anyone have a good workout for delts and traps? My arms are took big for my narrow shoulders. It doesnt look right.

Mmmm.. I don't know. Smith Machine shrugs or free weight shrugs have done me very well. Problem is, most people really cheat when doing shrugs. Hell, most people have no idea what they are doing in a gym... They just think they are doing it right because they are gaining.

Shrugs and cable upright rows.

Smith-One Arm Barbell Shrugs are good. Most gyms only have Db's that usually peak at 120lbs, 150lbs if it's a Gold and 200lbs if you're Ronnie Coleman's house or something. The Smith, One Arm BB Shrugs lets you exceed beyond those limitations. I've gone as high as 225lbs on the One Arm BB Shrugs (I long outgrew our gym's 120lbs Db's).

You can't go wrong with the classics, BB Shrugs, or Behind The Neck Shrugs. Dead lifts might be one of thee best workouts for traps, because it taxes the spino, acromio and anterior portions of the traps, whereas, scapular elevation (ie. shrugs), mostly targets the anterior portion and that's just the tip of the ice berg in terms of the entirety of your trap muscle. Greater stimulation of the entire muscle results in general greater growth.

look into olympic lifts

clean & press or jerk
high pull

My shoulders and traps are dominating my upper body.

Cleans for the anterior delts/traps

Wide Upright Rows for medial delts/traps

Originally Posted by Punisher63e

Mmmm.. I don't know. Smith Machine shrugs or free weight shrugs have done me very well. Problem is, most people really cheat when doing shrugs. Hell, most people have no idea what they are doing in a gym... They just think they are doing it right because they are gaining.

Most people dont do a long enough range of motion but shrugs are a power movement when done right, you are actually suppose to use body english to get the weight moving.

Heavy shrugs twice a week worked well for me, Also seated Dumbell Shrugs are a good way to isolate the traps.

My shoulders got much larger when I would do to pressing movements per shoulder workout. First I'd do BB or DB press heavy for 4 or 5 straight sets. Then I would do something like Arnold Press or Smith Machine Press for 4 sets super setted with Lateral raises or whaterver you call them.

Originally Posted by justreading

Most people dont do a long enough range of motion but shrugs are a power movement when done right, you are actually suppose to use body english to get the weight moving.

A lot of people just lift the weight a tiny bit and go back down... Or get the weight up and then just let it fall. I get the shrug full way up and slowly let it all the way down. Good slow and proper technique and I've built my traps up pretty fast.

I also like to do behind the back shrugs. Shrugs are supposed to be done with the weight to your sides, but if you use a BB or smith machine, you can't do that. So I do behind the back shrugs. But be cautious with those as they can put a lot of stress on your spine, rotator cuff's and other area's. I shrug 2 45 plates on each side but when I do behind the back shrugs I just use 1 45plate on each side and maybe I'll add another 20lbs to each side after a set or two.

YouTube - Hang Clean and Press 301x1

I love the Hammer Strength Deadlift machine for doing shrugs!

Originally Posted by drivehard

I love the Hammer Strength Deadlift machine for doing shrugs!

hell yeah, and i feel huge because you can throw alot of plates on there.

Ive been doing Hang Cleans and "Jump Shrugs" and my traps have really exploded. I love them.

I tend to have very good luck with traps here are my tips:

1. Yank it up! this is one movement where you can cheat - Try to hold it once you get it to the top, if you are using enough weight you wont be able to for more than a second or two max
2. Get a full motion - let your shoulder go then pull your head down and bring them all the way up
3. dont do that put your head back crap!
4. when you FAIL put the weight back down, wait a few seconds, grab the weight in a position where your traps are flexed to the top THEN remove the bar from the rack and HOLD the contraction, do the 4-5 times on your last set.
5. work your mid/upper traps with seated bent over shrugs - keep conscious of physics and adjust your angle and shoulder hanging as needed so that you pull your shoulder girdle with the muscle perpendicular to the floor - when you fail at this angle you can sit up and do a few more

For delts:

Rear delts, rear delts, read delts!

they are what give you the look of wide shoulders!

if u pause at the top of ur heavy deads it will make a HUGE difference. i dont think enough people deadlift, i never have to do shrugs and my traps look pretty grand. also rack pulls because u can do more weight.

