as high as they will travel.
- Pause briefly at the top, then lower under control until your shoulders are fully down.
- Keep the dumbbells hanging at your sides throughout — they should travel straight up and down, not forward or back.
Common mistakes
- Bending the elbows to help. Straight arms throughout; the elbows bending means the weight has become an upright row.
- Rolling the shoulders. A circular path does nothing the straight one does not and takes the shoulder somewhere it does not need to go under load.
- Holding the dumbbells in front of the thighs rather than at the sides. At the sides the line of pull is straight up through the shoulder, which is what the upper trapezius does.
- Assuming big upper traps are a posture problem. Well-developed upper traps are a normal feature of strong people. The imbalance worth avoiding is training them without training the middle and lower fibres alongside.