Exercises For Bigger Traps

We all want big, intimidating, cobra traps but classic exercises like shrugs and upright aren’t always the best choice for growing your traps. Aside from the intimidating look, having a thick, strong upper back is essential for shoulder stability and proper posture. It is also important if you want to be able to perform compound exercises correctly.

 

Shrugs and upright rows can make your traps grow, but the problem with them is often times they are done in a motion that brings the shoulders forward more. You want to avoid this especially if you’re shoulders are already too far forward from constantly sitting hunched over. Instead of doing shrugs and upright rows, here are two exercises that I have found to help my traps grow and help me keep proper upper back posture at the same time. 

 

The first exercise I’ve found to help me grow my traps is shrug holds. For these you would pick a weight that you would use to do shrugs but instead of doing reps go for time. If you’re using dumbbells, pick them up off the floor in a similar fashion to a dead lift with a strong flat back.You should be using a decently heavy weight for you so you’ll want to make sure your core is tight and you hold the weight up with good posture. A way to make sure of this is to shrug the weight up and pull your shoulders back while keeping your glutes, legs and core tight. Try to hold it for at least 30 seconds. I did these with dumbbells but you could just as easily use a barbell loaded with weight just as long as you perform it the same way. My original intention was to do farmers carries but there is not enough room in the gym for those but if your gym is big enough then farmers carries would be a better alternative. 

 

Another exercise that I use is seated rear delt raises which I also do with dumbbells. These can be done standing with cables or seated with cables as well. You’ll want to use a fairly light weight for these, similar to lateral raises, because this is more of an isolation movement and the muscles being worked are fairly small and weak. To do these sit on the end of a bench and lean forward so you’re upper body is at about a 45 degree angle with the bench. Start with the weights under your legs then raise them the same as you would for lateral raises with your elbows slightly bent. Make sure you stay leaned over to keep the emphasis on the rear delts and traps. Another benefit of doing these is they help to balance your shoulder joints by strengthening the back of your shoulders which is important if you do a lot of exercises that strengthen the front of your shoulders like pressing exercises. 

 

If you want to try these to exercises I would suggest doing them on the same day as dead lifts as they are good assistance exercises to this compound exercise. For shrug holds I would recommend 3 to 5 sets of at least 30 second holds and for seated rear delt raises go for 3 to 5 sets of 10 to 15 reps.