4 Stupid Things I Did to Grow My Traps (Not Barbell Shrugs)

[@AlexanderBromley]

Is every rep in your workout getting you closer to your goals? If you had to pause, go to www.BaseStrength.com Bromley Merch at www.Barbellapparel.com/Bromley WE'RE ON DISCORD! BaseAI discord.gg/wsEq5aDq84

[@Soon2Be91]

Bad genes, big dreams and brick by brick need 2XL in stock. Will you drop a line in a video Next time they are? Love the content. Thanks.

[@psyoperator]

I think you should be Bane for Halloween... Maybe you could find a mask that covers the beard instead of having to give it the chop.

[@MickeyMouse-el5bk]

I would like to try your app

[@BuJammy]

About 2 years ago my Mum saw me without my shirt on for the first time in maybe 25 years. "Oh my god, what are those growths on the side of your neck?" she asked. Finally made it.

[@harryv6752]

Gnarly! 🤘😆🤘

[@joecam1167]

Thanks Ma!

[@dwaynecunningham2164]

Everybody laughed Everybody joked But no one hit traps So no one got yoked.

[@blackholebob8237]

Nice

[@virtuerse]

Bars 🤙🏽

[@x1ld3n]

My traps grew just from doing lateral raises wrong 😂

[@fortnitetrashcan8308]

they hit traps either way

[@ezrapierce1233]

Mission failed successfully😂🤷

[@roycegarvin]

Big 🧠 😂

[@lukaslanger8077]

Just because your traps are working on lateral raises, does not mean your delts dont. Just like a squat: just because your glutes work, does not mean you quads dont. Those are muscles which just work together. Keep doing them.

[@owlwithwhiplash8568]

Teach me how to do them “wrong,” please. Did you shrug up and THEN initiate the deltoid part of the raise?

[@PeterPhantomForces]

Zercher shrugs. I have no idea if my traps are growing but man are they fun.

[@filmdewater3420]

Kyriakos is proud of you

[@grandmasterfash7396]

I worked out at home with nothing but a bench, some dumbbells, and a weight vest for about 6 years before i ever got a gym membership. Because i had limited equipment i learned a few tricks to make my movements more effective. I could only load my dumbbells with 65 pounds, so for my traps i started doing a modified version of a farmers carry. Start out like you're about to do a normal farmers carry, but shrug your shoulders up, bring your elbows back behind you, hold that position, and go for a walk. For me, i used to just take a lap around the outside of my house and call that a set. The dumbbells will bounce a little bit while you walk, which forces your traps to do more work. Maybe it sounds silly, but that's the best thing i ever did for my traps.

[@GrahamVarnell]

Nice I’ll try this thanks

[@t3rror838]

I’m a bit curious about that that just ignorethe lengthened part of the movement(which studies show that lengthened part is where the most growth occurs)so by just shrugging your going into more of a concentric rather than just by letting your elbows be in a normal position just like in a normal farmers carry But you said that your traps go up and down cuz of walking so yes it’ll work Nice advice nonetheless 😊

[@nunchukGun]

3:25 can't even imagine how terrified she was seeing that come at her at that speed

[@Major.Tom.1973]

Big traps make a nice cushion to rest the barbell on when doing back squats

[@holdinmcgroin8639]

3:22 OUTTA THE WAY

[@mds7569]

Military press, barbell rows, block pulls, snatch grip high pulls. That's all you need.

[@Avztyn]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that considers the barbell row a key compound movement. I get so sick of seeing all these fuckin programs that just avoid heavy row work like the plague, I treat it with the same love and care that goes into my Bench and OHP

[@espenstoro]

I don't feel any isolated full range lat movement like an ultra strict chest supported row... BUT, it sure as hell gets me bigger and stronger. It's a must do exercise for me too. Turns out it helps to aggressively pull hard on something (that's what he said)

[@Avztyn]

@@espenstoro Crankin muh mufuggin Barbell

[@virtuerse]

@@Avztynwhat’s your frequency look like for rows? 3x per week?

[@Avztyn]

@@virtuerse Currently 2x a week Horizontal Pulling 2x a week Vertical Pulling. I like to make sure I get equal opportunities to do both. My goal is general physical strength so I do a form of Horizontal and Vertical pushing and pulling, Squatting, Hip Hinge in the form of Deadlift Variations, a Lunge motion, and then accessories are based on tertiary muscle groups, stabilizer muscles like traps, rear delts, arms , lower back, adductors and abductors etc. I use GZCLs structure for arranging my shit. I could probably up the frequency to 3 touches a week but I'd rather have an extremely consistent and steady growth from 2 rowing sessions than an inconsistent 3.

