I don’t know if i’m the only one with this problem but my upper trapz are very difficult to work out(the one that runs from the neck to the shoulder). I cant feel it burn, i was thinking maybe im going to heavy too early. I want to concentrate mainly on just that region since i lost weith bfore i started to work out again and now i have some bone sticking out right behind the upper part of the rear shoulder.
I don’t want to do too much shoulder because they already are naturally bigger than my other muscles. Anyone know of a good trap work out?
In order to get a good mid-back and upper back workout from deadlifts you need to be lifting almost heavy weight.
If you really want to punish your upper traps then you should give narrow grip high pulls (same width as close grip bench press) and, of course, shrugs. Shrugs without straps are a grip exercise. Shrugs with straps are a trap exercise. If you only let yourself use straps on one exercise I would make that exercise Shrugs. Without straps, you’ll never be able to get into the rep range of 20 or even 12 with a weight that can seriously tax your traps.
For high pulls do high reps too. So if you’re building the size of your upper traps you should be doing your working set with the goal of barely reaching 20 reps. Don’t worry about getting your muscle balances out of wack by shrugging what seems like an absurd amount of weight. Just have at it.
Olympic Lifts are awesome for developing full body strength, unmatched speed, and strong traps. But the quickest way to make your neck dissapear and make it look like you’re wearing a cowboy football pad collar under all your shirts is to do shrugs.
It would be smart to do both exercises. Do your Olympic lifts first.
hahahaha…i dont want to go to that extend but i definetly want them bigger. So lets say i do 4 different exercises for trapz with 4-5 sets and 12-20 reps each. Let me know if this trap work out makes sence(assistance highly appreciated haha)
Olimpic lifts 412
Narrow grip high pulls 412
Overhead squats 412
Dumbbell shruggs(w/ straps)415
All this twice a week since my goal is to gain muscle mass.
One more thing, is there any where here where i could see how to properly perform each exercise? I have no idea what Olympic lifts and overhead squats are?!?!?!?!Again thanks for the help i really appreciated.
Overhead Squats won’t make your traps big. They’re hard as fuck and they’ll improve your flexibility and midline stability and “core” strength and leg power and make you a saint but they won’t build your traps. Keep doing them but not as a trap exercise.
For your “Olympic Lifts” you’re doing too many reps. You’re better off doing 5 sets of 1-3 if you want to get better at the lifts. You can use heavier weights that way too.
Narrow Grip High-Pulls look fine but you should probably pick high-pulls OR dumbbell shrugs.
And for the dumbbell shrugs, are you really pushing yourself? Are you using the heaviest weights you can handle and struggling to bring them off the ground, much less shrug them?
I hope you don’t need instructions for the shrug. Shrug up and down. DO NOT ROLL YOUR SHOULDERS OR YOU WILL FUCK YOURSELF UP. If you see a friend doing this tell them to stop. If they ask why, then LIE TO THEM and tell them your physician said to never do shrugs this way. The means will justify the ends. You will have saved their shoulders.
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
I hope you don’t need instructions for the shrug. Shrug up and down. DO NOT ROLL YOUR SHOULDERS OR YOU WILL FUCK YOURSELF UP. If you see a friend doing this tell them to stop. If they ask why, then LIE TO THEM and tell them your physician said to never do shrugs this way. The means will justify the ends. You will have saved their shoulders. [/quote]
Ha, I often see guys at the gym rolling their shoulders - usually just ask them if they’ve ever had injuries and get a “nope”.
Who am I to tell a guy twice my size what not to do? He will figure it eventually.
that program looks definetly effective but since ive never performed any of those compound movements in my life i think i better start off with super light weight to practice. And im also a little worried with some of them since they incorporate the entire shoulders as well. So ill just pick the lifts that work less of the front and side shoulder area. IDefinetly see though that pulling excersises are primary trap building exercises. thanks for the help guys.
[quote]Damner wrote:
i have some bone sticking out right behind the upper part of the rear shoulder.
[/quote]
If you have bone sticking out anywhere, then you need to worry more about your overall size than whether or not you can get a “good trapz workout”. You wanna have a yoke like a big strong sumbitch? Then become a big strong sumbitch. There is no magical exercise or workout.
If i start doing full body workouts i’ll have too much muscle inbalance. Right now im only working my foreamrs, both muscles, the one close to your body and the one that faces outwards, but i only do one exercise for each with 5 sets for each as well. Im not sure if doing more than one exercise for the forearm muscles is a smart dessision since we use them everyday and i assume they could be easily overtrained.
The other muscles that i’m currently working are triceps, trapz, and abs. Only when i see that they are appropiately balanced i will start doing full workouts. And hopefully i wont hit another frustrating plateau.
Power shrugs are great. Power snatches are great if you know what you’re doing. Snatch pulls are great. Overhead supports with either a snatch or jerk grip are great.
However, I’d suggest you do some reading and get a proper program before you start messing around with imaginary imbalances.
[quote]Damner wrote:
If i start doing full body workouts i’ll have too much muscle inbalance.
The other muscles that i’m currently working are triceps, trapz, and abs. Only when i see that they are appropiately balanced i will start doing full workouts. And hopefully i wont hit another frustrating plateau.[/quote]
This combined with this…
[quote]Damner wrote:
and now i have some bone sticking out right behind the upper part of the rear shoulder.
[/quote]
Leads me to believe that you are nowhere near developed enough to have remotely significant imbalances. It’s pretty highly likely that you lack overall muscle mass and that should be your focus if you want to be muscular at some point. If you really feel like you have a strong imbalance please post a picture and if it’s there I will honestly apologize to you. It would be beneficial to you to pick any program designed for beginners and follow it through at least a couple months.
[quote]Damner wrote:
I don’t know if i’m the only one with this problem but my upper trapz are very difficult to work out(the one that runs from the neck to the shoulder). I cant feel it burn, i was thinking maybe im going to heavy too early. [/quote]
Traps doent need to burn to grow. Nor any other body part.
If you have bone sticking out, your problem likely is your caloric intake.
[quote]whitedime wrote:
damner you sound like you have no idea what you are doing…[/quote]
You could say that, the thing that confuses me is how some folks say that the only way that you know that an exercise is working is if you feel the muscle burn and now someone just said that you dont need to feel the burn in order to have a succesful work out.
As for me having muscle inbalances, i just want to grow those scpecific muscles that i was talking about first then ill move to full body workouts. Whats the big deal, is that a sin?
Also, im currently doing for triceps the pressdown(not sure if this is considered machine or cable), lying dumbbell extension (one arm at a time), and overhead dumbbel extension (one arm at a time)twice a week w/ 2-3 days rest inbetween, does that look good to you guys?
[quote]Damner wrote:
whitedime wrote:
damner you sound like you have no idea what you are doing…
You could say that, the thing that confuses me is how some folks say that the only way that you know that an exercise is working is if you feel the muscle burn and now someone just said that you dont need to feel the burn in order to have a succesful work out.
As for me having muscle inbalances, i just want to grow those scpecific muscles that i was talking about first then ill move to full body workouts. Whats the big deal, is that a sin?
Also, im currently doing for triceps the pressdown(not sure if this is considered machine or cable), lying dumbbell extension (one arm at a time), and overhead dumbbel extension (one arm at a time)twice a week w/ 2-3 days rest inbetween, does that look good to you guys?[/quote]
You will always have varied opinions from different people - not everyone responds the same to certain training methods, and a lot of people talk from theory, not practical knowledge and vice versa.