Front Traps --- Is there such a thing?

[magicbunny87]

I have weak traps, which because of it, it's not conspicuous that I have a nice body. I'm trying to work on it, but so far, not much success.

The personal trainer at the gym (not mine), gave me an exercise to work on my front traps.

I searched the net for more exercises on front traps but I couldn't find any.

Yes, it's the front portion of my traps that needs a lot of working to do. My traps appear concave on the front part which is kinda ridiculous.

But I couldn't even find an article on front traps on the net.

As the title suggests, is there such a thing as front traps? Thanks in advance for any comment or suggestion.

[SuffolkPunch]

No there isn't. Except that the upper part of traps have some visibility at the front.

https://exrx.net/Muscles/TrapeziusUpper

Overhead shrugs do a good job of focusing on the upper fibers of the trap IMO.

[jameswilliam786]

Front traps are very much dependent on the overall density of your traps. I have seen people with huge front traps lifting heavy. There are several exercises and variations to add density to traps such as front plate raise, shrugs, Farmers Walks, Olympic Lifts
etc. I don't understand how you can search the internet but not find.

[ChunkBuster]

I like these with a thick band:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y61RAIl9r7M

[air2fakie]

Yes, it's the front portion of my traps that needs a lot of working to do. My traps appear concave on the front part which is kinda ridiculous.

In case it matters to you, this usually means your back needs a lot of work too, even if you can’t see it in the mirror.

[paulinkansas]

Yes, it's the front portion of my traps that needs a lot of working to do. My traps appear concave on the front part which is kinda ridiculous..

Just do some shrugs and upright rows. That's all I do for traps. And I started lifting 2 years after you joined this forum. But I'm a feeble little 54 year old man.

[readreindeer666]

Barbell shrugs are great for traps

The leaner you get the more defined they become

[BeginnerGainz]

Do more rows with a pronated grip.

Don’t waste time with shrugs (which isn’t even a trap exercise if you’re bolted upright)

[jaxqen]

Yes, there is.
The upper traps - when they are so big, that you can see them from the front.
Mostly on pro bb & co.
Pretty disgusting, in my honest unpopular opinion.
The lower ones seem better for a nice physique.

pronated rows too

I like these with a thick band:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y61RAIl9r7M

those are not high pulls, though
band upright rows.

[TheShadowMan]

Don't really like shrugs much, always felt strange to me, and I never got much out of them except neck pain. Although I do like power shrugs, very good exercise. I feel an incredible burn on the traps any time I do things like cleans, high pulls, farmer's walks, and deadlifts - so those tend to be what I choose for this area. Something about accelerated explosive movements like you see in olympic lifting really fires the traps up, the traps work super hard to keep things elevated, and to catch the load too, it's amazing. When I started implementing cleaning into exercises I already do for other muscles, like cleans into presses, cleans into front squats, into barbell extensions, cleaning into position for any exercise I could? That's when my traps started responding, now they're where I always wanted them. Shrugs just weren't doing anything to them for me. Carries and cleans all the way.

[Chesticles2]

As somebody who has studied anatomy and physiology, there isn't such a thing as a "front" trapezius muscle belly. You can call it that, but literature doesn't define it. Traps are split into 3 groups, but still all innervated by the same nerve, which means we can technically grow our "lower" traps with an "upper" trap exercise. This obviously isn't the most effective way, and as bodybuilders know, ANGLES ANGLES ANGLES! The clavicular attachment for the upper traps is likely what you're talking about? You can stretch these out with holding the barbell behind your back and shrugging. This would likely give you the best advantage for the most intense contraction for these anterior fibers. However, there is more to consider. Using myself as an example, the heavier I lift with shrugs, the more I hypertrophy I gain, and very fast. I also genetically have large traps so thats another thing to consider. Your skeleton may have clavicles that angle upward quite sharply, and in this case may not allow for a greater stretch for those anterior fibers I mentioned earlier. This would be something you cannot change, nor should you need to. Keep the diet on point with high protein and possible increase your trap workouts to 3x weekly mixed in with other days. Almost as if you do trap workouts completely separate from all other splits. You may only have to single them out for a few months till they are forced to grow, at which point add them back in to your usual split. Good luck!

[BG5150]

Farmer walks and waiter carries are good for the traps.

[magicbunny87]

As somebody who has studied anatomy and physiology, there isn't such a thing as a "front" trapezius muscle belly. You can call it that, but literature doesn't define it. Traps are split into 3 groups, but still all innervated by the same nerve, which means we can technically grow our "lower" traps with an "upper" trap exercise. This obviously isn't the most effective way, and as bodybuilders know, ANGLES ANGLES ANGLES! The clavicular attachment for the upper traps is likely what you're talking about? You can stretch these out with holding the barbell behind your back and shrugging. This would likely give you the best advantage for the most intense contraction for these anterior fibers. However, there is more to consider. Using myself as an example, the heavier I lift with shrugs, the more I hypertrophy I gain, and very fast. I also genetically have large traps so thats another thing to consider. Your skeleton may have clavicles that angle upward quite sharply, and in this case may not allow for a greater stretch for those anterior fibers I mentioned earlier. This would be something you cannot change, nor should you need to. Keep the diet on point with high protein and possible increase your trap workouts to 3x weekly mixed in with other days. Almost as if you do trap workouts completely separate from all other splits. You may only have to single them out for a few months till they are forced to grow, at which point add them back in to your usual split. Good luck!

Sorry for replying to your post late as I have been very busy these past few weeks... but THANK YOU SO MUCH for I am now seeing VISIBLE PROGRESS. Your advice works!