Traps Question, and I have Pics

hey guys, ive been hitting traps pretty good and i cant get my traps like i want them(2nd PIC). i want them to move over, so u can actually tell i have traps. what can i do to make it better? is it my delts lacking?? will building them more push my traps over so they will form that trap look? i did traps 1 time a week for about 3 months, doing 3 sets of heavy DB shrugs then 3 sets of behind back shrugs. for the past 2 months, ive been doing them 2 times a week, same workout! still nothing to make them move over. NEED HELP! traps make you look soo much bigger! first pic is me, 2nd pic is freind.

Upright rows have helped me, as well as reverse grip shrug like you're gonna curl the bar but then just shrug it up, it gives a really good pinch, hope this helps bro.

ya ive been doing upright rows. i do traps after chest on monday and after shoulders on thursday. so 4 days rest. 6 sets, usually hit 8-12 range, really heavy!

Deadlifts!! I never shrug... and mine are decent....

For some reason my traps have always been the easiest part to get some size out of. I shrug as heavy as I can, and if it's too heavy I use lifting hooks and go a little heavier. I have a bad right hand grip and need some help. I find that if you keep your shoulders back when you shrug it sort of isolates the traps more. Just my opinion though.

Shoot for 6 good reps at the heaviest weight you can, then try to get four more out cheating a bit.

EDIT: I forgot to say. The reason why I say do only 6 reps is do them as slow as you possibly can. Get the weight up and try to touch your ears with your shoulders. Then count 15 on the way down. Usually by the time you hit the cheat reps your traps will be burning so much you'll only be able to do them quickly. Again, just stating what has worked for me.

Have you tried static contraction training for the traps? Hold the weight in the peak contraction position (top of the ROM) for time. After you have plateaued, cannnot increase time or weight, modify the exercise. This is where it gets fun. Hold the barbell with a natural shoulder position for time. This means, do not let the shoulders drop to where they are being pulled down by the resistance. You will be able to support some incredibly high loads.

Make sure you have squats, deads, etc. in your program as well.

umm ive done where i grab the 120 DBs and let it stretch and ive done where i walk around the gym with 45 plates letting it stretch, still cant get it too move over. and when i do shrugs, i hold 4-5 seconds at top and its almost touching my ears!

ive also read to keep your head down.. puts more stress on your traps

ohh and everytime i do them, 2 times a week im sore for the next 2 days! so i know im doing something right, i just want them to form that ball looking shape like in the pic of my freind

there was a quesitona bout this the other day in another section...this was my response. previously I had less trap than you....now they stick out and are visible with clothes on.

"my recommendation is

deadlifts
power cleans
snatch pulls
power shrugs - done heavy for low reps. Squeeze the bar off the pins then explode as you wold with a power clean. Many say that those doing shrugs with lots of weight hardly have any range of movement. Well a trick used by olympic lifters since the 50's for assistance pulls is to place a bar/stick either side of you to gauge how high you pull. I do heavy power shrugs, but ENSURE I hit those sticks every time, placed about the bottom of my rib cage, and never sacrifice height.

I'm in the category of those that don't see the need to do shrugs from different angles etc for low weight and high reps just to get a pump. If you want big solid strong traps (ie. the whole trapezius) then pull, pull and pull heavy some more."

Also if you want guidance on how to make your traps go, look no further than olympic lifters..they have the best trap development. Funny how all they do is pull,pull,pull heavy for low reps....none of this high rep behind my back shrugs crap

Arnold Schwarzenegger use to make his chin touch his chest keep it there and do shrugs it kinda looks like it puts a bit more stress on the traps might be usefull

I love doing some behind the back shrugs on the Smith Machine. You can get a nice hold and it hits the from a different angle.

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Originally Posted by Giantz11

I love doing some behind the back shrugs on the Smith Machine. You can get a nice hold and it hits the from a different angle.

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ya been doing those, usually monday i do DB shrugs then shrugs on this machine they have. then thursday i do the behind back BB and front BB. 4 sets of each, usually go 15,12,10

unbelievable :scratch:

Dude in those pictures, you are both flexing differently...

It looks like in the pic on the left the traps are being flexed forward.

In the second pic there is good posture and he is flexing them back a little. That would be the visible difference in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by josh8416

ya been doing those, usually monday i do DB shrugs then shrugs on this machine they have. then thursday i do the behind back BB and front BB. 4 sets of each, usually go 15,12,10

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ur doing all these shrug variations and ur traps arent growing....doesnt that tell u something?????

read my post and what some of the others say

Deadlift…..heavy….and do power cleans…then come back and tell me people don’t comment on your traps. Not enough? Do snatch pulls or power shrugs…you’ll then be told your traps have grown enough.

Don’t listen? Then just keep doing ur high rep shrugs from every angle u can think of and with all the different machines u can get ur hands on.

i know u dont want to hear this bro but the length of your traps and the area that they attach to the bone is partialy genetic.

yup i was waiting for that, cause guy in the pic does traps 1 time every 2 weeks, doesnt do deads or cleans. hits db shrugs for 4 sets. and that pic of him was 2 years ago, traps are now alot bigger! i figured it was genes, sucks!

Yes it does have to do with genes to a point

I had NO traps….started deadlifting a few years ago, and they grew a bit…but none of that separation point where ur traps suddenly stick out…come in the cleans and power shrugs and PRESTO!

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Originally Posted by josh8416

yup i was waiting for that, cause guy in the pic does traps 1 time every 2 weeks, doesnt do deads or cleans. hits db shrugs for 4 sets. and that pic of him was 2 years ago, traps are now alot bigger! i figured it was genes, sucks!

