# Barbell Shrugs



## Perdido (Jun 5, 2008)

I'm looking for some opinions on some techniques I've noticed at the gym.

My barbell shrugs are exactly like this pictured. I usually don't lift any more wieght than I can do with proper form.

I see guys who have been lifting for a while using very heavy wieght doing shrugs in a very quick jerky motion in a squat rack. They will lift the bar shrug the wieght up and down very fast doing 10 reps in 5 or 6 seconds.

My question is that is there any adavntage to these quick shrugs vs. a slower fuller range of motion shrug?

Thanks.


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## Gazhole (Jun 5, 2008)

Simple answer - No.

Long answer - No, and a quick uncontrolled movement with more weight than you can handle will lead to injury. You're right, they're stupid.


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## lucifuge (Jun 5, 2008)

Gazhole said:


> Simple answer - No.
> 
> Long answer - No, and a quick uncontrolled movement with more weight than you can handle will lead to injury. You're right, they're stupid.



amen


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## Built (Jun 5, 2008)

Hmmm... uncontrolled I'll give you. But what about olympic lifts - they're also quick, and you move a hell of a lot more doing a clean than you could doing say a reverse barbell curl. Effective, too.

That being said, how about scrapping shrugs and doing cleans and snatches instead?


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## Perdido (Jun 5, 2008)

Thanks Gaz & Lucifuge. This is what I suspected.

Built, that is a great suggestion and one a friend of mine also has suggested I try next week.


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## Gazhole (Jun 5, 2008)

Built said:


> Hmmm... uncontrolled I'll give you.



I think that's the key word, yeah.

Plus, its a weight you can handle for X reps, full ROM, good form, for that particular movement.

Obviously i could Deadlift more than i could Curl without any problems, but if i tried to do it the other way around...


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## Perdido (Jun 5, 2008)

Ok, let me take this just a bit more and specify my goal which is hypertrophy and not just to move alot of wieght - cleans and snatches would be compound movements achieving the same goal as shrugs in working my traps?


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## Built (Jun 5, 2008)

My goals are the same as yours. Try the cleans. 

Are you doing heavy deads and rack pulls?


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## thewicked (Jun 6, 2008)

I can work up to about 700 without a problem...no jerking and no leg help.. but i do do mine fast due to the grip giving out holding that kinda weight for an extended period of time. As long as I'm trying to touch my traps to my ears i feel it's solid work.

there's a fine line between proper form and working heavy. Going a LITTLE loose on form with some exercises can be beneficial to getting both you and your body used to handling heavier stuff or busting through mental blocks. HOWEVER.. i say this loosely.. don't go too crazy or an injury will put you on your ass in no time.


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## Hoglander (Jun 6, 2008)

Some people like to do shrugs at the top of deadlifts.

;  )


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## KelJu (Jun 7, 2008)

Gazhole said:


> Simple answer - No.
> 
> Long answer - No, and a quick uncontrolled movement with more weight than you can handle will lead to injury. You're right, they're stupid.



This is rare, but I am going to disagree with you. I have been doing barbell shrugs for years, and I saw the most improvement from doing high weight explosive movements. I have experimented with a 3-1-3, 2-1-3, and a 2-5-2 tempo, and made 0 progress. 

I have no idea why this is, and shrugs seems to be one of the few exercises that are like this for me. I also not gauging progress by numbers, but instead on muscle growth. 


There are a few professional bodybuilders at my gym that are training for competition that I have been watching and pestering for information that taught me some other tricks.

Behind the back grip shrugs on the smith machine with a 20 degree forward tilt hit my traps like they had never been hit before. The forward lean improves range of motion and the behind the back grip helps to isolate the traps and prevent you from using momentum. Its no substitute for standard barbell shrugs, but they are great for variation.

Traps seem to be a muscle that responds well to higher reps, or at least for me. 8-10 usually doesn't get it, so I often find myself working in the 10-15 range. 

Switching the grip every week helps a lot. If you have the equipment available to you, switching from neutral, to pronated, to behind the back supinated grip is awesome.


