about 2 years ago i noticed that i was concentrating on all my muscle groups and would look in the mirror and always think i could use a little more of this or a little less of that but i never seemed to look at my traps till someone pointed out to me that everything on my body was growing minus my traps.
so i started lifting them twice a week and had some decent results. but heres the thing since then i have had trouble getting them any bigger. ive built them up to a point where i almost feel they dont want to get any bigger.
ive been training them 3 x a week. is that to much should i cut down to a more intense trap workout once or twice a week rather than 3 x a week. could i be over training them? thanks for the input…
sorry laptop is acting up _ i’ve found it’s hard to overtrain a lagging muscle - it has a tendency to want to be in balance with the rest of the body - you just have to learn how to make sure how to recruit it properly, and that there aren’t any problems that would impact your ability to recruit that muscle -for traps, it could be trigger points in upper traps, forward head posture, weakness in mid and lower traps, other scapular problems. Anyway, check out this part 1 and 2 of this article.
I know everyone is different, but I rarely ever trained my traps and they look okay. Of course I’ve always been found of bent rows for my back while everyone else was chinning away. I’m sure that factors in somehow, but Horatio hit the answer for you. Deadlifts will not only beef up your back, but your traps and forearms (two areas I dont train but get asked about all the time)
Do you honestly think that there is anything that a 315 lb shrug is going to do that a 500 lb rack pull isnt going to do better? Make your rack pulls strong and your back wont be wanting anymore thickness.
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
I bet you are doing a lot of shrugs.
Do you honestly think that there is anything that a 315 lb shrug is going to do that a 500 lb rack pull isnt going to do better? Make your rack pulls strong and your back wont be wanting anymore thickness.[/quote]
[quote]bambam3 wrote:
<<< everything on my body was growing minus my traps. >>>[/quote]
I don’t know how you accomplished this. It’s one thing to not have them where you want, but I don’t understand how they could be missed altogether. You can’t roll over in your sleep without using your traps.
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
I bet you are doing a lot of shrugs.
Do you honestly think that there is anything that a 315 lb shrug is going to do that a 500 lb rack pull isnt going to do better? Make your rack pulls strong and your back wont be wanting anymore thickness.[/quote]
This is like saying don’t do biceps because pull-ups and rows will do enough.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Stronghold wrote:
I bet you are doing a lot of shrugs.
Do you honestly think that there is anything that a 315 lb shrug is going to do that a 500 lb rack pull isnt going to do better? Make your rack pulls strong and your back wont be wanting anymore thickness.
I do shrugs only. That is because they work.[/quote]
Why not do both? I’ve never seen a guy pulling 500+ lbs (for reps) that didn’t have good trap development. I’ve also seen plenty of guys with big traps who did shrugs as their main trap movement.
OP, there’s no reason to stop doing shrugs (unless maybe the program that you’re doing doesn’t allow for them), but adding in some heavy rack pulls/deads certainly isn’t going to hurt your trap development.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Stronghold wrote:
I bet you are doing a lot of shrugs.
Do you honestly think that there is anything that a 315 lb shrug is going to do that a 500 lb rack pull isnt going to do better? Make your rack pulls strong and your back wont be wanting anymore thickness.
I do shrugs only. That is because they work.
Why not do both? I’ve never seen a guy pulling 500+ lbs (for reps) that didn’t have good trap development. I’ve also seen plenty of guys with big traps who did shrugs as their main trap movement.
OP, there’s no reason to stop doing shrugs (unless maybe the program that you’re doing doesn’t allow for them), but adding in some heavy rack pulls/deads certainly isn’t going to hurt your trap development.[/quote]
I never wrote that he should exclude anything. I just get tired of people on this forum acting like certain exercises should be avoided completely. Unless they are potentially dangerous, like upright rows (which is debatable) or behind the neck presses taken all of the way down to your shoulders…or mostly useless compared to other movements (like flyes) most exercises do have a place.
The only question is whether it will work the best FOR YOU.
Just go HEAVY! Barbell and Dumbbell shrugs. Old School! HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY!!! I guaran-damn-tee they will Grow! My traps are the strongest part on my body which is why I love to work them a lot. I like to mix it up a bit. Sometimes I would go heavy weight with low reps with a squeeze at the top, or heavy weight with high reps.
