We swing the trapezius muscles at home and in the gym – exercises for trapezius

May 13, 2021 Jacob Jones 0 Recommendations

The trapezius muscle forms the relief of the neck and back. The upper part is located between the shoulders and the neck, the lower one descends from the neck to the middle of the back, passing between the shoulder blades. Let’s take a look at what functions trapezoids have, and how you can quickly pump them.

What trapezoids are responsible for ?

The muscles of the trapezium ensure the maintenance of posture, the correct position of the shoulder girdle. They raise their shoulders at the right time. To make it easier for you to understand what these muscles are for, imagine shrugging your shoulders. We perform this “ritual” when we do not know the answer to the question asked, or it simply does not bother us.

So, the function of the trapezium is to raise the shoulders … In addition, these muscles work when we raise our arms up and to the side. If a person’s trapezius muscles are removed, his arms will sag lifelessly, held only by the ligamentous apparatus of the shoulder.

Now let’s move on to how to make large traps in the gym or at home. No matter where you are doing, you will need a barbell and dumbbells. All exercises can be done while standing.

Trapezius exercises

Trapezius muscle training is an important part of any program. All trapezoid exercises are performed in several versions:

with a barbell;
with dumbbells;
in a block trainer;
in Smith.

The principle of the exercises is the same, but the block and Smith have their own characteristics, just like when working with dumbbells. Therefore, we will briefly touch on all the options.

And here are the exercises themselves:

Shrugs.
Rows to the chin.

You will not be able to quickly enlarge the trapezium without pharmacology (which we do not recommend using). Be patient.

Lazyev is interested in how to pump up a trapezoid at home. Need to buy heavy dumbbells! This is enough to give the trapezium a relief, and maybe add a little mass (prepare for the fact that each dumbbell should be up to 40 kg in weight).

There is one more exercise that also shakes the trapezoid, and it is done on the uneven bars. We will talk about him at the very end. Let’s move on to the elements that swing the trapezius muscle.

Shrugs with a barbell

Prepare a barbell – put it on the floor in front of you or place it on a rack for press an empty bar. Traps are strong muscles, for girls there may be a lot of Olympic bar, but for guys it is light weight. 20 kg is an average weight for loading one trapezoid, and there are two of them.

It is advisable to stand in front of a mirror. The barbell can be taken in front of you or behind you. We are more accustomed and closer to the option when the bar is in front of the practitioner:

Grab the bar with an average direct grip, hands are parallel to each other. There should be no back grip, just straight.
Press your chin against your chest. Look at yourself in the mirror from under your brows.
Move as if you were shrugging your shoulders. Pull the bar up with your shoulders. You should feel the shoulder blades rise towards the back of your neck. Do not bring them together.
When you have lifted the weight up to the maximum, hold this position for 2-3 seconds.
Lower the barbell back.
Repeat exercise 10 –12 times in 4 sets.

Recommendations:

When the barbell moves up and down, it does not hang freely in the air, but touches your feet.
Arms do not bend during exercise. If this happens, the technique is wrong!
If you cannot fully raise your shoulders, stopping somewhere in the middle of the exercise, then the weight is great for you. Throw off a couple of pancakes and try again.
Exercise slowly. Especially do not rush to lower the barbell.

If you decide to do an exercise with a barbell from behind, also stand in front of a mirror. The bar should be behind you. Hands are slightly laid back. The exercise is done in a similar way: you hold the bar with a straight grip and pull the weight up.

Someone thinks that this option is preferable. But it’s better, in fact, with dumbbells. Why – we will tell below.

Shragi in Smith

In our opinion, this is the most convenient option for working with a barbell. First, the bar is fixed at different heights – you can adjust the level to suit your height. Secondly, at any time and at any height, you can leave the bar on the stops. This is very useful in unexpected situations.

The technique is the same as with a simple barbell.

Shrugs in the block trainer

There is no particular point in working in the block trainer, but if you want, we will tell you how:

Hang a straight short handle (bar) on the lower block.
Stand facing the block or with your back to it.
Grasp the handle with a straight grip, press it to the body (legs) .
Pull the weight with the trapeziums up to the maximum possible position, tilt your head forward.
Lower the weight. Repeat the exercise 10-15 times in 4 approaches.

