There are so many different trapezius exercises out there that
you can do in order to grow big and large traps that pop out of any tank
top and make it look like you have mountain rages on top of your
shoulders and between your neck. It's a pretty cool look when they are
developed and is a sign of dominance as an alpha male. I think that's
why a lot of guys want big trapezius muscles. Since there are a lot of
different trap exercises out there, I want to boil down a bunch of them
on the list that I feel will give you the most bang for your buck and
provide you the quickest results in the shortest amount of time. Because
of this, we are going to list some exercises that you might feel
uncomfortable doing or just not really accustomed to doing in the gym.
That's okay because this will be a learning experience and you'll
gradually start to add them into your program as time goes on.
Trapezius Exercise #1: Dead Lifts
Dead lifts are the king of all exercises in my book. I think they are the only exercise that truly tests a man's pure strength and not the puny the bench press like a lot of people tend to believe. I'm not sure why the bench press even gets that much credit considering you are pushing a weight against an immoveable object which provides you a ton of support. With the dead lift, it is a purely functional exercise where you have no support and you have to lift a heavy weight off the floor, something that you will have to mimic in your life plenty of times. You will never get under something and bench press it up. So the reason why dead lifts are king when it comes to trapezius exercises is because they provide the most time under continuous tension with the most resistance combined. Your traps can grow like weeds if you only did dead lifts because they have to isometrically contract in order to keep your arms from coming out of their sockets. This is the reason why they are one of the best types of exercises for your traps.
Trapezius Exercise #2: Trap Dead Lifts
Trap dead lifts are just like normal dead lifts except that you use a trap bar, that's the only difference. Because you are using a trap bar and hold the handles to the side of you, you can start with your torso slightly higher; use more weights, and more leg drive. So the added benefit with this exercise is your quads will be recruited into the movement a lot more.
Trapezius Exercise #3: Rack Pulls
Rack pulls are one of the greatest exercises you can do to build upper back strength and muscle mass in your traps because of the extreme amount of weight that you can use with this movement. For example, the dead lift is a great exercise, but with rack pulls, you start the movement higher up by resting the bar on pins right below your knee. So essentially, you don't have a sticking point like in a normal dead lift. Therefore, you can lift more total weight and really over load your trapezius muscle.
Trapezius Exercise #4: 1 Arm Barbell Shrugs
This is one of those exercises that when you do them in a gym you're going to get a bunch of looks. But who cares right? Besides those people that will give you looks probably have no idea how to lift and eat right, don't take this "working out" stuff too seriously and that's why they look the way they do. So for this exercise, you will add an equal amount of weight on both sides of the Olympic bar. Make sure to grab the middle part and feel free to use straps in order to increase stability in your grip. From there, lift the bar off the floor and perform your normal set of shrugs. At the top of each rep, make sure to squeeze and hold it for a peak contraction. Once finished, repeat with the other side.
Trapezius Exercise #5: Dumbbell Snatches
The dumbbell snatch is a very explosive exercise where you can use some heavy weights. Because of the violent motion of the snatch part of the movement, you traps have to isometrically contract really hard and fast to be able to complete the whole thing, plus contract to hold your arm overhead. So all you're going to do for this movement is place a dumbbell on the ground in between your legs. From there, squat down and grab the dumbbell. Once you are in place, squat up as fast and explosively as you can, jerk your hips forward and accelerate the weight up into the overhead position. Make sure not to press the weight up, this is a totally different exercise.
All in all, the best trapezius exercises are the ones where you can hold on to the most loads, hold a steady peak contraction and create a long time under tension. Each exercise I listed above will do wonders for growing your trapezius muscles. It is just a matter of implementing them into your program. If I were you and just starting out, I would first start with rack pulls and the 1 arm barbell shrugs. Those are the simplest to perform and they'll also provide you with the most bang for your buck.
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Trapezius Exercise #1: Dead Lifts
Dead lifts are the king of all exercises in my book. I think they are the only exercise that truly tests a man's pure strength and not the puny the bench press like a lot of people tend to believe. I'm not sure why the bench press even gets that much credit considering you are pushing a weight against an immoveable object which provides you a ton of support. With the dead lift, it is a purely functional exercise where you have no support and you have to lift a heavy weight off the floor, something that you will have to mimic in your life plenty of times. You will never get under something and bench press it up. So the reason why dead lifts are king when it comes to trapezius exercises is because they provide the most time under continuous tension with the most resistance combined. Your traps can grow like weeds if you only did dead lifts because they have to isometrically contract in order to keep your arms from coming out of their sockets. This is the reason why they are one of the best types of exercises for your traps.
Trapezius Exercise #2: Trap Dead Lifts
Trap dead lifts are just like normal dead lifts except that you use a trap bar, that's the only difference. Because you are using a trap bar and hold the handles to the side of you, you can start with your torso slightly higher; use more weights, and more leg drive. So the added benefit with this exercise is your quads will be recruited into the movement a lot more.
Trapezius Exercise #3: Rack Pulls
Rack pulls are one of the greatest exercises you can do to build upper back strength and muscle mass in your traps because of the extreme amount of weight that you can use with this movement. For example, the dead lift is a great exercise, but with rack pulls, you start the movement higher up by resting the bar on pins right below your knee. So essentially, you don't have a sticking point like in a normal dead lift. Therefore, you can lift more total weight and really over load your trapezius muscle.
Trapezius Exercise #4: 1 Arm Barbell Shrugs
This is one of those exercises that when you do them in a gym you're going to get a bunch of looks. But who cares right? Besides those people that will give you looks probably have no idea how to lift and eat right, don't take this "working out" stuff too seriously and that's why they look the way they do. So for this exercise, you will add an equal amount of weight on both sides of the Olympic bar. Make sure to grab the middle part and feel free to use straps in order to increase stability in your grip. From there, lift the bar off the floor and perform your normal set of shrugs. At the top of each rep, make sure to squeeze and hold it for a peak contraction. Once finished, repeat with the other side.
Trapezius Exercise #5: Dumbbell Snatches
The dumbbell snatch is a very explosive exercise where you can use some heavy weights. Because of the violent motion of the snatch part of the movement, you traps have to isometrically contract really hard and fast to be able to complete the whole thing, plus contract to hold your arm overhead. So all you're going to do for this movement is place a dumbbell on the ground in between your legs. From there, squat down and grab the dumbbell. Once you are in place, squat up as fast and explosively as you can, jerk your hips forward and accelerate the weight up into the overhead position. Make sure not to press the weight up, this is a totally different exercise.
All in all, the best trapezius exercises are the ones where you can hold on to the most loads, hold a steady peak contraction and create a long time under tension. Each exercise I listed above will do wonders for growing your trapezius muscles. It is just a matter of implementing them into your program. If I were you and just starting out, I would first start with rack pulls and the 1 arm barbell shrugs. Those are the simplest to perform and they'll also provide you with the most bang for your buck.
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