Traps

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Permalink Reply by Renn on October 27, 2008 at 2:02pm

my first suggestion is wrist straps; if you havent already been using them, this is a great way to increase the amount of weight you are able to use (especially on shrugs).

second, try mixing it up. if you have been doing barbell shrugs, switch the dumbbell shrugs. as with all other body parts, the key to consistant gains is to keep the body guessing; so that it never gets used to what you are doing.

here are a few variations of shrugs i have tried in the past:
1. extra-wide grip bb shrugs - grip the bb about 1.5 times shoulder width and perform just as normal shrugs, usually requires using less weight; so focus on really squeezing the muscles.

2. hawaiian style shrugs - grip a bb with hands only about 6-8" apart, perform just as normal shrugs.

3. behind-the-back bb shrugs - grip the bb behind your back, hands about shoulder width apart, and perform just as normal shrugs. this movement takes a little getting used to, especially if you have any sort of ass back there (it tends to get in the way). therefore, i suggest doing them on a smith machine.

4. standard db shrugs - hands at the sides, palms facing in.

5. db shrugs variation - hands in front of the body, palms facing front of the thighs.

6. incline db shrugs - set up an incline bench at about a 75 degree angle. lay face first into the bench, holding a db in each hand; shrug the weight up.

those are all the variations that i can think of right off hand. if i think of any more i'll add them on here, but i've already listed quite a few so that should help you out some.

remember, changing the angle that little bit, though it may not seem significant, can make a world of difference.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Ballard on October 27, 2008 at 5:39pm

I appreciate it. I usually stick to dumbbells with almost everything. Usually the only thing I switch up is the order of my exercises. Also some weeks I'll drop an exercise that I normally do and throw in something in its place. I will definitely try the different things you've said and see how it goes. I've never seen anyone doing shrugs on a incline bench. However, I've seen you recently and since you're pretty huge, I'll definitely take your advice and see what happens.

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Permalink Reply by Renn on October 28, 2008 at 10:11am

Thanks, I think that just trying some of those different variations should help quite a bit.

And I definitely agree that incline db shrugs is a VERY uncommon exercise...if you would like to see it demonstrated, the last place that I saw it was on BB.com, here is the page:
http://gasparinutrition.chapmanmediagroup.com/pre-contest/shoulders...

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