When I saw Tom Hardy's traps right before his first fight in the movie Warrior, my jaw hit the floor. What's funny is if you look at the rest of his body, it's not all that astonishingly impressive - but big, thick, peaked, meaty traps can really make a body look imposing and impressive all on their own.
I stopped training traps because I’m far too lazy/ it’s too tiring to fetch every plate in the gym to shrug, and it never really did all that much. Time to make some real gains with mike!!
@@tallpaul69 because I wanted to make them effective. Since watching this video, the trap gains have been immense and I am getting better workouts. Mike’s videos are good quality and you can always learn something!
I love this video! Super inspirational and helpful. I'm curious, have you ever heard of Next Level Diet? I got a personalized muscle-building meal plan from them and I love it.
I broke my left femur and won't be able to hit legs until March the soonest so operation Johnny Bravo is in full effect can't wait for the specialization videos for the lower body to drop so I can plan for Operation Thunder Thighs!
I literally just did shrugs, so I'm a bit annoyed at the timing but grateful for the superb advice :D Edit: i always have trouble feeling my traps in barbell shrugs, so i looked up to see if there was a video about said subject with Mike, i bike home, and this video got released 😩
Really loved the video! Excellent work. Everything is so well explained. Appreciate the phenomenal reasoning behind using the recommended technique, rest times and rep range. This is super high quality comprehensive information. Thank you so much! 💪🙏👍
As I’ve gotten older I’ve went lighter on everything and spend my time focusing on mind muscle connection. I only wish I knew how much better this years ago. There’s a place for heavy lifting but it isn’t for most people.
Don't, they are overrated. Just row moar. Meadows, T-bar, barbell, dumbbell, machine, cable, and, not to miss out on, upright row. I have a difficult time deciding which is a worse waste of time, shrugs or front raises.
That first little anecdote about the body measuring axial loading differently than other fatigue in the body....thats why i watch this channel. That may be just like 'oh cute factoid' for you but its only that way because youre a fucking DOCTOR of the science, caise that shit sounds FASCINATING to me. Like what? The body can subconsciously do that? Wtf? Succint and killer as always Dr. Mike
One tip I would like to throw into the hat from my personal experience is that Myorep shrug work has been amazing for me personally. Once you finish a set, holding the weight in that deep stretched position as Dr Mike talks about for 5 seconds before hitting another set of Myoreps, taking a break and leaving it in that deep stretch position and then hitting another set of myoreps.. Doing that a few times and by the god of Broden the stimulus is unreal
Myorep is an intensity modifier. If I am going to do a myorep set, I will do X amount of reps for my first working set. Then I would aim to get the same amount of reps within my next 1 or 2 sets, but I will shorten the rest time between sets by about 50-75% depending on the muscle I'm training. Let us say I am aiming for 25 reps on the Pec Dec, but due to the shorter amount of rest since my first set, I will probably only get 12-15 reps before the lactic acid is too painful to continue. I will then rest between a very short amount of time, ie. Less than 10 seconds before I pump out more reps, repeating this until I hit my goal amount of reps.
@@RenaissancePeriodization Ain't that right. I was actually just going edit mine and add that my grip will fail to quickly doing myoreps, so I have to use Versa grips. And I've used all sorts of different grips, but the Versa grip Pro with the extra rubbery feel locks them in and allows me to rest with the weight sort of above my knee. Without grips no way I could do more than a straight set.
Hey Dr Mike, this channel has been SO valuable to me as I learn to lift. You've probably heard this request before, but I'm sure many of us would appreciate if you labeled chapters. I've watched enough of these to recognize the common threads, and I'd like to be able to jump straight to the next step.
I have to admit I was doing heaving barbell shrugs and probably looked like a chicken 🐔, thank you Doc Mike I will lower my weight and do them just like you 😘
I don't like rounded traps, rather prefer long prominent ones, that's why I prefer exercises that mostly work the 'outer section' of the top traps, closer to the shoulders not the neck. I know I know some will say that isn't possible, but yeah there's 8 billion people in the world, so.
I like to do shrugs with dumbbells, yea I know less weight but I can retract and elevate my scapula with great range of motion without my neck get in the way because I can push it forward
Traps is one of your best body part for sure! they lifting the shirt up nicely, I love upper traps .. for me I like rack pull to really stretch them under heavy load and then mix it with regular shrugs full ROM.
I've worked with the bent over and wide grip technique for a few months and love it! I had to go way lighter, but like you mentioned, it takes the axial load off and gives me a much better SFR. I haven't tried the big stretch at the bottom, but am definitely giving it a shot! Thanks for the great video Dr. Mike & RP!