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## CowPimp (Jun 7, 2008)

It kind of depends on how they are doing them, but there are certainly advantages to using explosive movements.  As mentioned, you may consider doing some variants of Olympic lifting, or perhaps even some constituent parts that would help you accomplish your goals.  The high pull is a good example.  

Few things stimulate those IIb fibers like moderate to heavy weights being moved at a high velocity (Relatively speaking that is).


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## powerrack (Jun 7, 2008)

My traps are of decent size. I've always shrugged one way, very heavy, strict at first but fast reps, then as the set goes on, I do whatever I can to keep the weight moving. There are certain movements you can do this with, some you can't, for shrugs, it works for me.

Also deadlifts,pulls,rows,cleans,etc have a big impact on trap size.


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## vader (Jun 7, 2008)

what about people who roll their shuolders instead of just moving the weight up and down?
I see this all the time, it looks like a great way to cause permanent damage to me


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## Duncans Donuts (Jun 7, 2008)

Only do Olympic lifts if you have studied the intricacies of the techniques and practiced them.  Athletes who haven't used them, not wanting to sacrifice ego, sometimes jump in heavy without proper mechanics.  Start with the weight low & mentally prepared.  Self-appraisal and critique are important.


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## Duncans Donuts (Jun 7, 2008)

Using behind the back shrugs on a smith machine, I found myself instinctively leaning with my force against the bar assisting with a fatiguing grip.  Limiting the degrees of freedom on a trap-specific pull is best for results,I think.  The kinesthetic position itself doesn't feel very natural for me, but the relief for the lower back is obvious.  Holding a bar in front of you increases the activity of the spinal extensors, resisting the bar pulling forward and down.  The harmful compressive effect on the spine with heavy loads is obvious during deadlifts as flexion occurs during the descent.  Those muscles help to ensure spinal stability, and during a barbell curl or a barbell shrug things are far less risky but the risk exists regardless. 

I prefer behind the back or neutral (dumbbells or special bar) shrugs, although I want to note that the traps are involved with resisting flexion of the spine under loads, so it may be giving up some benefits excluding front loaded exercises as a priority.


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## JailHouse (Jun 7, 2008)

I use heavy shrugs as a form of grip work and it hits the traps, killing 2 birds with one stone.


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## Gazhole (Jun 8, 2008)

KelJu said:


> This is rare, but I am going to disagree with you. I have been doing barbell shrugs for years, and I saw the most improvement from doing high weight explosive movements. I have experimented with a 3-1-3, 2-1-3, and a 2-5-2 tempo, and made 0 progress.
> 
> I have no idea why this is, and shrugs seems to be one of the few exercises that are like this for me. I also not gauging progress by numbers, but instead on muscle growth.



Thats pretty interesting, actually. What other exercises follow this "pattern" for you?

Explosive is good i guess, but there be a line between "explosive, and controlled" and "uncontrolled", i think.

It just seems to me that an explosive version of this movement would be really easy to go wrong and pull your traps.

Did you use a lower weight than your non-explosive shrugs?


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## Perdido (Jun 8, 2008)

Built said:


> My goals are the same as yours. Try the cleans.
> 
> Are you doing heavy deads and rack pulls?



Thanks and I will try cleans today.
Yes on the deads & pulls but not so heavy that I can't keep the reps up to 5 at least as a minimum.

Haven't been on-line in a few days and after reading thru this thread I have allot of new stuff to try.
I know one thing for sure I am getting too comfortable with some of the stuff I have been doing which means it's time to change up.


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## AKIRA (Jun 8, 2008)

As with calves, I never see growth in my traps unless I add extra volume to them and thats usually done with shrugs.

Ive always done barbell shrugs behind me instead of in front of me.  I can use more weight (prolly cuz most of that muscle is back there  ) and it doesnt bother my genitalia.



JailHouse said:


> I use heavy shrugs as a form of grip work and it hits the traps, killing 2 birds with one stone.



Some of the time, I look at it this way too.


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## snoops (Jun 8, 2008)

light weight


YouTube - Ronnie Coleman Trap Workout


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