Get an incredibly muscular physique with well-developed trapezius muscles. The trapezius muscles, or traps, sit at the top and center of your back. This three-part muscle attaches at the base of your skull and continues down to the middle of your spine. Exercises that specifically target this muscle group will add both size and definition to your back, and create a solid frame. Additionally, the traps not only look great when strong and defined, but they also improve your posture and help prevent shoulder injuries.
1. Barbell Shrug
Barbell shrugs are a great traps exercise for emphasizing the upper traps and building strength. To get the most out of your shrugs, you’ll want to focus on both your grip and shoulder blade retraction. Firstly, for your grip, make sure you hold the bar with a wide grip. By doing so, the direction of the movement reflects the direction of the fibers in the muscle. Secondly, for the shoulder position, focus on pulling your shoulder blades together, rather than just up. This will make sure you have maximum activation, and therefore results.
2. Dumbbell One-Arm Row
Engage your entire body, not just your traps, with a dumbbell one-arm row. One-arm rows are brilliant for working the whole back muscle region, including the traps, lats, and other stabilizing muscles. However, you can make one small change to shift the emphasis to the upper traps. This is done with a simple shrug to bring the arm into the row. Another benefit of the one-arm row includes identifying if you have a weak side and being able to work on that. You’ll also build core strength, as your abdominals engage to prevent twisting. Plus, because this exercise is done standing, is more athletic and requires full body activation.
3. Rack Pull
Rack pulls are a great way to build mass and maximize your upper trap activity. Starting the pull at knee height is the section of the lift where the upper traps have the highest level of engagement. Additionally, because the range of movement in this lift is small, this is also the perfect opportunity to increase your weight to overload the muscles. However, make sure to be loading within your relative capabilities, otherwise, you do risk injury. The final thing to note with a rack pull is to focus on your shoulder blade retraction, pulling them together to ensure your shoulders don’t round as you lift.
4. Face Pulls
Feel the burn throughout your upper back, build stability, and improve posture with a good quality face pull. However, there are a few things to keep in mind to do this exercise correctly. The first is equipment. Ideally, you would use a cable machine with ropes long enough to get a full extension of the arms. Additionally, you’ll need to be pulling from an anchor point above your head. Secondly, is your standing position. You should be square to the cable machine, in an athletic stance. The third is your grip. You want to use an underhand grip and lead with your thumbs, so they win the race to behind your head. Next, you want to pull to your face height — aim for your nose. Finally, don’t use too much weight — you want enough for a proper contraction, but not too much that you need momentum.
5. Dumbbell Prone Press
The last traps exercise to try is the dumbbell prone press. Essentially, this is a shoulder press, but lying down on your stomach. It’s a tough exercise and needs only light weights, if any weights at all. This exercise will target the lower traps, which are the most often neglected part of the muscle group. The goal is to keep the weights off the ground for the entire duration of the workout.