[@jahimuddin2306]

I have been treating it is a main lift for a couple of years now. Great for shoulder health.

[@cysecgnz]

My favorite upper-trap exercise has to be power shrugs with a trap bar. Load that shit up heavy, do 15-20 reps per set, hold on as long as possible on the last rep of each set, and your traps are cooked. For mid to lower traps I love using a machine like the Hammer Strength Seated Low-Row machine which has an upward arching motion, and setting the seat low enough and using a pronated grip such that it hits the traps super well.

[@mikehuff9793]

That upright row is so clean I can tell your clean from the floor to the clavicle is chef’s kiss. That is perfect

[@unsertainley]

My first introduction to carries was from Dan John's general fitness exercise list "Squat, hinge, push, pull, carry something heavy."

[@bobcantstandzyobitz9778]

Over time, I've found the impingement is tightness in the scapula muscles. I get it if I skip workouts for a while and do heavy triceps and chest, sometimes shoulders. Push elbows forward, kneel down with elbows on a bench, and pull down and back against it to stretch the scapulas, and use a hard ball against a wall to roll out the tightness. It works in a few days if you have neck pain.

[@roebuckmckinney]

Christian Thibideau is in one of the clips here, but no mention of his Snatch Grip High Pull. Nothing blows up my upper traps in particular like those do.

[@fakesuperhero368]

Great for Delts too

[@Trawe]

That's not "his" Exercise. It's a staple Movement in Weightlifting. Basically all Weightlifters do these at some point.

[@noalane3626]

@@Traweyea CT prolly just the most notable advocate is all , on the online space that is of course the few who go to an oly lift dedicated place obviously know

[@tylerskiffington2980]

​​@@Trawe Fair point! But Christian Thibideau definitely popularized them back in the day in Tnation articles. It introduced a variation of an Olympic lift to the "casual" lifter. I, myself didn't know such a movement existed! Because it is an Olympic lift variation that's used as a developmental exercise to the snatch. The common gym bro or lifter rarely knows anything about the realm of weightlifting let alone the esoteric movements involved. But Christian went wild with this particular lift back in the day (the video of him hoisting 400lbs blew my mind). His reasonings were that it had a lower technical ceiling compared to a full snatch, yet you could get the power benefits from it. The most impactful thing it did was blow up the traps for me. That was the biggest benefit that he promoted. I never experienced that level of stretch and soreness on my traps before as a young lifter lol. Over the years, my technique on the movement got much more refined and I've gained more out of it. It's not always in my programming, but whenever I do them, I always ask myself "why did I stop doing these?" Haha

[@Trawe]

@@tylerskiffington2980 you guys got a point there. he surely made them known to a broader audience and that's a good thing i'm thankful for. The Weightlifting Training and Lifts rarely get enough credit for what they can do for any strength athlete. :)

[@DCJayhawk57]

Cheat shrugs are the most time efficient trap builder imo if you're just in it for aesthetics. Start with your RDL working weight and work up to near your DL 1RM for sets of between 10-20 reps. I've been doing these once a week for the past several months and my traps have grown significantly despite being in a caloric deficit and losing 15 lb. I also think direct neck work will help as well, especially neck extensions a couple times a week. Alex Leonidas was preaching this stuff 6-7 years ago and people didn't listen.

[@zcddrew]

My all time favorite is trap bar deadlift with a shrug at the top of the movement. I usually do 315 for 8-12 reps with a shrug at the top. My traps are sore for days.

[@karimeltawansy]

I like the video. Traps are the easiest muscle to grow in my opinion. Like a natural bodybuilder once told me, "they grow just by looking at weight." I've found that to be true as long as your doing some sort of shoulder work and an isolation. The carries and heavy shrugs if you really want them to blow up.

[@DCJayhawk57]

I have had the exact opposite experience. My traps didn't grow until I blasted them with super heavy cheat shrugs for high reps close to failure. Most natural guys struggle to grow traps.

[@karimeltawansy]

@@DCJayhawk57 that's actually what I did lol. But to me, that's not hard because it's one exercise, you know? Plus all the stimulation you get from other exercises.

