Traps Workout Routines

3 Traps Workouts for Crafting the Perfect Shoulder and Neck Symmetry

A lot of people fail to put much effort into building traps, which is a big mistake.

A muscular upper body with small traps doesn’t look very good. It’s like having tiny calves with huge quads. It just doesn’t look right.

I actually really like doing traps exercises because it feels good. Yes, it’s tough holding on to heavy weight, but that’s where straps come in handy.

Technique:

The biggest mistake people make when working out traps is bouncing the weight. Not only does this not do anything for stimulating trap muscle growth, but it’s hard on your shoulders and arms.

Instead, what you want to do is move the weight in a very controlled fashion, which means slowing the cadence down. Make your traps lift the weight … not the rebound effect of bouncing the weight. Yes, this means you will lift much less weight, which is fine … in fact it’s preferable.

Traps Workout #1: Compound

This traps workout hits your traps as well as other body parts because it’s part of compound exercises.

• Deadlift shrug: 15 / 15 / 12 / 12 / 10

Do the regular deadlift, but once standing shrug.

• Overhead shoulder press shrug: 15 / 15 / 12 / 12 / 10

With this exercise, do a DB or BB shoulder press and then shrug the movement at the top.

Traps Workout #2: Traps Only

This workout is a traps-only workout. It’s good to pair with shoulder day or back day. I always do traps after shoulders or back. However, I often superset traps with shoulders or back … see a good superset traps workout below.

• Barbell Shrugs – Front of Body: 15/15/12/12
• Barbell Shrugs – Behind Body: 15/15/12/12

I got onto the barbell shrugs behind the body watching a guy with the best traps ever in the gym. He held the barbell behind his body and very slowly performed his reps. He didn’t use a lot of weight, but it sure did a nice job. It’s a great traps exercise.

Traps Workout #3: Superset

Like I said above, I like supersetting traps with shoulders or back. The following is a sample shoulder/traps superset workout.

1A Military Press: 4 Sets. Reps: Whatever rep range you like – depending on your current lifting goals.

1B Barbell Shrug: 4 sets: 15 / 15 / 12 / 12

2A DB Overhead Press: 4 Sets.

2B DB Shrugs: 4 sets: 15 / 15 / 12 / 12

3A DB Side Lateral Raises: 4 Sets

3B Rear Delt Raises (squeeze the traps at the end): 12 / 12 / 10 / 10

Happy trap building!

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