Originally Posted by justreading

I tend to have very good luck with traps here are my tips:

1. Yank it up! this is one movement where you can cheat - Try to hold it once you get it to the top, if you are using enough weight you wont be able to for more than a second or two max
2. Get a full motion - let your shoulder go then pull your head down and bring them all the way up
3. dont do that put your head back crap!
4. when you FAIL put the weight back down, wait a few seconds, grab the weight in a position where your traps are flexed to the top THEN remove the bar from the rack and HOLD the contraction, do the 4-5 times on your last set.
5. work your mid/upper traps with seated bent over shrugs - keep conscious of physics and adjust your angle and shoulder hanging as needed so that you pull your shoulder girdle with the muscle perpendicular to the floor - when you fail at this angle you can sit up and do a few more

For delts:

Rear delts, rear delts, read delts!

they are what give you the look of wide shoulders!

I will agree with you on rear delt movements being prioritized. You can never have too big of rear delts, and they are very underestimated.

As far as traps, it all about genetics. You are either that person who gets good trap development off of 400lb cheated shrugs or 200b strict form shrugs. For the longest time i "cheated" as you put, 400-500lbs for shrugs and wondered why my traps were not growing. Dont get me wrong, at the time my traps were not small, but the amount of work I put into them were in no way equaling the gains I should have been getting. It wasn't til I began working out with some amateur BB'ers that they showed me better form and the correct way for ME to do them. I dropped my ego, dropped the weight, learned to control the weight with a full ROM, and doing moderate to high reps. Now I never go higher than 315.

Everyone IS different but I have made better progress in the past 6-8 months for traps, than in the years I trained them "cheating" ungodly amounts of weight.

D-E-A-D-L-I-F-T

genetics. You can make the delt bigger, but you are still going to have narrow shoulders. I do. A couple things that may help the traps aside from shrugs and the usually stuff people recommend is doing your shoulder presses standing and finishing at lockout for a hold, not a long hold, but a hold, and finish over your head like an olympic lift. Also prioritize your rear delts, for some reason my traps come out because of this, and i do no direct trap work. I will explain one exercise i do that no one likes because it is rough but effective, and i am not sure if you can even do it unless you have some level of strength already but here goes

lay on a Chest supported row with a small barbell haning down in your hands. Now at all times keep your head down and hands wide on the barbell and keep your arms straight, now lift the barbell up like you are doing a lateral raise, remember keeping the arms straight. You should finish with your arms parallel to your body. These are brutal, but extremely effective for rear delts and traps. I do all my rear delt work right after i bench on Monday, and all my other shoulder work on Friday. My rear delts have pretty much overshadowed the rest of my delts at this point, which is kind of funny to me, because i was one of those guys for years that had no rear delts.

dont forget some lat work like chins or rows, they make u look wider and more proportional once u get some shoulder size. i never did chins until recently but for some reason my lats were always my best bodypart just from rows. if ur looking to get wider they will make u look bigger fast

I have also built my traps way more since I started doing proper shrugs. I used to do the same big weight cheap shrug BS. It's funny though because my traps don't quite stick up naturally just yet... but when I flex them just a tiny bit they become very pronounced.

i am shoulder dominant, and my routine is as follows

Standing push press, 4 sets

seated bb press, 3 sets supersetted with side laterals

standing arnolds, lighter weight 2 sets

rear laterals 3 sets

plate chops to failure, 2 sets

I personally dont shrug alot, but i deadlift very heavy. Your traps will grow from alot of your other heavy movements.