[@BluegillGreg]

I used to carry two kettlebells on a 1.4 mile walk around two ponds, stopping in a park halfway to do clean and press, swings and squats. Good way to get out and about. Good way to get more out of a good walk.

[@BluegillGreg]

Overhead squats are good for traps too. Sets of one snatch & 3 overhead squats with pauses at the bottom and at the top helped me a lot. Good for strengthening the overhead position. No need to do the full Snatch, Power Snatch is good enough to get it up there.

[@Introverted100]

I miss going to the gym. My squat rack and dumbbells at home do the job. However, being in a gym, I would find myself hitting tons of machines for the hell of it. It was fun..

[@prabhuannadurai3385]

The close grip or shoulder width upright rows can be replaced with wide grip upright rows with no shoulder impingement

[@andrewneilson227]

I’m glad you called out the nonsense surrounding upright rows. It’s one of my favorite and most productive exercises

[@bobafittness1346]

Finally, a fitness channel which gives fitness advice. This is so refreshing that I subbed. Thanks for the content.

[@asap8426]

Back in the day, I did a lot of behind the neck pulls and pushes. I also used a curl bar for the upright rows - I might do that again, soon :)

[@nym7973]

Thanks for the knowledge, Alex. I personally adore my upright rows. Something satisfying about being able to smack myself in the throat with my ROM. It's definitely an exercise that produces functional results.

[@ReDeV7]

Power shrugs off pins in the rack from upper thigh height made a visible difference the day after, heavy weight, high reps, soreness was nuclear

[@chrisnice690]

Thanks for these tips. I stopped upright rows because of athlean x, but I'm switching up my shoulder training, so the is a good exercise. Also thanks for the reminder on the farmer carries. And I've never thought about doing a trap press with the weight resting on me. Great advice, thanks I know these will grant me great gains.

[@rns7426]

My traps just grew from watching this video. Bean pole to no neck in 12 minutes from watching Bromley!

[@superhappypotatoe]

Noice! I've lately noticed that just doing Lu Raises (or maybe mis-executing Lu Raises) engaged my traps : after 10 months of those, 4x10 reps once a week, my traps made an appearance!

[@justinpaul3110]

Zercher anything absolutely lights up the traps.

[@dookie123ification]

Cleans work my traps more than any other exercise.

[@juanrafaelsolanouscanga9363]

Loved the video, I like how you mentioned carries are a fundamental movement along with the Big 5. Humans in fact are the only animals who are able to carry.

[@user-dn4lg1dv5v]

Love upright rows. I've been doing them 25 plus years without any issues. Nothing looks more impressive than a huge yoke!

[@DANA-lx8cv]

I do a ton of inverted dumbbell rows,/fly, face pulls, and some dumbbell shrugs on my back day and it seems to work. I just started doing face pulls regularly and am seeing a noticeable difference in upper back/traps development. Those high shrugs with a barbell look interesting. Never saw that before, but will try them out. Thanks for the new movement!

[@M-Forz]

Thanks man! I really liked that advice! I’m most definitely going to try that. These shoulders could sure us a bump.

[@TirepatchKing]

High pulls and fully locking out my overhead press in the scant time I have for the gym have helped a lot

[@TirepatchKing]

I have short arms, so shrugs cause some bar vs. junk issues.

[@Eeiiaane]

I really can't do upright rows, I can definitely always feel something unhealth happening in my shoulders every time I do it, especially with heavier weights..

[@AndJusTIceForRob]

0:54 “…one of my favorite barbell staples to ever get cancelled…” 😂

[@shanemoritz4607]

Do you include any cardio in your workouts? Very interested in the app

[@infinitejinpachi]

Where did you get this pic of me? 00:21

[@ci6516]

Snatch grip High pulls . So effected I stopped training traps a couple years ago

[@CA.0verview]

1:38 so what cues are we looking for ? And what cues to avoid from injury?

[@rosengeorgiev7938]

I agree, but will add weighted pull up and dip to the list, to COMPLETE the basic movements of the human body. Otherwise it’s missing downward pushing motion and upward pulling motion.

[@Primal_healer_tx]

Hey I go to that Golds! I do a lot of trap work for grappling. Great video

[@kevinbartoe7881]

Upright rows just got added to my Tuesday. Thanks

[@jeremiahleasure4301]

Broms, you are the high row to my traps. Thanks for all the knowledge brotha!❤

[@ryanthrives5152]

These are great, but when you do shoulder rows or lateral raises pivot your feet so you stop swinging. Specifically the lateral raise, blade your feet to prevent the swing and really engage the shoulders vs using momentum of the weights.

