Thursday, December 24, 2015

Big traps!

Big traps can help create that dominating torso which you are looking to build, but are you doing the right things to make them grow?

There's a lot of emphasis on shrugs for trap development but what if, you can do other things besides shrugs to develop traps?

Traps or the trapezius muscle runs approximately 1/3 of the way down your back, almost to the midpoint. With that said shrugging will not hit all of this muscle or work it in a plane of motion where the recruitment of muscle fibers is optimized.

Here are top 3 tips to ensuring you are able to force OVERALL trap development.

High elbows

Doing variations of cable rows with your elbows HIGH can certainly help isolate and target your entire trap region. This can be further exaggerated by utilizing isometric holds after the concentric phase of your rep to really bring the entire trap region into play. 

Set-up

Before you even begin your set on any form of row with the intention of hitting your traps push your shoulders back and engage your lower trap region. This will help ensure that this becomes a primary mover during the set which is crucial to isolating this muscle group. 

Chest-supported

One of the best versions of the shrug is an incline chest supported shrug with your shoulders pushed back. This really hits the entire region, top to bottom as it creates the right angle. You do not need much weight here otherwise you will find the connection becomes very limited. 

Related Posts

No comments: