How and why to strengthen the upper trapezius, and common pitfalls 

you are the most underrated thing on internet

Crazy that many "experts" say not work this muscle out for neck pain bc it's "overactive" . This could be solution to my neck/shoulder/thoracic pain of several years.

Thanks for this. So many people on YT don't understand that some of us desperately need help to strengthen the upper traps!

Great video!

thanks!

tips for avoiding brachial plexus compression when deadlifting? my nerve impingement is healing and would like to deadlift heavy again.

is it possible I'm getting pain overhead pressing because of weak upper traps? I notice when I try emphasise shrugging when doing dumbell OHP, my shoulder feels better. otherwise it feels like my humerus is struggling to be stabilised. of course, this is just a feeling and something else may be going on.

How many weekly sets/reps should we be aiming for with this exercise ?

Some teach this with arms abducted 30-40 degrees as they say it lines up with the fibers of the upper trap and the scapulae are slightly upwardly rotated. Is there an added benefit of doing it that way?

Would you recommend training the upper traps heavy as part of a strengthening routine ( e.g BB/DB shrugs) alongside training them the way you are doing here with the resistance band?

what if shrugging with 30 degree abduction make scapula cracking? does it mean serratus anterior is too weak? *UPDATE : After practising the movement seems it getting better, I think my scapula was downly rotated asf, and had problem to create any upward rotation. The great thing is after few reps my hands start to feel warm, like having better blood circulation

Hi Kjetil. I'm hinging at my cervical spine, and I'm working now to be long through the neck. But when I hing, my head drops to the right, and I have weak UT, SA, rhomboids etc. on the right side of body. When I pull my chin down, everything comes in place and muscles start to be active. I'm curious to know why is this problem unilateral, or it is a normal thing in those cervical hinge cases? Best regards!

I think I might cry, I've always noticed my winging going away by just putting my shoulders up and yeah, everyone kept telling me to put my shoulders back and down and pinch my shoulder blades together. I never ever had any improvement. I'm going to try to follow your suggestions. If I get there I'll make you (literally, I'm a sculptor) a statue

When on the way down my shoulder rounds forward, do i keep an active retraction throughout?

@MSK Neurology How is it possible when performing a shrug i get instant tingling in my neck and face that lasts for hours. I have Tos on my right side . thank you!

hello, are there some other options for these kinda exercises? I don't have a resistance band😅 please advice, thank you!!

You have another video explaining this exercise. In said video it mentions to pull the shoulder cranially (toward the ear), similar to the levator scapular exercise while in this video you say to elevate the shoulders vertically. Which one is the best way to strenghten the upper trapezius or does it not matter?

can i do this with tos?

Is this safe for those with cervical spine issues?

I have shoulder impingement (right side) whenever I drive for long hours my right trapezius burns and pains. And when I touch the area it hurts with a tingling sensation. My doctor has advised me not to lift anything heavy and not to do any overhead activity. It’s been 3 months now. But I need help.

Any info about weights (dumbbell vs band) ?

Hi Kjetil, Are side lateral raises bad if suffering from TOS ? In other words, is there a safe way (isometrics?) to continue working out the side delts without worsening Tos or is it better to totally stop side delts and shoulder's training ? I thank you again for your thougts (and by the way i'm strongly thinking at taking an appointment with you)

can't seem to strengthen as it always hurts my levator scap neck - is there a lower level or should i just keep stretching neck?

Hey, you wrote the Upper Trapezius is also responsible for Posterior Tilting. This is right?

Hi Kjetil, I appreciate your videos a lot! I have a question about pain in the trapezius: I have frequent pressure points in my trapezius close to where it attaches to the scarpular at the acromion. Should I strengthen it, stretch it, do both ore something completely different. Some context: I climb a lot, train for it (pull-ups, TRX, etc.) and work in the climbing gym as a route setter, lots of physical activity. Last time I the pressure points got triggered a lot was after wearing a heavy backpack for 15 min. Looking forward to you answer. Kind Regards, Frank

My tricep looks like the tricep of a 60y old woman cause of TOS: ie it's Flappy and weak. I'm scared about this. What do I do?

So doing normal shugs with dumbbells. We just shrug directly up and keep neck neutral?

I have lots of trigger points in upper trps because I tense then under stress. So everyone tells me to not strengthen them abd activate them for every movement I do. Yet I suffer from cerviogenic headaches especially in suboccipital area and lev scap. Will thus help me or make it worse?

Would you suggest upper trap exercise for someone with bilateral neurogenic TOS? I had surgery on one side (scalenes removed, pec minor release - still have first rib) still experiencing symptoms 17 months after surgery.

Is there any exercises that can stabilize the sc joint (sternoclavicular joint)? I notice that this is attributing to my sternum and shoulder pain.

does handstand works upper traps properly?

So you should not do this if you have NTOs and should only do what you said which was postural work and habit of raise shoulder to keep collar bone off brachial plexus

It’s crazy to me that my massage therapist is always trying to get my shoulders down when I have TOS 🤦🏻‍♂️😂

Can a dysfunctional shoulder cause an irritation of the phrenic nerve?

What if upper traps seem tight? Whenever I do shoulder workouts especially the dumbbell flies my back of neck muscles gets really tense like it squeezes, seems like upper fibres. Mine seems really large and high as well even though I dont workout on them.

After starting serratus anterior and trapezius strengthening after a long thoracic nerve injury I am having good results, but I would like to start strengthening my shoulder soon and I would like to know which order should I rebuild the shoulder muscles for my recovery, which should I strengthen first in which order, the front delts, side delts or rear delts?

Just got huge doms in piriformis after doing first time the hip abductor machine found usually in normal gyms and mistakenly used for training gluteus medius/minimus and some area of gluteus maximus. The hip flexion angle was around 70 degrees, so the pull was quite from the origo to the insertion of the piriformis Having done squats, deadlifts, split squats, and all sorts of free weight movements and skipping machines for years, I have been trying to test the machines what they really do. Yes, some of them really train other muscles they claim to train. But you have benefits if you know what do and if you really need specific target. I had too much weight and I little overworked the muscle. I palpated after a day also quadratus femoris and obturator externus, and they were also trained. Not too much doms but some still. It is logical. You somewhat use gluteus medius in the machine, but it also causes internal rotation in those flexion angles so you need your deep rotators and some fibers of gluteus maximus as fixators. I am considering doing around one month progression on this machine. Not too much weight but doing with exaggerated lateral rotation with abduction. The goal is to target deep lateral rotators and piriformis, not TFL. There is lot of reasons to have more strength in those muscles, so I am giving a try. As a sport massage therapist (got my licence some months ago) I have many times that some people, usually young women have constantly overworked piriformis. I think it is because of this good girl/bad girl machine they use trying to train lateral glute area. The machine should be called "Piriformis- TFL-machine" if you use it same way people usually use it.

You are so sweet