[@roscoerockwell9342]

😅im definitely adding farmer walks to my shoulders and trap days. Thank you! 👍😊

[@thefucrew9865]

Thank you for some great ideas !!! Keep up the great work !!!

[@CliffordTheCowboyCloser]

thanks brother! ill surly be giving these a try

[@MikeThaKnight]

I started shrugging at the top of my RDLs because I figured why not, it won’t waste much time, and it gave me a decent stimulus in the traps

[@briangolia8278]

Yes I usually do a designated back day with traps it kills two birds with one stone. I asked some big guy at my gym how to do upright rows and he showed me with and ez curl bar but I prefer the barbell and you’re not as restricted and you have way more flexibility with a barbell. Bent rows with some trap work.

[@weekendnachos_2049]

I was taught to do upright rows with a plate - bouncing it off the floor straight to the bridge of my nose - high volume REPS adding more REPS EFFORTLESSLY - and 🚜 FARMER WALKS🚜 rule

[@jricknuts8067]

I have pretty good traps, veins and everything. I blame farmers carries 100%. Best trap builder out there. Good info as always, Bromley. Thanks

[@michaelgardiner9960]

Snatch grip high pulls are also awesome

[@LongRon6969]

My traps blew up when I started adding cable face pulls and dumbbell “spider” shrugs (just shrugs on an incline bench) Instead of using a rope handle I used 2 D handles to take the tension off the wrists

[@JWinch]

No mention of dual cable shrugs for better alignment of the muscle fibers with the direction of exercise motion?

[@doomgronthewitcher6514]

Hi Alex, would you mind doing a review of the Norwegian volume method? Love your videos, thanks!

[@BluegillGreg]

Dumbbell Upright Rows give my shoulder joints a healthier movement pattern than Barbell Upright Rows. I superset them with dips to balance strength on both sides of the joint.

[@atheidon]

I do farmers walks and while I rest in between two 30 second carries I do some shrugs (with the same weight)

[@marcus_ohreallyus]

I have big traps for a small framed guy and I've never done a shrug. But I've done thousands of reps of cleans, deadlifts and lots of loaded carries.

[@ENetArch]

5 Gallon Pales of water / sand .. that's what I carried on the farm. 3 per hand at the same time for 40 to 80 feet to water cattle.

[@pauperdad7040]

Bent over rows and Kyriakos as an example. Love it

[@CankleCankle]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention face pulls. When you pull from low to high, it is quite a stimulus.

[@kennethemerson5548]

Seated db drag curls slightly bent forward.

[@LatimusChadimus]

Zercher everything and heavy heavy kettlebell swings have been adding a lot of mass to mine, besides the Kroc row

[@linkwolfgar4620]

If your a young man 17-25 start your first job as a brick/block stone Mason's helper. Make every task hard. Example; push all barrels of mud fully loaded through the sand do not make a runway for the barrel. When lifting the walk boards lift 2 or 3 at a time. When carrying brick tongs to load the supply boards use two brick tongs and before you put them down make sure to do a couple of reps of upright row. After a grueling long 9-hour day go home do push-ups and hit the bench no matter how sore you are in the morning get your ass up and go to work only rest on the weekends after you do your home chores do this for 5 to 10 years and you will grow exponentially make sure you have more protein over carbs with zero sugar

[@F0XRunner]

Calling me out on my vision board (and yes lift more and look like Sam Sulek are at the top)

[@leinekenugelvondoofenfocke1002]

I'm only really doing shrugs because you programmed them in. I hate them. However the way I do them feels more useful. I hinge over a little bit, and take the dumbbells from in front of my legs to beside them on the way up, that way there is some scapular retraction, and it seems like less of a jerk off exercise.

[@BrianGomez-iu3fs]

I’m convinced that the only thing that grew my back and traps was Romanian Deadlifts. I program hopped for a pretty long time and changed from row to row and press to press, never really progressing in any. I can safely say that the only exercise I really progressed from the ground up is the RDL… just because it was the most satisfying one to do. I looked in the mirror one day and noticed two demon horns going into my neck.

[@JGJ505]

Im doing standing seesaw military dumbbell press right now. It’s killing my traps like crazy! Basically it’s a military press with dumbbell but when one arm is pressing the other one is lowering the weight, it look weird but it is brutal!

