Is it better to go heavy or light for shrugs?

[kanis999]

Well that did take long for name calling. It's always someone who has NO photos too... Hmmm.

Lol. Dude's a reputable regular poster, don't you worry about his credibility.

[Tommy W.]

What are more natural ways to build traps? Without HUGE weighted shrugs? Ideas?

Can you define natural ?

[alphaproject]

I mean as in without heavy weights because I don't have access to heavy enough weights to where I could build size.

I really can't read sarcasm.... but apparently I'm a weakling because some guy thinks I'm afraid of weights...???

[Mike Spitzer]

I would say follow the same basic rule of 8-12 reps whatever that weight may be as long as you are using a Full and Natural range of motion.

And most importantly ........... SHRUG
DO NOT ROTATE

I still see so many people doing shoulder rotations instead of a basic up/down shrug and then they wonder why they have shoulder problems.

Grind ... grind ... grind away

[MaxPlank]

Middle of the road on cruise control.

[-Lucifer]

I mean as in without heavy weights because I don't have access to heavy enough weights to where I could build size.

Why didn't you say that instead? Anyway, you could do overhead shrugs if you have limited weights. How much do you have access to, by the way?

[MaxPlank]

Why didn't you say that instead? Anyway, you could do overhead shrugs if you have limited weights. How much do you have access to, by the way?

People make excellent weight sources in a pinch. Just insert fingers into orifices like a 6-pack and squeeze.

Just avoid using hookers, their rates are miserably high these days.

[moosemp]

HEAVY. There are a lot of variations as well to bombard them.

Haney shrugs, bar behind back. I have to use smith machine because of my a$$ in the way.

"Dead"shrugs. Dead lift the weight up and shrug the peak. Then back down like a normal dlift.

Alternate your grip too. Close grip. Normal grip. Super wide grip.

Just play with it and find what works best for you

[D1F]

Hi, I had searched for answers on this topic just to look for ways that I can improve what I already do. First I want to share a common problem that I find with shrugs.

I find that by doing higher repetitions with medium to higher loads I feel the pump which limits how much more I can actually feel. So to avoid this with shrugs what I found best, have stuck with for several months and will continue to stick work going forward is slightly lower repetitions with higher set count.

How I do my shrugs is I don't bother with warm up weights as I'm already warm from training rows and pulls. I will do 3 to 4 sets of 8 repetitions, slight squeeze at the top, slow release of the negative. At the moment I've built it up with 42.5kg dumbells. My aim is to improve for sets and form quality before increasing the weights.

MY problem is, the heaviest weight my gym had are 50kg. That's when I might have to look at incorporating barbell shrugs into my routine.

MY advice - go heavy enough where 8 to 10 reps feels hard but you feel capable. Do this for 3 to 5 sets before increasing the weight.

[TheShadowMan]

I never found much value in shrugs, maybe only done them a handful of times. My traps are coming along alright from deadlifts, cleans, farmer's walks, rows(especially monkey/armpit rows), rack pulls, pullups, raises, etc. I find those to be much better use of my training time. Shrugs only address one part of the traps at a time anyway, and they don't stress it that hard. That's just not worth it to me. *shrugs

[Goldcoin]

Nothing is better for building the traps than heavy weight. As long as you use good form on the movement, then the heavier the better.

[taperedtam]

Should I go heavy with less reps or light with more reps for traps?

depends on your goals. if you're going primarily for strength, meaning strength over muscle size, then go for low reps, high weight. if you want muscle size, go for higher reps, 8+, with a bit lower weight