I've been readingg on this section that people are loving these power shrugs or cheating shrugs. Do these work really well and how are they performed? Discuss.
Printable View
I've been readingg on this section that people are loving these power shrugs or cheating shrugs. Do these work really well and how are they performed? Discuss.
they are incredibly good.
they are performed like this:
[url]http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/HangJumpShrug.html[/url]
except your feet don't leave the ground.
[QUOTE=kethnaab]they are incredibly good.
they are performed like this:
[url]http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/HangJumpShrug.html[/url]
except your feet don't leave the ground.[/QUOTE]
i think my neck is going to go out just from looking at that.
I do them, though probably not as some here would do them. I don't cheat a whole bunch. Really I just try to put more weight than I know I can shrug on the bar, and then use the least momentum needed to shrug it. Usually it's just a slight bend/extension of the knee. In my mind, the goal of the power shrug is to have the target muscle (traps) have the largest workable load applied to them. To me, there is no need to cheat a whole lot, since the traps are the target muscle. Doing entirely too much weight is just silly (unless you are looking to gain from that explosive motion, in which case you should be doing cleans) and will probably not benefit the traps any more than maximum working load (as in non-cheat shrugs)...
I guess thats a little blunt, so allow me ot sharpen my point:
Say you can shrug 250 pounds for 8 reps.
If you put 300 on the bar, and help yourself out wiht momentum only as much as you need to shrug it, then you'll be doing the maximum amount you can shrug on each rep. Shruging say 275, then 270, then 265 etc.
or, build slowly, and get a big, thick neck to go with your trappage.
;)
sound like a good way to get hurt.
*Waits for Diamond Delts to post*
[QUOTE=jmonty]sound like a good way to get hurt.[/QUOTE]
the uneducated say that about weight lifting in general.
I have found them to be pretty effective for training traps but you need to pay a little more attention to the stress your putting on your shoulders on the way down because the movement is more ballistic. I usually train in the squat rack and have the pins set just below where I would be holding the bar in prep for the movement. I like them a lot though and I basically will just do a smaller calf raise to get the weight up
I heart power shrugs. In the past 4 months that I have been doing them my traps have grown to a point where they are one of my strongest features. They were one of my weakest features at the beginning.
[QUOTE=HighRevinSi]I have found them to be pretty effective for training traps but you need to pay a little more attention to the stress your putting on your shoulders on the way down [/QUOTE]
naturally. a controlled eccentric is paramount in any bodybuilding workout. good point indeed.
[QUOTE=kethnaab]or, build slowly, and get a big, thick neck to go with your trappage.
;)[/QUOTE]
huge
These can be a great technique for shocking the Traps but dont forget to mix them in with heavy deadlifts for some serious trap growth.
[QUOTE=rulanfistccd]I've been readingg on this section that people are loving these power shrugs or cheating shrugs. Do these work really well and how are they performed? Discuss.[/QUOTE]
power shrugs are very good exercise for the traps, some people say the best.
But i see you are 17 and at your age there is a fair chance you dont need to bother with them. Stick with the big exersises, Squat, Dead, Bench, OH Press and rows and your traps with grow along with the rest of your body.
I dont know, my traps are a bitch to grow, I barely have any
[QUOTE=Train Hard]I dont know, my traps are a bitch to grow, I barely have any[/QUOTE]
yeah i know what you mean but i am yet to see and guy with a big dead lift with no traps.
anyway give the power shrugs a go, if they dont make your traps grow nothing will.
I got a 400lb deadlift and almost no traps what so ever. I can do somewhere around 250 lbs on bar shrugs (might do higher if not for grip) and I still have no traps. add me threw msn and i'll show you I have no traps at all.
[QUOTE=Train Hard]I got a 400lb deadlift and almost no traps what so ever. I can do somewhere around 250 lbs on bar shrugs (might do higher if not for grip) and I still have no traps. add me threw msn and i'll show you I have no traps at all.[/QUOTE]
dont really worry about were your dead is at now, but rather work on increasing it.
I am not worried about increasing my dead, I am worried about getting my shoulders fixed because the **** ass doctors dont want to take me seriously because they say im too young to be training, thank god I told him I wanted to compete next year.
What is now known as the power shrug was the original shrug until it got neutered somewhere along the line. It started out as an assistance lift for the clean. It's the top portion of the clean pull done very heavy with a smaller range of motion than a normal pull from the hang. Most people with time and patience find that they can work up to their best dead or higher for reps. Obviously you need a solid foundation of pulling and rowing but there's just no comparison to the power shrug. For people who haven't done OL and have never tried them, there are guaranteed results in the mirror in 4 weeks. This was a writeup I did for people: [url]http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4712284&postcount=319[/url]. Just start light and get the technique down - say 10 reps or even more (explosion from the athletic position, pull to full extension and learn to make that bar fly). You will need straps or your hands will likely rip apart from the beating under heavier weights - you absolutely want to pull double overhand elbows pointed at the collars, keep the bar close, don't rack your balls.
