shrugs... How many? and what kinds?

[Wildhunter99]

Just a simple question I guess...

My traps are nicely sized right now.. but I still want them bigger.
I do my traps on shoulder day.. but never really know how many to do or how many excercises to do...

What would be the most beneficial for sets and exercises for them? Smith machine.. Dumbells?

Thanks for any help!

 

[macDbol]

my traps were lagging so what i did was upright rows 3 sets, bringing the bar to my chin etc..u know the deal, ,,,then afer that i would do 3 sets of heavy barbell shrugs..pausing on top of the movement for a second.. i think its helping me out

 

[110%]

4 X 10 dumbell shrugs have always worked great for me

 

[barnes3]

Here are some that you can pick from:

seated/standing dumbell shruggs
close-grip straight bar shruggs
lower cable shruggs (come out to where the cable is at a 45 degree angle from floor)
high cable shruggs
wide grip straight bar shruggs

barnes3

 

[DaCypher]

All good suggestions so far. Here's what works for me:

Barbell shrugs
Dumbell shrugs
Dynamic shrugs (do a barbell shrug, and at the top do a standing row to about navel level)

On shoulder day I'll usually do maybe any two of these always changing it up. Always go slow (its easy to do shrugs too fast because of small range of motion) and heavy. Good luck...

 

[Ingram]

Heavy deadlifts is what works my traps the hardest!

 

[MikeyWhipWreck]

Heavy deadlifts is what works my traps the hardest!

Gotta love that exercise. Total body pump!

 

[Charlie B]

Also, when you are doing shrugs, with any type of equipment, be sure and keep your chin down towards your chest, this will allow you to get a full range of motion resulting in a maximum muscular contraction.

 

[goldenone]

I'm a hardgainer on shrugs,got to hit them twice a week.

 

[Charlie B]

Hey Goldenone. If you're a hardgainer, then try once a week. Sounds like you're not allowing enough recovery. Remember, any workout affects your entire system, so just because you only train an area once a week doesn't mean that the other workouts won't have an affect on overall recovery/growth. Additionally, remember that recovery and growth are two separate phases. Each can last up to 96 hours depending on the intensity/duration of training.