traps

[tinyfighter]

ive been training for roughly 10 years and seriously for just over a year with my diet dialed in the best i can and seen some decent gains in both strenth and size but my traps seem to be lacking behind a fair bit,im not a body builder as i train mma 2-3 times a week too so only lift weights 3 times per week with mainly compound movments so i dont bother messing about doing isolation stuff generaly.
curently ive been doing some heavy dead lifts 3x6 reps and some heavy shrugs to try build my traps but there still very undeveloped in comparison to the rest of my body,any ideas on new excercises or tips?

 

[carmineb]

the best exercise I ran into for traps, for me over the years I used to bodybuild alot and started using now are behind the back shrugs BUT with a caveat:

consider shoulder width grip upright rows, those are usually shoulders, right?

now do the shoulder width upright rows but grab the smith machine bar from behind your back and shrug up ANd pull weight up and hold at top.... it hits the whole trap, not just below the ears and across the top

 

[Diesel618]

the best exercise I ran into for traps, for me over the years I used to bodybuild alot and started using now are behind the back shrugs BUT with a caveat:

consider shoulder width grip upright rows, those are usually shoulders, right?

now do the shoulder width upright rows but grab the smith machine bar from behind your back and shrug up ANd pull weight up and hold at top.... it hits the whole trap, not just below the ears and across the top

that sounds like an awesome movement. i'm gonna try that sucker out. sounds like it could be hard on the rotator cuff but I'll be giving it a shot next shoulder workout. thanks.

 

[xp123]

If your gym has a shrug machine, (the one where you can do it sitting or standing and load free weights onto it) do a weight you can do 5-8 times while sitting. Then do another 5 to 8 standing. After that grab a 45 in each hand and do 10 shrugs with your hands at your sides, then 10 shrugs in front, then 10 shrugs with the weight behind you, then another 10 at your side.
Do that with no rest. That routine counts as 1 set. Rest a bit and do 2 or 3 more sets. Thats my routine. First time you do it, your traps will hurt for days.

 

[VolcomX311]

O-lifts, like the Olympic Snatch and Olympic Cleans has done wonders for my traps. As an MMA fighter you'd benefit a lot from power movements, apart from the aesthetic appeal of developed traps. TD and TDD speed have a very direct translation from O-lifts.

 

[Dustdatarse]

If your gym has a shrug machine, (the one where you can do it sitting or standing and load free weights onto it) do a weight you can do 5-8 times while sitting. Then do another 5 to 8 standing. After that grab a 45 in each hand and do 10 shrugs with your hands at your sides, then 10 shrugs in front, then 10 shrugs with the weight behind you, then another 10 at your side.
Do that with no rest. That routine counts as 1 set. Rest a bit and do 2 or 3 more sets. Thats my routine. First time you do it, your traps will hurt for days.

Sounds pretty intense, ill def check that out next shoulder routine.

 

[vader]

power cleans and hang cleans, alot of heavy rack pulls. Fuck shrugs

 

[strongrunbox]

power cleans and hang cleans, alot of heavy rack pulls. Fuck shrugs

Standing barbell and dumbbell military press. Upright rows with both also

 

[carmineb]

that sounds like an awesome movement. i'm gonna try that sucker out. sounds like it could be hard on the rotator cuff but I'll be giving it a shot next shoulder workout. thanks.

dont overkill the weight, (palms face back of course)... for me, its about finishing off the routine after the regular stuff so you can get your burns whatever it is for u,find a groove and work with it.

 

[vader]

why would you do anything that is gonna be bad on the RC muscles when you don't have to, to get the results you want?

 

[tinyfighter]

cheers for the advice guys,il try out hang cleans as ive never done them before ,alot of the mma strenth training is for explosivness and endurance,i regulary spar with guys up to 50% heavier than me and do excercises like 20 squats with a similar weight guy on my back so my training is different to regular body building stuff,im just sick of having nicley developed shoulders and back with small weak traps purly because they look crap and strong traps are ment to be pretty important according to my coach

 

[GMO]

NOTHING and I mean NOTHING will build your traps more than deadlifts and cleans.

 

[carmineb]

vader, does the exercise I suggested stress out the RC? you shrug up, then bend elbows to squeeze the shrug even more. As such, it is and ought to be considered alone side spiders for biceps or cralws for biceps in what it does, its the finishing peak exercise... I really want to see you peak at the top and hold and contract hard and focus in on muscle contraction.. I think I found somewhere a bodybuilder does it, if I find the video, I'll post the link but not sure if I can....