Greetings everyone. I’m a new member to the site and this is my first post. Does anyone know any great exercises to build very defined traps and back muscles using free weights only? Any input would be great.
Thanks,
GW
taps=shrugs. can’t beat them all forms. deadlifts,t-bar rows ,pulldowns, aweome back exercises.
All of the above and farmer’s walks and power cleans . Definition comes from diet.
Every pull-up and chin-up variation.
I prefer heavy rack pulls, for my power phase. Chinups and one arm Db Rows.
I let the rack pulls and deads handle my traps, I don’t train the specifically.
olympic lifting made my traps grow like nothing else. Also bent over rows will hit the entire upper back. CHins are becoming a favorite of mine also.
I think one of the best lifts for big traps is the hang snatch
Snatches. Believe it or not, I find 80lb snatches hit my traps better than 400lb shrugs. For back, nothing beats deadlifts.
Generally speaking, deadlifts hit more muscles in the body than any other exercise. Get stronger in deadlifts. The size will follow.
[quote]undeadlift wrote:
Snatches. Believe it or not, I find 80lb snatches hit my traps better than 400lb shrugs. For back, nothing beats deadlifts.[/quote]
In a similar thread I said hang power snatches will rape your traps, and apparently poliquin agrees with me.
"The trapezius normally has a very rapid growth response, so much so that if you can’t grow traps, you’re truly destined for geekhood. I’d rank the power snatch as the top trap builder, then power cleans and the different forms of shrugs.
Most people limit their range of motion though by using barbell shrugs. It’s best to do them with a dumbbell one arm at a time so the trap can have a few inches more range. Do three weeks of that, then alternate it with an Olympic-style lift such as power cleans or power snatch."
-Poliquin
IMHO.
Doing trap specific work is like Majoring in the Minors unless your a bodybuilder / figure competitor. Just do lifts where traps are a side affect.
[quote]GODSWIL84 wrote:
Greetings everyone. I’m a new member to the site and this is my first post. Does anyone know any great exercises to build very defined traps and back muscles using free weights only? Any input would be great.
Thanks,
GW[/quote]
If you specifically want to target your traps and upper back, I would probably recommend bent-over barbell rows and shrugs, but deads, chins, rows of all sorts, shrugs, and the olympic lifts will all build up your back quite well. Some obviously in different ways than others, but most will hit multiple muscle groups to some extent.
I wish all my muscles responded like my traps. 3 weeks of shrugs and I see noticeable growth.