for me, high reps works well. I like to do the ff for traps.

behind the back bb shrugs on smith machine, 15-20 reps
cable front shrugs
alternating db shrugs. I like alternating since it gives you more range of motion.

letting the traps stretch during the negative portion helps as well.

Personally, i dont like rolling my shoulders when performing shrugs.

tama si theveed on the streched ang traps during negatives.

Try mo din mag heavy weight but low reps. Buhatin mo lang kung ilan lang ang kaya mo na pinaka mabigat (remember, in doing shrugs there's no spotter kaya ingat muna baka ma injury ka at di ka na makapag buhat 4ever). Use a strap if mahina ang grip mo. After doing this, pumping with a high rep, light weight will give you more a pump feeling.

Hope this helps.

just do more shoulder work outs. eg. military press, lateral flies shrugs of course. lahat yun tatama sa traps mo

Billyboy: Straps cannot grip the bar by itself, so it only delays your grip failure, when your grip ultimately fails, it'll not help you sustain the weight, I've used them when I was 16, used them a couple of months ago as well. The most it can do is give you 2-5 reps more before you the straps give. Your wrist won't go along with it, in fact, as soon as you loosen your fingertips, the straps will start to loosen.

I think you have the notion of the straps firmly mounted/gripping the bar itself even if you're not physically gripping the bar anymore. It doesn't work that way.

I lose grip more on deadlifts and rows compared to shrugs. When I DL around 250-280lbs, my grip fails me quite rapidly. But when I do shrugs (10-15reps) at around 150lbs, it's fine.

-- Edited by theveed at 12:52, 2005-01-11

and when u do shrugs, its very effective if u use a weight that's heavy but will also allow u to squeeze ur traps all the way up and hold for a second or two before going down. HEAVY WEIGHT + FORM = HUGE TRAPS!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by: IronHeaD
"
Gino, Im sorry but traps are part of your back muscles. Military presses and lateral raises only hit your delts.
Its much more better if you add your traps exercise on your Back exercise day.
"

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Agree... Although sometimes I work my traps on a shoulder day as well when my grip fails me after doing deads and rows hehe. Love working on traps :D

quote:

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Originally posted by: IronHeaD
"
Gino, Im sorry but traps are part of your back muscles. Military presses and lateral raises only hit your delts.
Its much more better if you add your traps exercise on your Back exercise day.
"

---

Exactly !!

I commonly see ppl trying to flex their traps when they do front and lateral raises. That is wrong!!! If you are doing then your not working out properly.