Correct way to do shrugs?

[gomango259]

I have always heard to roll your shoulders when you do shrugs. So I am doing them at the gym and this huge dude comes up to me (he was def. on roids, no offense) and he tells me not to ever roll it. Just hold it at the top for a second. So now I'm like... well who should i listen to this jacked dude or the other 10 people who told me to roll?

Then I come back to my room and read the Men's Fitness magazine in my room and it says to do shrugs with your palms pointing behind you! I have always done shrugs with my palms pointing toward my sides! AND the magazine said "do not ever roll your shoulders"

Why not roll? Don't you use more muscle fibers that way which leads to more growth? I plan on doing shrugs Saturday so how should I do them?

[JoeyDaFool]

roll =r/c injury waiting to happen

don't roll and explode up and down using legs momemtum


power shrugs FTW

[hazard52003]

I think you can do them either way.. personally i dont roll my shoulders back.. i dont really see the point in it..

imo the important thing about shrugs is to switch it up.. every 2 weeks i usually switch it up.. 1 rotation do BB shrugs 1 rotation do DB shrugs, behind the back shrugs.. etc


I would just experiment and do what feels best for you, every bodies body will react differentlly to different exercises. my best advice would be to try everything and see what feels best for u

[jakescakes]

yeah, rolling the shoulders is very tough on the joint

straight up and down, squeeeze as hard as you can for 1 second at the top.

u can also mix it up by grabbing a barbell behind the back, close grips, wide grip, shoulders in front, shoulders back

[gomango259]

Wow some of yall replied before I even got the poll up! Thanks for the advice

[seriouslifter]

you guys use leg momentum?

[Polish_Sausage]

in for results.

[Uncle Ben]

Then I come back to my room and read the Men's Fitness magazine in my room and it says to do shrugs with your palms pointing behind you! I have always done shrugs with my palms pointing toward my sides! AND the magazine said "do not ever roll your shoulders"

What was the mag referring tho, dumbbell or barbell?

Palms facing in is more natural, but doesn't work with a straight bar. Trap bar is a different story.

you guys use leg momentum?

I do sometimes. "Cheat" to get the weight up, but focus on the iso hold and a legit negative.

[ironwill2008]

Just pull the bar straight up, like you're trying to touch your shoulders to your ears; no rolling. To be effective, shrugs are usually done with fairly heavy weight; moving your shoulders around when your arms are loaded like this is asking for an injury.

[gomango259]

What was the mag referring tho, dumbbell or barbell?

Palms facing in is more natural, but doesn't work with a straight bar. Trap bar is a different story.



I do sometimes. "Cheat" to get the weight up, but focus on the iso hold and a legit negative.

thats a pretty good idea. never thought of using my legs to do negative shrugs. wow. there are so many ways to do shrugs...

anyone have input on which way your palm faces when doing DB shrugs?

[seriouslifter]

anyone do high volume shrugs or is that pretty much pointless. needs to be heavy heavy but everyone is different

[Uncle Ben]

anyone do high volume shrugs or is that pretty much pointless. needs to be heavy heavy but everyone is different

I like volume shrugs. My traps respond well from 12-15 reps.

Theye still a glaring weakness, but they're coming along.

[CaseyofDoom]

I guess you could say my trap routine is sort of a volume routine.

I start out shrugging straight up with a cable machine maxed out. About 4 sets of 12 to get warmed up. I then move to a smith machine that has an angle to it. I pull up and back at about 45 degrees to hit my traps a little lower. And put on enough weight to do 8-10 reps, then keep upping the weight each set till I've done 4 sets. I sometimes throw in a set or 2 of dumbell shrugs. I finish off back at the cable machine for 2 or 3 more sets of 10-12.

If the weight is too heavy to get your shoulders up as high as you can get them without lifting weight, it's too heavy.

My wife tells me to to stop working out my traps cause they're getting scary... mission accomplished.

[sirbobmontgomery]

I've always done heavy heavy dumbbell shrugs.
1 warm up set at about 80lbs
then a set each at 120s, 130s, 140s

I used to do power shrugs and i believe they did add monstrous size to my traps, but after reading an article about how it's almost impossible to attain a perfect form while doing them and the serious injury that can result from them, i've eliminated them from my regimen...

Also, never ever roll your shoulders...EVER, you can do serious injury to your body...just remember, try to touch your shoulders to your ears and squeeze!!!

[SomeRandomName]

If you value your rotator cuff, you do NOT roll.