Don’t forget the stretch you get on the bottom, that is just as important as the contraction part of the exercise. Also, keep you arms straight, you don’t want to rip you biceps, since you will be going very heavy. Also, high rack pulls. Just as long you get the weight off the pins. You want to go for the stretch. Make sure to overload the bar on this one. Keep the body tight, good form and get under the weight and lift. You want to feel like the weight is just going to drive your feet and body straight into the ground. Hold this for about 2-3 seconds and keep this to about 4-5 reps for 3 sets. I promise you, your traps will grow big time.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Sentoguy wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Stronghold wrote:
I bet you are doing a lot of shrugs.
Do you honestly think that there is anything that a 315 lb shrug is going to do that a 500 lb rack pull isnt going to do better? Make your rack pulls strong and your back wont be wanting anymore thickness.
I do shrugs only. That is because they work.
Why not do both? I’ve never seen a guy pulling 500+ lbs (for reps) that didn’t have good trap development. I’ve also seen plenty of guys with big traps who did shrugs as their main trap movement.
OP, there’s no reason to stop doing shrugs (unless maybe the program that you’re doing doesn’t allow for them), but adding in some heavy rack pulls/deads certainly isn’t going to hurt your trap development.
I never wrote that he should exclude anything. I just get tired of people on this forum acting like certain exercises should be avoided completely. Unless they are potentially dangerous, like upright rows (which is debatable) or behind the neck presses taken all of the way down to your shoulders…or mostly useless compared to other movements (like flyes) most exercises do have a place.
The only question is whether it will work the best FOR YOU.[/quote]
I do upright rows but have never heard there was a danger on this. Just wanting to know reason why some people think they are dangerous or could lead to injury as upright rows is something i do…
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Sentoguy wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Stronghold wrote:
I bet you are doing a lot of shrugs.
Do you honestly think that there is anything that a 315 lb shrug is going to do that a 500 lb rack pull isnt going to do better? Make your rack pulls strong and your back wont be wanting anymore thickness.
I do shrugs only. That is because they work.
Why not do both? I’ve never seen a guy pulling 500+ lbs (for reps) that didn’t have good trap development. I’ve also seen plenty of guys with big traps who did shrugs as their main trap movement.
OP, there’s no reason to stop doing shrugs (unless maybe the program that you’re doing doesn’t allow for them), but adding in some heavy rack pulls/deads certainly isn’t going to hurt your trap development.
I never wrote that he should exclude anything. I just get tired of people on this forum acting like certain exercises should be avoided completely. Unless they are potentially dangerous, like upright rows (which is debatable) or behind the neck presses taken all of the way down to your shoulders…or mostly useless compared to other movements (like flyes) most exercises do have a place.
The only question is whether it will work the best FOR YOU.[/quote]
Exactly. If shrugs arent working for this guy (and Im assuming they arent because he says he trains his traps a lot and doesnt have big enough traps) then maybe rack pulls are the way to go for him.
Exactly. If shrugs arent working for this guy (and Im assuming they arent because he says he trains his traps a lot and doesnt have big enough traps) then maybe rack pulls are the way to go for him.[/quote]
The first place you look if someone claims no progress is diet, not specifically exercise selection. Who are shrugs not useful for? People who can’t shrug? You aren’t making sense.
I do upright rows but have never heard there was a danger on this. Just wanting to know reason why some people think they are dangerous or could lead to injury as upright rows is something i do…
[/quote]
Some people (me included) believe the sheer forces on the rotator cuff created by the movement can lead to shoulder damage, especially once you start moving more and more weight. I personally stay away from them or BTN presses taken all of the way down to the shoulders. I know way too many lifters who have had their progress stunted because of serious shoulder damage.
[quote]theflowjob wrote:
Stronghold wrote:
I bet you are doing a lot of shrugs.
Do you honestly think that there is anything that a 315 lb shrug is going to do that a 500 lb rack pull isnt going to do better? Make your rack pulls strong and your back wont be wanting anymore thickness.
This is like saying don’t do biceps because pull-ups and rows will do enough.[/quote]
No, its more like saying “If leg extensions arent making your legs grow, try squats”. We arent talking about training your back for bigger arms here, were talking about training your back for a bigger back.
I do shrugs only. That is because they work.[/quote]
That is because you are lucky. The only thing shrugs ever did for me was injure my shoulders. Unlucky me I suppose. I do agree with the other poster that DLs work well as I have disproportionately large traps with a mere 500lb max DL at a BW of about 215-220.
Also, rack pulls somehow mess with my shoulders. I can’t explain it but when I put the bar on the rack it hurts my shoulders in a way that putting the weight down after a conventional DL simply doesn’t.