[QUOTE=Madcow2]What is now known as the power shrug was the original shrug until it got neutered somewhere along the line. It started out as an assistance lift for the clean. It's the top portion of the clean pull done very heavy with a smaller range of motion than a normal pull from the hang. Most people with time and patience find that they can work up to their best dead or higher for reps. Obviously you need a solid foundation of pulling and rowing but there's just no comparison to the power shrug. For people who haven't done OL and have never tried them, there are guaranteed results in the mirror in 4 weeks. This was a writeup I did for people: [url]http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4712284&postcount=319[/url]. Just start light and get the technique down - say 10 reps or even more (explosion from the athletic position, pull to full extension and learn to make that bar fly). You will need straps or your hands will likely rip apart from the beating under heavier weights - you absolutely want to pull double overhand elbows pointed at the collars, keep the bar close, don't rack your balls.[/QUOTE]
good read. Question. I do traps at the end of my grueling back workout. I usually use 155 for shrugging and focus on holding it at the top and doing 10 reps at least. What weight do you suggest I do for power shrugs? will i need to have straps? Do you have to hold at the top for power shrugs?
It's a very different movement and the main thing is that you want to make sure you don't have any weak links along the chain before you go pulling heavy weight dynamically. Most guys here do not do any sort of dynamic pulling and a lot probably don't deadlift or row (thinking more the huge number of lurkers on these boards vs. the people who actively post and contribute). The powershrug is a hard lift and very intensive on the body. Start with 135 and get the feel of it. Take a few sessions to get comfortable to work up to where you'll be challenged muscularly to do a weight for 15 reps (you'll find these will challenge you cardiovascularly with heavier weight for reps and you wind up sucking wind). At that point just do 3x10-15 once or twice a week depending on what you want to commit to the movement (they are not insigificant contributors to workload although the decreased ROM keeps them more tolerable - that said for most people coming from a lot of isolation work this will be a heavy or "big" movement). Just work up session to session gradually, lower reps as needed. No real need to go below 5 and you definitely want some significant time with the bar before you wind up with weights that will challenge you for 5.
FWIW, I do sets of 12-15 on the power shrugs, and I do NOT hold at the top, I just make an effort to control the weight on the way down
my calves are nicely pumped after my power shrug sets are done as well
[QUOTE=kethnaab]FWIW, I do sets of 12-15 on the power shrugs, and I do NOT hold at the top, I just make an effort to control the weight on the way down
my calves are nicely pumped after my power shrug sets are done as well[/QUOTE]
I thought you dont raise calves from the floor as stated in this thread somehwere
[QUOTE=moochems]I do them, though probably not as some here would do them. I don't cheat a whole bunch. Really I just try to put more weight than I know I can shrug on the bar, and then use the least momentum needed to shrug it. Usually it's just a slight bend/extension of the knee. In my mind, the goal of the power shrug is to have the target muscle (traps) have the largest workable load applied to them. To me, there is no need to cheat a whole lot, since the traps are the target muscle. Doing entirely too much weight is just silly (unless you are looking to gain from that explosive motion, in which case you should be doing cleans) and will probably not benefit the traps any more than maximum working load (as in non-cheat shrugs)...[/QUOTE]
Amen to that. My power shrugs are only a little hop upwards, not this "lean forward and then jerk it upwards with all your might" stuff. It's just a bit of assistance to get the weight to the top position, then trying to hold it there as much as possible.
[QUOTE=rulanfistccd]I thought you dont raise calves from the floor as stated in this thread somehwere[/QUOTE]
feet don't come off the ground, but you definitely extend the calves. toes stay on ground, heels come up
Full extension in the clean is traps in ears, arms straight, body straight, and up on toes (it's actually a jump the only thing holding you to the ground is the weight). With significant weight, you won't be able to hold a power shrug. You want the feeling of accelerating it upwards, reaching full extension with traps in ears, and then mentally you try to hold that for a second - it won't happen but it's a useful mental key and no one I've seen has managed to butcher it yet as the weight precludes any weirdness.
This lift has been done forever. I think Dreschler's Encyclopedia has references to a non-standard variation back in the 1930s so consider that the 'standard shrug' (which has now become known as the powershrug) off which the variation was based was far older still. I'd imagine it's as old as the sport given that people tend to break things down and this is logically and obviously used to train the top end extenion of the pull. It was featured very prominently in Starr's old article on increasing the deadlift without deadlifting which gave rise to Westside's use of the Goodmorning and avoidance of constant heavy pulling in their training protocols.