Originally Posted by fritzer

D-E-A-D-L-I-F-T

I'll second this one. Shrugs aren't bad for a supplemental trap exercise but deadlift variations/row variations should be the primary back exercises.

For shoulders I'd recommend working on your military pressing/DB pressing. Since I've started doing seated military presses (going all the way to my chest and up) my shoulders have taken off.

^agree on both of you

Originally Posted by jcp2

genetics. You can make the delt bigger, but you are still going to have narrow shoulders. I do. A couple things that may help the traps aside from shrugs and the usually stuff people recommend is doing your shoulder presses standing and finishing at lockout for a hold, not a long hold, but a hold, and finish over your head like an olympic lift. Also prioritize your rear delts, for some reason my traps come out because of this, and i do no direct trap work. I will explain one exercise i do that no one likes because it is rough but effective, and i am not sure if you can even do it unless you have some level of strength already but here goes

lay on a Chest supported row with a small barbell haning down in your hands. Now at all times keep your head down and hands wide on the barbell and keep your arms straight, now lift the barbell up like you are doing a lateral raise, remember keeping the arms straight. You should finish with your arms parallel to your body. These are brutal, but extremely effective for rear delts and traps. I do all my rear delt work right after i bench on Monday, and all my other shoulder work on Friday. My rear delts have pretty much overshadowed the rest of my delts at this point, which is kind of funny to me, because i was one of those guys for years that had no rear delts.

I'm having a hard time picturing this. I have done shrugs on a chest supported T-bar row, just squeezing shoulder blades together and arms straight. Is it similar to that movement?

I also did quality standing overhead barbell presses yesterday for the first time. I'm rehabbing a broken hand, so I just did the bar for 12, 10 per side for 12, 20per side for 12, and 30 per side for 8-10. I was surprised how much stabilizer muscles got worked holding the lockout position. I also did them flat footed and not using any english to start since I am easing into them. I think I really like them. I had been a seated DB presser for a long time, and could move decent weight using a chair with foot pegs to push against. Doing them with feet on floor or standing DB presses, weight dropped dramatically. So I am def going to focus on the overhead barbell presses as I get my strength back up in my hands.

Snatch grip deadlifts. Keep your scap retracted hard the entire lift.

Originally Posted by youngandfree

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I'm having a hard time picturing this. I have done shrugs on a chest supported T-bar row, just squeezing shoulder blades together and arms straight. Is it similar to that movement?

I also did quality standing overhead barbell presses yesterday for the first time. I'm rehabbing a broken hand, so I just did the bar for 12, 10 per side for 12, 20per side for 12, and 30 per side for 8-10. I was surprised how much stabilizer muscles got worked holding the lockout position. I also did them flat footed and not using any english to start since I am easing into them. I think I really like them. I had been a seated DB presser for a long time, and could move decent weight using a chair with foot pegs to push against. Doing them with feet on floor or standing DB presses, weight dropped dramatically. So I am def going to focus on the overhead barbell presses as I get my strength back up in my hands.

Lay on the CSR with a small barbell hanging down in your hands to the ground. Keep your head down and it almost looks like a lateral raise, but when you are done you should be like superman with the bar out in front of yo and your head down.

ok I get it. You said arms parallel to body at top and I couldn't visualize what you meant. I'm on the same page now. Thanks

Originally Posted by youngandfree

ok I get it. You said arms parallel to body at top and I couldn't visualize what you meant. I'm on the same page now. Thanks

Keep your arms wide and as straight as possible.

Originally Posted by classic27

anyone have a good workout for delts and traps? My arms are took big for my narrow shoulders. It doesnt look right.

one workout that i notice bulk in my traps was plate lifts, or we call it drive to grandma's house.. take a single plate 45,55, w/e you have available and extend your arms straight out in front of your and raise up, back down, turn right, left...etc... basically hold until you cant... should feel a great pull on traps... good luck...