If you’re a casual gym goer, your answer for which muscle groups people look at would be the muscles on the front of the body, but that is what separates a man from a boy. Your bulging biceps, chest, and triceps are merely nothing without some traps to support them.
People usually train the muscles that are easy to work and are easily appreciable. It sure is important to train the anterior muscles of the body but training the posterior muscles keeps everything balanced and gives more overall strength.
One muscle you should completely avoid skipping is the traps and here you are using up all the energy for hammer curls. The traps are also known as the trapezius muscle. It extends from the back of the head ( from the external protuberance of the occipital bone) to the lower thoracic vertebra and the spine of the scapula laterally. It is a quadrilateral-shaped muscle similar to a kite.
It is the most superficial muscle of the back meaning that it is closest to the skin. The trapezius muscle has 3 groups of fibres the upper fibres, the lower fibres, and the middle fibres. Just like every muscle in the body has a function the different fibre groups of the trapezius muscle play a very important role in the functioning of the upper body.
The upper fibres of the trapezius muscles help support the arms and help you in lifting the shoulder blades, the lower fibres help in the retraction, and the depression of the scapula and the middle fibres perform the same.
Building the traps helps correct a wrong posture, plays the main role in lifting heavy and also gives a very aesthetic look to your body.
Here are a few of the best trap exercises you need to add to your workout routine.
Shrugs
Would it be a list for training the traps if it did not include the shrugs? When performing shrugs your middle and upper traps are activated helping your build muscle bass and increase your strength.
This exercise is versatile as you can perform them using dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, and a trap bar. This is a really good exercise to isolate the trap muscles. The barbell shrugs tend to have increased chances of injuring the delts.
Instruction
- Stand straight with a pair of dumbbells in your hands on the side.
- Shrug or pull the weights up just with the help of your shoulders.
- Hold and then lower.
- Repeat.
If you want that burn in your muscles, then try to perform 20 reps per set for 3 sets.
Other variations are Overhead barbell shrug, dumbbell jump shrug
Barbell deadlifts
Deadlifts are best to train specific muscle groups. When performed with the correct form this is one of the best compound exercises. Though the trapezius muscles aren’t the main focus of this exercise it still provides a challenge for all the 3 fibres of the muscle.
It is really important to learn the proper form if you are serious about performing deadlifts as it is no child’s play. Remember to avoid rounding your back.
Instruction
- Stand straight with your feet wide apart.
- Slightly bend your knees and push your hips back as you lean forward.
- Plat your feet into the floor and hold the barbell.
- Embrace your glutes and core.
- Pull the weight up with straight arms.
- Hold and lower back to the same position.
Bent over Y
You can also perform this exercise while you lay on your stomach. It is a good warmup exercise before getting into the big ones. This exercise is effective to get your traps burning.
Instruction
- Stand with your feet wide apart.
- Hold a pair of dumbbells in your arms.
- Bend at your hips.
- Slowly raise your arms in front and above you forming a Y.
- Hold this position and then lower it.
- Repeat.
Other variants are the Romanian deadlift, sumo deadlifts, and banded deadlifts.
Dumbbell snatch
When you get the weight above the head you are going to engage your traps.
Instruction
- Stand straight with your legs wide apart.
- As you bend at the knees and hinge at the hips grab the weights on the floor.
- Stand on your knees.
- Pull yourself up keeping the weights close to your body.
- Pull the weights up to your neck and then slowly press above the head.
- Lower the weights.
- Repeat.
Be careful while pressing above the head and lower to avoid injury.
Pullup shrugs
Along with building strong arms and shoulders this exercise also builds your traps and lats.
Instruction
- Hang off of a pullup bar.
- Keep your spine and core straight.
- Extend your neck by pulling your shoulders back and down.
- Hold and then lower into the starting position.
Lateral raises
Perform this exercise using dumbbells. Along with working your deltoids this exercise also hits your upper fibres.
Instruction
- Hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands beside you as your stand straight.
- Make a slight bend in your elbows.
- Raise your arms to the side until the arms and the weight are at shoulder level.
Farmer carry
It is one of the best exercises as heavy carries help build your back like a wall. Just remember to keep your shoulders and back tightened.
Instruction
- Hold a kettlebell in your hands on the sides.
- As you engage your core, shoulders, and back and hold in an upright position.
- Take controlled steps until your complete your desired distance.
You can also perform this exercise using a dumbbell.
Dumbbell military presses
This exercise collectively works on your shoulders and traps and using a dumbbell as stated above is a much after equipment to avoid any injury.
Instruction
- Hold a pair of dumbbells.
- As you embrace your core and glutes bring the weights up to the level of the shoulders.
- Avoid injuring your rotor cuffs like in tricep dips by lifting the weight a little forward.
Upright row
It is a great exercise if added to your trap workout routine. In addition to working the trap muscle, they also hit the anterior and the posterior deltoid muscles giving your shoulders more definition.
Similar to some of the other back and shoulder exercises, if done incorrectly can cause issues like tenderness in the shoulder. Avoid this exercise if you have any sort of shoulder pain.
Instruction
- Hold a barbell in your hands with an overhand grasp and you stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Tighten your core, keep your spine neutral, and your chest high.
- Raise the barbell as you inhale almost up to your chin.
- Pause for a moment and lower the barbell as you exhale.
Perform a minimum number of reps to cause muscle fatigue but avoid doing too many reps as it can cause injury.
Face pulls
This is one of the exercises that are mostly overlooked mainly due to the unavailability of the machine in some gyms. This is one of the best exercises to build shoulders, back, and correct posture. The cable machine can be supplemented by the use of a resistance band.
It is easy to make a rookie mistake when it comes to the form of the exercise but when done right it hits the lower traps.
Instruction
- Set the cable machine or the resistance band just above the level of your eye, use the rope attachment for the cable machine.
- Hold the handles of the rope in each hand with an overhand grip.
- Arch your spine backwards and tighten your shoulders.
- Pull the cable toward your face while you keep your elbows high and without moving your hand much.
- Hold, and return to the starting position slowly.
- Repeat.
Perform 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps each.
This exercise needs to be done in the correct form and controlled motion to avoid any injury to the deltoid muscles.
Here are some disorders that affect the trapezius muscle.
- Due to a high-intensity exercise or an accident, the traps stretch more than they should and end up tearing. This causes muscle cramps.
- If you somehow manage to damage the spinal accessory nerve, the nerve that supplies the trapezius muscle it can cause weakness in the muscle and severe cases of paralysis of the muscle. This type of disorder mostly results from post-operative trauma.
- Insufficient exercise of the muscle can reduce flexibility and can cause tightness and pain in the area of the neck and shoulders.
Regular stretching exercises improve the flexibility of the muscle and reduce tightness, Reduce your weight as it can cause muscle strain and it is very important to warm up before an exercise.
Conclusion
Now that we have provided you with adequate knowledge to train your traps it is about time you go and test them out for yourself and curate the best exercises that you prefer and find challenging enough.
Contact your doctor if you see limited mobility in the muscle, or have stiffness and pain in the neck region. Feel like the trapezius muscle is weakened. If you observe a painful swelling over the muscle area.
These can be either treated by surgery, physical therapy, adequate rest, and adequate nutrition.