shrugs

[Mega Man]

Good advice - I like it.

My traps suck. One of my worst bodyparts and they've no height to them at all - all I do for them is shrugs and only recently I've started upright rows. I'll concentrate more on squeezing and higher reps as I'm willing to try anything now.

Trust me if do a decent amount of reps.....and squeeze at the top....you should feel it the next day especialy if you do some type of physical labor

Another trick I do to stimulate the traps is drop sets.....I pick a weight where I can do 20 reps, then once I get to failure I quickly grap lighter dumbells where I can do another 20 reps...sometimes I do 3 or 4 drop sets in a row until Im to pumped and my muscle feels like its gonna burst.......and a mabey the last rep I will hold the squeez at the top for as long as I can( 5-10 seconds)

drop sets work for stubborn muscles....like calfs for me. But if you naturaly have a great, strong chest or back....drop sets might just make you prone to injury in my opinion....at least from my experience.

[candidizzle]

you know, i never really considered that; mega man. i do drop sets most every workout...but i think i will hold back on leg and back training  from now on...no reason to get injured training those body parts..as they grow very easily for me..

[heavyNbasic]

Deadlifts have been awesome for my trap thickness, from top to bottom.  When not doing deads on a regular basis, i like dumbell shrugs with my chin tucked in (head down), and arms at sides.  I'll do a few sets of these, then a few straight up barbell shrugs.  Sometimes I'll jump on a t-bar row station (the one with the pad against the chest) and shrug on that.  It gives you a different, but good angle to work from.  Hits b/w the shoulder blades a bit more.

If I had to pick one exercise, I'd go with deads (forget the straps, and use chalk).

Point of clarification, Mr. Speaker: Close grip.  My shoulder girdle doesn't like wide at all.  And the row station I use allows me to plant my feet on the floor, which i do.  Feet up would no doubt restrict breathing quite a bit. 

[CalvinH]

I was at the gym last night and saw a guy doing shrugs with the straight bar.it was just painfull to watch he was doing 3 plates a side and it was just to much for him.bouncing his whole body up and down and rolling his shoulders on every rep

[Mega Man]

I was at the gym last night and saw a guy doing shrugs with the straight bar.it was just painfull to watch he was doing 3 plates a side and it was just to much for him.bouncing his whole body up and down and rolling his shoulders on every rep

That's more likely to cause an injury than make his traps grow!!!