How To Build Big Traps With Barbell Shrugs

Today we’re going to take a closer look at proper form for the barbell shrug to ensure that you’re not only performing the exercise correctly in your workouts, but there are a few form cues that can help you maximize the benefits of this movement because it’s much more than just moving your shoulders up and down.

Now, the primary muscle group we’re targeting here is the traps, or upper traps and mid traps to be more specific, as well as the rhomboids. This is because our traps are responsible for supporting the neck and elevating the scapula, or bringing your shoulders closer to your ears, which we can see happening during each repetition and in order to perform the movement correctly we need to retract our shoulders blades and this movement is controlled by the rhomboids. As for the specific form cues to maximize this movement, that brings us to my 3 GOLDEN RULES, so let’s dive in.

Golden Rule #1 – Learn How To Position Your Shoulders

A shrug might seem like a simple movement, and to be fair it is, but that doesn’t stop a whole lot of people from falling into a bit of spinal flexion and shoulder protraction, either due to fatigue or from every day bad habits. This is because unless you’re consciously aware of your shoulder position, most of us go through our daily lives with rounded shoulders.  But exercises like this give us a chance to not only build up our traps, but help strengthen our posture and make us more consciously aware of our shoulder positioning as well.

Now, I’m not saying that you need to retract your shoulders as hard as you can, but make sure your shoulders are “slightly” pulled back or sitting at least in a neutral position if you want to maximize your traps engagement during the flex, or top of the movement, and the stretch, or the bottom of the movement.  

But what I see happening a lot in the gym is that because you’re grabbing a barbell that’s in front of you, this instinctively makes us both bend over and protract our shoulders to pick it up, especially if picking the weight off the ground or on a really low rack. So the best way to un-rack a barbell shrug to avoid both spinal flexion and rolled shoulders would be to position the barbell just a few inches below your hands.  This way, even if lifting very heavy weight or using wrist wraps, you can still un-rack the barbell with your shoulders back and chest up.

Also, a quick bonus tip here. Once you have total control of the exercise, try doing a slight lean forward for an extra deep stretch at the bottom of the movement. Just be sure to keep your chest up and shoulders back while doing this. 

Golden Rule #2 – Know When To Utilize Momentum

You have seen me talk about POWER SHRUGS a lot for traps growth. In fact, that was the exercise I used in my 30 days of traps training. So they definitely have their place, but you need to learn to walk before you run. If you don’t learn how to get a proper stretch and flex during the movement without using momentum, you won’t be able to utilize variations of the shrug like “power shrugs”.

What I see happening a lot is people just flying through their reps. Up, down, up, down, up, down and DONE. There’s barely any time for a proper stretch and flex on the traps during the entire set. So what I want you guys to do is focus on a slight pause at the top and bottom of the movement. This means when you shrug the weight, hold it for a second and experience what an actual flex of your traps feels like and then when you lower the weight, really feel the stretch at the bottom.   This is the key to building your mind-muscle connection so you can transition into more advanced movements like the power shrug. 

Golden Rule #3 – Keep Your Cervical Spine Safe & Properly Aligned

When performing ANY variation of a shrug you need to keep your core tight and look straight ahead. Nothing hurts more than a strained neck and if you decide you want to check out your delts in the middle of a set of shrugs you’re going to be in for a bad time if you pull something. So to avoid any possible injury or strain it’s very simple, just keep your head straight and your chin tucked in. 

Now I also have a quick bonus tip for you as well. If you have good flexibility, try a behind the back barbell shrug. This variation for the most part can eliminate spinal flexion and shoulder protraction because the positioning forces you to stand up straight and retract your shoulder blades.  However, the only downside is that the movement can feel a bit awkward resulting in not being able to shrug as much weight, either due to poor flexibility, or your booty getting in the way of the barbell. But if you can perform the movement you will notice a bit harder upper traps contraction as well as more mid-traps engagement as well.

Conclusion

I hope you found this article helpful and that you can no go into your next traps workout with more confidence to really hit your traps hard with some powerful shrugs!