[gomango259]

alright i am not going to roll anymore. yall are right, it isn't worth it. i just dont get why you would shrug with DB's with your palms facing behind you... wouldnt that be pretty much like barbell shrugs?

[deapee]

If by "roll" your shoudlers you mean squeeze them back at the top, then that's fine as long as you're not throwing your alignment out of whack.

[darfnate]

i always have them half way inbetween facing striaght to the sides or back

[gomango259]

If by "roll" your shoudlers you mean squeeze them back at the top, then that's fine as long as you're not throwing your alignment out of whack.

From starting position, shrug the weight up with your shoulders forward, then when you get to the top "roll" them to the back and let the weight down. or vise versa (back to front)

[spot_skater]

I think I've done 1 or 2 sets of barbell shrugs. Dumb bells are the way to go, IMO.

DB shrugs + Dead lifts + rack pulls = well developed traps.

Definitely don't roll your shoulders.

Try doing them at different angles... lean forward a bit, stand up totally straight. Do them seated, etc.

[tacoop]

I have always heard to roll your shoulders when you do shrugs. So I am doing them at the gym and this huge dude comes up to me (he was def. on roids, no offense) and he tells me not to ever roll it. Just hold it at the top for a second. So now I'm like... well who should i listen to this jacked dude or the other 10 people who told me to roll?

Then I come back to my room and read the Men's Fitness magazine in my room and it says to do shrugs with your palms pointing behind you! I have always done shrugs with my palms pointing toward my sides! AND the magazine said "do not ever roll your shoulders"

Why not roll? Don't you use more muscle fibers that way which leads to more growth? I plan on doing shrugs Saturday so how should I do them?

No rolling for me. Have always heard it will lead to injury. Much perfer deads and rack deads for my trap development.

[deapee]

From starting position, shrug the weight up with your shoulders forward, then when you get to the top "roll" them to the back and let the weight down. or vise versa (back to front)

No. You don't ever want your shoulders to go forward.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...science_part_1

[ATrainer]

The traps are a multi-pennant muscle like the pecs. Rolling while doing Trap shrugs is like doing incline press standing up. You just aren't alighning the target fibers with gravity.

The traps pull the shoulder girdle up. back, and everywhere in between. I think of it as a 3 direction effort, not unlike pecs. Shrug straight up, then orient your body at a 45 degree angle to the ground (supported T-bar works awesome) and shrug straight toward the cieling, and then do a seated cable or bent row shrug to hit the fibers of the traps that run between the shoulder blades. Those are the 3 angles that hit the 'Traps.' Rolling is inefficient motion.

Hand orientation is moot to the efficiency of the traps.

[Alfz]

Purpose of traps = move shoulders up and down.

What's the purpose of rolling

[TOC]

What about power-cleans?

At the moment I'm doing dumbbell shrugs, but my traps don't get very sore from these. When I used to do power-cleans with Rippetoe's program, I REALLY felt them though, so I may go back to these... what do you guys think?

A lot of you agree that rolling your shoulders is bad for the RCs, but isn't there an element of shoulder rolling with power-cleans? If there is, would you recommend not doing them?

[Juggernaut33]

When I do shrugs (esp. dumbell shrugs) I just go up and down and bring my traps up to my ears when shrugging. I also like to do a peak contraction at the top of the movement.

[Al Swearengen]

What about power-cleans?

At the moment I'm doing dumbbell shrugs, but my traps don't get very sore from these. When I used to do power-cleans with Rippetoe's program, I REALLY felt them though, so I may go back to these... what do you guys think?

A lot of you agree that rolling your shoulders is bad for the RCs, but isn't there an element of shoulder rolling with power-cleans? If there is, would you recommend not doing them?

you cannot compare shoulder rolling to power cleans because of the substantial load shifting in cleans. if you want to do your traps the best favor then keep your chest out and shoulders back while doing them and don't roll.

[Big Arm Big Pay]

Just don't roll...

[Phil2009]

Purpose of traps = move shoulders up and down.

What's the purpose of rolling

To slowly but surely deteriorate your glenoid bursa. Not a good outcome.


Right on with the traps Alfz.

[burningNun]

What about power-cleans?

At the moment I'm doing dumbbell shrugs, but my traps don't get very sore from these. When I used to do power-cleans with Rippetoe's program, I REALLY felt them though, so I may go back to these... what do you guys think?

A lot of you agree that rolling your shoulders is bad for the RCs, but isn't there an element of shoulder rolling with power-cleans? If there is, would you recommend not doing them?

Power cleans are great.