The weights on the block are not the greatest, so it is impractical to work on the mass of trapezoids here. But on the relief – why not.

The upper back (top of the wings) can get tense if you choose to shrug on two lower blocks at once, standing between them. Then you will need to keep the handles near your feet, since the gravity vector in this case is not directed strictly upward, but upward and slightly to the sides. Don’t do this!

Dumbbell Shrugs

This is the most convenient option to quickly work your traps:

Stand in front of the mirror with dumbbells at your feet. Pick up the weight so that you can bring your shoulders as close as possible to it at the top.
Take the dumbbells, place them on the sides of your body and press them against the outside of your thighs.
Lower your head down, so that your neck does not interfere with the adhesion of the shoulders.
With the effort of the traps, lift the dumbbells as high as possible. Hold them in this position for a few seconds.
Lower the weights back. Repeat the exercise 8-10 times in 4 sets.

So, we talked about how to swing cleanly trapezoid. There is another exercise that involves the lateral bundle of the deltoid muscles and trapezius. It’s called the chin pull. You can pull the barbell, or you can pull the dumbbells. It is very convenient to do this exercise in a block. It will be hard in Smith, as the bar can weigh more than 20 kg (sometimes 27-28).

Barbell Row to the Chin

20 kg is the weight of an Olympic bar. This is a lot of weight for a beginner, it will not work with it to achieve the correct technique for performing the exercise. Therefore, you need to find a lightweight neck. Almost any gym has bars of 5-13 and 15 kg – take them. Let’s get started:

Stand in front of the mirror. Grab the bar with a straight, narrow grip (slightly narrower than your shoulders).
Try to slide the bar over your torso as you move towards your chin.
Lift the bar up to your chin by touching it. The elbows move in the plane of the body – try not to pull them back or forward. During the exercise, the elbows are the first to rise to the side and up. They should be higher than the hands holding the barbell. The brushes are freely oriented downward under the weight of the bar.
At the top point, hold the weight for a few seconds, then gently lower it to the starting point. Repeat the exercise 10 times in 4 sets.

This exercise, as we said, is designed to strengthen the deltoid muscles … Therefore, in order for the trapezius muscle to receive a load, you need to lift your elbows up as much as possible. This movement just leads to a good contraction of the muscle in question. If the elbows rise only to a straight line with the floor, the shoulders will work predominantly. Pay attention to this!

Row dumbbells to the chin

This option is suitable for those who need light weights. You can take 2 dumbbells of 2 kg each, arrange them in one line, as if it were a barbell and do it. A great option for girls!

The technique is the same as in the previous case with the barbell. Try to keep the dumbbells straight, so that they are level with each other.

Chin block pull

This is the most convenient option for both girls and guys. You can set any weights – from small to large.

We work with the lower block, put a short straight handle on it. We raise it to the level of the belt. We hold with a straight grip, pressing to ourselves. Pull up to the chin, stop in this position and lower it back.

Bars

This is a very tricky exercise, but it loads the traps without dumbbells and barbells. When you exercise on the uneven bars, the trapezoid already works, keeping the body between your shoulders. The exercise is done like this:

Stand in the starting position – hanging on straight arms.
Relax the traps – your body will lower. Lift it up as high as possible with the force of the trapezoids. The arms remain straight. If you did everything correctly, you will feel that it is the trapezoids that work.

So, now you know best how to pump up a trapezoid … It remains only to clarify a few details.

Notes and tips on technique

To avoid injury, do everything correctly and load exactly those the muscles you need, read the following tips:

Before doing trapeze exercises, pay attention to your posture. Straighten up, do not slouch, straighten your shoulders. Make sure your posture is correct. If necessary, walk up to the wall and press your back against it. With good posture, the walls will touch the back of your head, shoulder blades, buttocks and elbows.
Watch your elbows. They should be ahead of the barbell, always be higher. Try not to let them come out ahead.
Do everything smoothly. Jerking will not help you pump up, but it will increase the risk of injury.
Warm up well. The shoulders are the weak point of any person. Always start with a light weight. Do a warm-up approach. And at the beginning of your workout, warm up your joints and ligaments well. It will take you 5 minutes, but it will drastically reduce the risk of injury to yourself.
The trapezius is very strong. Handle the scales carefully.