6 Best Traps Exercises For Muscle Building

Best Exercises For Traps

The trapezius or traps are the muscles located at the top of your shoulders. They may look small but the traps actually extend to the upper and middle sections of your back.

The functions of the traps include rotating your shoulder blades and providing range of motion for your head and neck. If you tend to have nagging pain around your neck and shoulder area it could be due to lack of circulation or movement in the trapezius area.

Physically well-developed traps will add thickness to your upper back and shoulders. If you want good examples of complete trap development, take a look at the physiques of gymnasts, sprinters, pole vaulters and Olympic weightlifters.

6 Best Traps Exercises

The traps are involved in many exercises such as rows, pulldowns, lateral raises and others that require the shoulder blades to rotate or move in an up and down motion.

But if you want to hit the traps directly, here are the best 6 traps exercises you can do:

1. Deadlift – Utilises every muscle in your body which enables you to handle the most weight. The traps are engaged all throughout the exercise.

2. Power Clean – An explosive, multi-joint exercise that not only builds the traps but also develops agility, speed and power.

3. Barbell Shrugs – It’s short range of motion makes it a great exercise for overloading the traps for more size and strength.

4. Behind The Back Shrugs – Excellent for building the traps and rear shoulders but because it places pressure on the rotator cuff, you should not go heavy on this exercise.

5. Dumbbell Shrugs – This version of the shrug allows fuller range of motion and works better with high reps.

6. Kettlebell Upright Row – The kettlebell is a safer version of the upright row than a barbell because it provides a more natural feel and range of motion.

When To Train Traps

If you traps are weak of lagging, you should train them twice a week. You can train traps with your back or shoulders.

Here’s a sample workout schedule you can follow:

Monday – Chest, Triceps
Tuesday – rest
Wednesday – Back, Traps, Biceps
Thursday – Rest
Friday – Legs
Saturday – Shoulders, Traps

A good approach would be to split your trap training to “A” and “B” workouts:

Workout “A” – Wednesday with Back
• Deadlift – 85% of 1RM – 5 sets x 5 reps
• Barbell Shrugs – Same weight as Deadlift – 1 set x 10 reps
• Behind The Back Shrugs – Reduce weight by 20% - 1 set x 10 reps

Workout “B” – Saturday before training shoulders
• Power Clean – 70% of 1RM – 3 sets x 5 reps
• Dumbbell Shrugs – 3 sets x 10 reps
• Kettlebell Upright Rows – 2 sets x 10 reps

Training traps before shoulders warms up your rotator cuff for the workload ahead. It is an effective way to protect the shoulders from injury.

If you are satisfied with your trap development and just want to maintain strength, you should train them once a week with back:

Monday – Legs
Tuesday – rest
Wednesday – Chest, Triceps
Thursday – rest
Friday – Back, Traps
Saturday – Shoulders, Biceps

Here is a good maintenance workout for your traps:

• Barbell Shrug – 90% of Deadlift 1RM – 3 sets x 5 reps
• Dumbbell Shrugs – 3 sets x 10 reps

Set up your Barbell Shrugs at a Power Rack with the pins at knee level. Use a lifting belt and a pair of straps whenever you go above 85% of your Deadlift 1RM.

The lifting belt will give your abs a hard surface to push against and stabilises your lower back. Straps will secure your grip so you can focus more on your traps than worry about your forearms giving out.