[@josephparkes242]

Hang power Cleans for sets of 3-5 can get your traps feeling sore like you've never felt before

[@razz444]

Gonna try the last one as a superset after my squats and BTN OHP sets

[@atlaspowershrugged]

That feeling of being crushed progressively downward into more stretch on farmers walks... ...is exactly how the end of a set of powershrugs feels. Probably why they both work.

[@realisticthinking3490]

The Man himself. Atlaspowershrugged!

[@lol6434]

Snatch grip high pulls are another gold movement for traps

[@beyond_hjaemmetraening]

Kettlebell half snatch to overhead press. You will get the best from both worlds and hit the traps from all angles. Eric Bugenhagen has a video about it.

[@BM-pt6sy]

My trapezius have come to a point when my friends and other non natural individuals had suspected and asked if I was on steroids. I have been lifetime natural. It was all purely from light, very high volume lateral raises.

[@paulgeary531]

Load up a wheel barrow with heavy weights and push it across a grass Field. Thats what I did. Brutal..and worked great.

[@velinivanov607]

I'm similar to Alex in this regard that i just can't be bothered to do shrugs so my stupid way of training them is with wide grip pull ups 😊

[@Oi-mj6dv]

I also think if you lift in a crap gym where you cannot farmer carry because its transited or space constrained. Strap on some heavy dumbells or a heavy loaded trap bar and do a farmer hold like you would do for an.abs planche. Focus on trap fatigue and not grip fatigue

[@jacksonr260]

Working on the olympic lifts has made my traps explode. All the upper back and shoulder demands. Heavy cleans. Could probably hit them directly a little as well though.

[@markleon2270]

Power cleans really helped my power and traps

[@russellsherwood1491]

I miss upward rows haha, was awesome for me until my shoulders kept blowing out, but was a savage move for my traps

[@HYhkLOsa]

any thoughts on doing neck extension to supplement trap training ? every time i do them my whole neck and traps are sore the day after , after all , they are connected .

[@christianduval8374]

Always love to hear about traps.

[@bytetacos]

6:33 so wouldn't just doing heavy dumbbell shrugs for say 30 reps also be a good alternative farmers walk? Its basically the same move except the walk 😅😎. Shrugs are my fave

[@n3crowarlvck]

Gonna start doing super sets of these with deadlifts

[@takeda780]

No clean and jerks? I think i've read somewhere that the clean is heavily based on the traps.

[@str1ker_eureka]

Just save yourself the technical headache and deadlift heavy

[@noalane3626]

@@str1ker_eurekaonly non athletic types can’t learn it 😂

[@Samson2323]

Ive grown my traps and been rowing heavy but my mid and lower traps are no where to be seen. I got a thick back but the part the middle is super hollow (I am unable to see any mid and lower trap muscle)

[@HpCartier]

I think it’s cause I’ve only been working out for 3 years but my first year hitting them I was noticing gains but after that first year didn’t notice any improvement. Stopped hitting them focused more on hitting back in general focusing more on thickness and normal shoulder workouts and my traps grew more compared to when I would actually target them

[@MPLifts1111]

I definitely noticed the trap engagement as I upped the weight in bent over rows. I thought the same thing, like my form was getting sloppy as I got more upright-but damn do my traps feel it the next day

[@mr.wicked8697]

Ask convicts what they do to get yoked. Pretty much an upright row just with something heavy(bibles or water in a bag) inside a pillowcase

[@adampark1104]

My traps finally started growing after I did paused barbell deadlifts and really let me arms/traps/shoulder complex extend and stretch down. I came to the conclusion, after trying trap bars/kettlebells and other bits of equipment, that my traps were most engaged/challenged when the bar was in front of me, and not to the side like you'd find with a trap bar. What are your thoughts on this? I think a standard, paused (10sec+) barbell deadlift can work wonders. There's something to stretching the traps that really fuckin works.

[@VG-uh1hw]

Up right rows are not good for your shoulders in the long term, times have changed n there are more workouts out there that do the same with less risk to injury

[@AstonMartinStig]

Ya man, shrugs sucks and stress my lower back which I would rather save for DL and squats. Thanks for the ideas.

[@donnygaudet5498]

Wow I'm going to try that

[@Moshealthtips]

Zercher shrugs do so much at once

[@tonyh1345]

Hang cleans are what built my traps more than anything else

[@Flosstradamuss]

Best things for my traps; pinning gear and doing wide grip cable rows 😅 haven’t done shrugs in months and my neck is gone