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never give up bro.

ya im not. screw me genes! haha, im going to start cleans and deads now! thanks guys

From what I see in your pic and the freinds pic, both traps look proportional to shoulders. Get bigger all over and they'll catch up. Deadlifts would be the best thing you could do for awhile.

ya im going to hit my delts hard. and start doing upright rows every week. some cleans and add deads into my back workout!

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Originally Posted by josh8416

umm ive done where i grab the 120 DBs and let it stretch and ive done where i walk around the gym with 45 plates letting it stretch, still cant get it too move over. and when i do shrugs, i hold 4-5 seconds at top and its almost touching my ears!

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Try loading up a barbell instead of using the dumbbells. You will be surprised at the number of plates you can put on. More than any other exercise that I can think of. When you plateau, put some straps on. Don't let them stretch, just keep a normal shoulder position. Once they are stretched, sit the barbell down in the power rack.

i did cleans today ! felt pretty good, i guess ill just hit em hard and see what happens. i could always just go ahead and hit my 2nd cycle! haha jk

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Originally Posted by beezlebubb666

ive also read to keep your head down.. puts more stress on your traps

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Puts stress on the shoulder joints and can injure your neck (stiff neck), for about 3 days.

You should keep your head up.

I can tell just from the pictures that you're not going to get traps like your boys. Y'all have two different body types.

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Originally Posted by Papi93

Have you tried static contraction training for the traps? Hold the weight in the peak contraction position (top of the ROM) for time. After you have plateaued, cannnot increase time or weight, modify the exercise. This is where it gets fun. Hold the barbell with a natural shoulder position for time. This means, do not let the shoulders drop to where they are being pulled down by the resistance. You will be able to support some incredibly high loads.

Make sure you have squats, deads, etc. in your program as well.

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Exactly, i always hold the weight at peak contraction on my last few reps of the set for around 5-10 seconds. I also like to switch it up, say start with soem 70lb dumbbells for 12 and then 60lbs and then 50lbs...all right after each other with no rest.

Then i move over to the smith machine and crank out some behind the back shrugs...traps are one of my strong points and i have'nt bulked yet. Can't wait to see what happens once i start eating the kCals....

the way to build your traps is to train them once a week after back or delts, do one exercise and 5 sets for it. traps need high reps, 10-20. when you do shugs stretch your traps all the way down then bring it up as high as possible and hold it there for 2 seconds. i always see guys shurgs up so fast and drop it right away, u gotta hold it up there. and i agree with the guys up there you gotta do deadlifts!!

seems few people recognise that olympic lifters sport the best ad strongest traps around. And i don't just mean the upper traps, but the entire trapezoid. And they do it through heavy, low rep pulling movements. The gist of most here seems to indicate one has to do high reps to get good traps. Hope your not all scared of basic heavy low rep pulling :7up:

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Originally Posted by sputnik

seems few people recognise that olympic lifters sport the best ad strongest traps around. And i don't just mean the upper traps, but the entire trapezoid. And they do it through heavy, low rep pulling movements. The gist of most here seems to indicate one has to do high reps to get good traps. Hope your not all scared of basic heavy low rep pulling :7up:

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you'll get your heavy trap work from other exercises like deadlifts, but shrugs shouldnt be lower than 8 reps.. and when i say high reps i still mean Heavy weights

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Originally Posted by Blown_SC

Deadlifts!! I never shrug... and mine are decent....

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Enough said. I stopped doing direct traps and i am still going strong.

bud i know about deadlifts

but shrugs sholdn't be lower than 8 reps? where do u get that from i'd like to know????

Have u ever seen power lifters and olympic lifters do power shrugs, as per by description above??? They're done for low, heavy reps, and thats PART of the reason they have better trap development than anybody else. But hey, let everyone else stick to high rep shrugs I suppose.

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Originally Posted by sputnik

bud i know about deadlifts

but shrugs sholdn't be lower than 8 reps? where do u get that from i'd like to know????

Have u ever seen power lifters and olympic lifters do power shrugs, as per by description above??? They're done for low, heavy reps, and thats PART of the reason they have better trap development than anybody else. But hey, let everyone else stick to high rep shrugs I suppose.

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Well post a pic of your traps...might help convince some people.

josh the girl in your avatar is one of cutest ever...shoot me a pm or whatever if you want to tell me who she is...or just post it...

As for traps I also do behind the neck barbell shrugs...perhaps the key is that I always do them LAST...and I believe stretching after working out is a big part of it as well...be sure to get the stretch in...

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Originally Posted by muriloninja

Well post a pic of your traps...might help convince some people.

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huh??? mate, I don't post pics on the net, and if i did my wife would kill me, so no, full stop. Also, I never claim to be 'massive' so no need to prove such bll anyways

What I say is shown in what power and olympic lifters do which leads to the biggest and most powerful traps around? Do people need evidence of this???? geez, go google it.

Do they do high rep shrugs? NO. It's just every other gym goes who has it stuck i their heads that u gotta do all these varied shrugging movements, AND, that only high reps work. Low reps are for strength only apparently.

holy shit

High reps? WTF? Maybe for a break.

All these elaborate styles of shrugs will NOT put mass in that area like deadlifts and HCP (Hanging clean and press)

heavy overhead work, heavy cleans, heavy pulls, period.

get your deadlift up 100 lbs and your HCP up 50 lbs, and then take a pic of your traps.

and if you won't listen to me, listen to BlownSC, his traps are "okay" :D

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Originally Posted by Blown_SC

Deadlifts!! I never shrug... and mine are decent....

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deff deads all the way

Make the entire body grow and don't focus so much on the traps only.

They will only grow as big as the rest of you does.

~SC~