I very rarely do shrugs but agree light weight with as big a ROM as poss and high rep is the way. However, I personally feel that no matter how good I get my technique for isolation down on rows, pullups, side laterals etc etc my traps are getting a ton of work, then again I am always going for a lean, muscular athletic build, not a bodybuilder physique and kind of think the massive trap thing (especially with gear) kind of looks ridiculous. Suppose you could say the same with arm training to be fair but enjoy training them 😅, bit whatever anyone says my biceps get waay more growth from chin-ups than any curl
I'll disagree with that. Big traps are a way to make your shoulders look broader (even if they are not) and they fill out a shirt fantastically. If you are going with an 'athletic' look, basically de-emphasize chest/back. Not ignore but the super big upper body is what usually makes a bodybuilder look different than a standard 'athlete.' But most people get good enough traps with all the pulls so its not a point of emphasis.
@@TheGreektrojan you don't really disagree though what I said is that the traps get enough volume from the pulls (and even pushes) and its only if you want 'oversize traps' that shrugs in particular benefit. I train full body so not anti shrug per se just way better exercises I can put in my program in place. I do get it though if your traps are a weakness can definitely hinder shoulder stability and compromise all upper body lifts. Again though I suspect that usually comes from waay too much volume for chest over back and really as the whole back has over 3 times the muscle as the chest it should receive 3 times the volume. But even I am guilty of over training chest as who doesn't love chest work?
My direct trap work is heavy KB holds with straps, like 5 sets of 1-1.5 min. I get an incredible stretch without the neck aggravation I get from shrugs.
amazing tips ! I've been doing shrugs with high-rep, full range of motion and slow eccentric and it damn works much better than the heavy chicken dance style. I'd also add at that least for me, dumbbell shrugs hits a bit better to my traps due to the chance to stretch 'em more at the bottom. definitely worth to give it a try !
I do shrugs with a hex bar. I sometimes use that forwards lean and that feels good too. It's the weighted stretch at the bottom that fatigues the traps.
I know our lord and saviour Mike has said "who wants smaller traps?!", but mine grow like weeds... they're really out of proportion to the rest of my body. I don't know if it's genetics, my childhood lifts including a lot of shoulder work or what that's given the muscles a growth hair trigger. I'm REALLY broad too, so it looks weird on me... like I have that small dude driving a big dude suit aesthetic some bodybuilders get, but with just a big for a street thug sized body (6'4" and well built, I'm not gunna look small, but still).
@Renaissance Periodization, hello!! First of all thank you for the video. I would like some help with the upper traps. 2 years ago i was doing two exercises for the upper traps(Saw the program from a bodybuilder on youtube), the first was dumbell shrugs ( light weight) with 3 second pause at the contraction(many reps) (1 minute rest between sets) and the second exercise(2 minutes rest between exercise) was upright rows with 4 sets heavy weight 8-12 reps(first set was drop set). I was doing this program twice a week and once a week i was very sore( i think i had really good muscle mind connection). After a year off due to military and started hitting the gym again for a month i was getting sore( i hit my old level). Now its a year and cant get stronger anymore. My first question is what other exercises to do? And second question to get stronger i must feel sore?
New research shows that slow eccentric and fast eccentric build same amount of muscle. There's no significant difference. Slow eccentric is just a myth now.
I bend over slightly to 1) avoid dicking the bar 2) that pose helps a LOT to actually pull my shoulders a bit backwards - this helps target the muscles so much better. Elbow bend is also necessary, you can't pull a larger weight upwards properly without that bend.
So your traps are constantly active during so many other exercises, very sub maximal amounts(high rep stimulus). You would benefit more from heavy, more near to max reps.
I stopped deadlifting cuz I was lifting heavy in march. Recently I’ve noticed how my traps have atrophied since. Disheartening and eye opening. I appreciate the video this video for the tips and knowledge. Definitely gonna try your technique out.
I injured my shoulder / neck doing heavy shrugs 6 months ago, hoping this is a way i can get back to training shrugs without so much danger of injury in the future
What does everyone think of hitting traps 4-5 times a week? Maybe a bit of nucleus overload? Traps are my lagging body part, always hated shrugs. I have decent traps, from heavy lifting, but they way lag behind the shoulders. Has anyone tried to do shrugs 4-5 times a week with good results?
I definitely feel like I connect to the shrug better when I bend over slightly, also can do a mechanical drop and go upright when you tire out from being bent over
I like doing shrugs unilaterally so I can get a much deeper stretch, tilting my head to the opposite side for the eccentric. Traps is probably the muscle group I get the most compliments on.
A lot of these movements are following Olympic lifting protocols as there is a snatch grip and clean grip shrug progression exercises that are built into some programming. Additionally the second pull for clean and snatch really incorporates traps too. The biggest take away for me here is forcing your traps down at the bottom of the movement. I've never considered that and I'm definitely going to try it.
Oly work is super demanding of the traps through a full range of motion. Probably just too fatigue inducing and abusive to the rest of the body for RP to suggest for bodybuilders.
After a meso of no trap and very little bicep (RP 3xweek full body 😘 amazing meso btw) i’m going into the next meso with traps and biceps focus to finish off the 2 standard hypertrophy phases. This is gonna come in handy, especially because the w.o. get long and hard and I didn’t feel like “wasting” too much energy on these
