Article: Growing Big Traps

Mine do fine with deadlifts and bent over rows. I haven't even done a single shrug in well over a year.
 
superbeast668 said:
Lol @ shrugs. Heavy deads. Theyll blow your traps up.
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I'm not huge so my advice is probably not worth much, but I'll second what this guy says. My buddies with bigger traps are big on deads and never do shrugs.

Personally, I like to follow up my deadlifts with 3-4 sets of shrugs. They'll be sore for a couple days after that.
 
superbeast668 said:
Lol @ shrugs. Heavy deads. Theyll blow your traps up.
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I'm not huge, but my buddies with nice traps are big on the deadlifts.

I had been shrugging for a couple years with not much to show for it. Since I added deadlifts I've actually started to see a difference in the last 6 months or so.
Personally I like to follow up deadlifts with barbell shrugs. They'll be sore for a few days.
 
superbeast668 said:
Lol @ shrugs. Heavy deads. Theyll blow your traps up.
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I'm no master of the gym, but shrugs alone didn't do much for me for the first few years. I added deadlifts and now I'm starting to see something.

I follow those up with shrugs and I'll be sore for a few days after.
 
One exercise I felt really help build my traps, was behind the neck parallel bar pullups. Ever since I added those to my split, I've noticed a difference
 
Olympic lifts and their pull variations. Anecdotal evidence: Olympic lifters and their sizable traps. You won't catch them doing much, if any, isolation work for anything.
 
tigerdb2 said:
Olympic lifts and their pull variations. Anecdotal evidence: Olympic lifters and their sizable traps. You won't catch them doing much, if any, isolation work for anything.
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Darn this mobile App restricting me to Rep this. X2 for this!!!
 
AllOrNuffin00 said:
If u cant do deads thers sumink wrong ther dude, they r essential!
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I can do deads, 315 to 350 for 10 reps, 3-4 sets. No need to rely on a belt with mediocre/semi-heavy weight. Conventional. I'm 42 & maybe a handful of guys my age in the gym can do any deadlift at all. Most have some type of injury or chronic pain. And that's the point: what works for you may not work for others.

To the contrary, theres a guy in his 30s here that does shrugs, usually bbell, with anywhere from 550 to 600 lbs. I guarantee his traps he bigger that yours or hotchits. And he never does any deads. So he would probably laugh that they are essential & the only way to get huge traps.
 
discobiskit said:
I can do deads, 315 to 350 for 10 reps, 3-4 sets. No need to rely on a belt with mediocre/semi-heavy weight. Conventional. I'm 42 & maybe a handful of guys my age in the gym can do any deadlift at all. Most have some type of injury or chronic pain. And that's the point: what works for you may not work for others.

To the contrary, theres a guy in his 30s here that does shrugs, usually bbell, with anywhere from 550 to 600 lbs. I guarantee his traps he bigger that yours or hotchits. And he never does any deads. So he would probably laugh that they are essential & the only way to get huge traps.
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You're getting it backwards. It's you and people like the author making the assumption that doing 50 sets of shrugs a week is the key to getting bigger traps. We're saying that's not the case - that you can get them even without doing a single shrug.
 
discobiskit said:
I can do deads, 315 to 350 for 10 reps, 3-4 sets. No need to rely on a belt with mediocre/semi-heavy weight. Conventional. I'm 42 & maybe a handful of guys my age in the gym can do any deadlift at all. Most have some type of injury or chronic pain. And that's the point: what works for you may not work for others.

To the contrary, theres a guy in his 30s here that does shrugs, usually bbell, with anywhere from 550 to 600 lbs. I guarantee his traps he bigger that yours or hotchits. And he never does any deads. So he would probably laugh that they are essential & the only way to get huge traps.
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Ther not the only way to get huge traps, when i say essential i mean they r essential as a corner stone of any weight trainin program, for me personally, a combination of upright rows, shrugs & deads r best for all round trap growth and development. In response to u sayin about the dude in his 30's that doesn't do deads, though he dosnt dead currently he probably did at some point
 
Torobestia said:
You're getting it backwards. It's you and people like the author making the assumption that doing 50 sets of shrugs a week is the key to getting bigger traps. We're saying that's not the case - that you can get them even without doing a single shrug.
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^^^ Totally agree with that! ^^^
 
I have big traps. I always get comments about them. I haven't been able to do deadlifts for 6 years (due to chronic knee problems). But I shrug using the the Smith machine, with the bar held in front and rear. What I learned long ago is that my traps respond best to a lot of sets. I do at least 10 sets once a week with about 400 lbs.
 
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