Also, by changing your elbow angles, you can change the target areas of your upper back and traps as well. This chest-supported row variation allows for greater scapular retraction while hitting the lower traps at a different angle than you would from a standing shrug. It’s time to skip the shrug.ģ Alternatives to the Shrug to Train Your Traps That’s more than enough heavy work your traps are receiving. Not only are shrugs overrated, it become trap overkill when you’re already working the muscle each time you do sets of military presses, lateral raises, and especially deadlifts. Spinal flexion becomes more of a concern than it should be as we may not be able to stabilize the spine correctly. Your focus should instead be retracting your shoulder blades in order to elevate the shoulders. Shrugging heavy weights usually forces us into an uncomfortable forward (or anterior) position. The Shrug Allows You to Slip Into Dangerous Positions The minimal gains are just not worth the risks. Not only can that lead to shoulder issues, it also adds a lot of unnecessary tension in your neck. The continuous upward driving and squeezing motion of the shrug is the opposite. Instead, you should be aiming to squeeze and drop our shoulders-called scapular depression. Most people often find themselves in a bad position all day, with squeezed and hunched over shoulders and tech neck. Why You Should Stop Doing Shrugsįirst, here’s why you should stop doing shrugs. That’s not quite the blueprint plan for developing a successful shoulder and upper back workout.īoth trainers suggest that you leave shrugs to the old school workout warriors and instead get a better return on your trap investment with more effective exercises. What the shrug may be good for, according to Mathew Forzaglia, NFPT-CPT, founder of Forzag Fitness and Men's Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., is giving you an ego boost each time you slap on a few extra 45s on each side of the bar. Not only is this trademark trapezius muscle exercise overrated, but when it comes to a productive shoulder workout, shrugs are more underwhelming than effective. If you’ve walked into an old school gym, you’ve probably bumped into an iron age strength sage who tried convincing you that there’s only one way to build a set of big traps: Shrugs.
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