wide grip barbell shrugs

[sculpture]

Trying these tonight with a really wide grip and concomitant lesser weight

Has anyone had any good results from this?

Any insight on variations on muscle load and activation?

[QuakerOats]

lesser weight= lesser muscles.

[DK II]

i agree, lesser weight with shrugs is pointless.

I have had the best results with high weight with shrugs.

[d0nny2600]

lesser weight= lesser muscles.

Very true.

Get the weight up and your size/thickness will come. Coleman being a prime example - when have you ever heard him worry about muscle activation due to different loads....

Simplicity - Lift as heavy as you can for as many times as you can and repeat. Eat like your life depends on it. Success.

Or you could try eating crap and doing 1/4 rom smith machine squats and look like ASJTwigotic.

[ASJChaotic]

Trying these tonight with a really wide grip and concomitant lesser weight

Has anyone had any good results from this?

Any insight on variations on muscle load and activation?

why would you do wider grip?
the traps don't care how wide your grip is, all they do is go up and down
it's pointless


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donny, I own your mind
those 1/4 squats with 600 pounds have given me more muscles on one quad than you have on your whole body

[d0nny2600]

why would you do wider grip?
the traps don't care how wide your grip is, all they do is go up and down
it's pointless


-------------------------------------------
donny, I own your mind
those 1/4 squats with 600 pounds have given me more muscles on one quad than you have on your whole body

This seems to be your claim but unfortunately twiggy you don't have any muscle. Stop talking shit and go train.

[ASJChaotic]

This seems to be your claim but unfortunately twiggy you don't have any muscle. Stop talking shit and go train.

I'm in your head, I own a castle in it

you have never posted a pic ...hence....you look like a microwaved bowl of human by product 

[d0nny2600]

I'm in your head, I own a castle in it

you have never posted a pic ...hence....you look like a microwaved bowl of human by product 

Yes. That must be it.

[sculpture]

why would you do wider grip?
the traps don't care how wide your grip is, all they do is go up and down
it's pointless


-------------------------------------------
donny, I own your mind
those 1/4 squats with 600 pounds have given me more muscles on one quad than you have on your whole body

i'm only asking.

Thought i changed grip for once just as im sure people to for various other exercises.

[Rimbaud]

i agree, lesser weight with shrugs is pointless.

I have had the best results with high weight with shrugs.

I always felt kind of the opposite. I don't do barbell shrugs but I still do dumbbell shrugs & I prefer moderate weight & high reps.

[DK II]

I always felt kind of the opposite. I don't do barbell shrugs but I still do dumbbell shrugs & I prefer moderate weight & high reps.

See, everyone is different, lol!!

[Rimbaud]

See, everyone is different, lol!!

Exactly.

[jpm101]

You are going to get a whole different stretch and feel to BB shrugs when using an extra wide grip.  The traps are a diamond shaped muscle and  a wider grip seems to hit most of the muscle better. Guy's with a good hand spacing can do the exercise with a collar to collar grip, fingers touching or overlapping the collars themselves. Seen some hold the 45's, on the BB, and shrug that way.

In any event, a extra wide hand spacing can affect the middle to lower trap even more when  bent slightly forward from the waist. If you take a bent over rowing position and shrug the bar towards you, than you can reach the hard to hit mid to lower trap very well. Try a hold and squeeze at the top position. Very the rep numbers to see what really works for you and you alone. But lower and heavier trap shrugging can work for the majority of BB'ers.

If you want a different slant of trap training than do a set of shrugs followed by a set of power cleans (usually mid thigh as a starting position) . Three of these SS cycles for 8 to 12 reps. You should feel it very strongly for the next few days after. Also improved muscle growth. Good Luck.

[jon cole]

lesser weight -lesser muscle is false for traps, wider grip equal a better form for your traps, more mass on the junction with the shoulder.

[DK II]

Great advice there, jpm! I tried wide barbell shrugs with lesser weight today, it was good.

[cheftim]

Dumbell shrugs. I cannot see it any other way?

[sculpture]

You are going to get a whole different stretch and feel to BB shrugs when using an extra wide grip.  The traps are a diamond shaped muscle and  a wider grip seems to hit most of the muscle better. Guy's with a good hand spacing can do the exercise with a collar to collar grip, fingers touching or overlapping the collars themselves. Seen some hold the 45's, on the BB, and shrug that way.

In any event, a extra wide hand spacing can affect the middle to lower trap even more when  bent slightly forward from the waist. If you take a bent over rowing position and shrug the bar towards you, than you can reach the hard to hit mid to lower trap very well. Try a hold and squeeze at the top position. Very the rep numbers to see what really works for you and you alone. But lower and heavier trap shrugging can work for the majority of BB'ers.

If you want a different slant of trap training than do a set of shrugs followed by a set of power cleans (usually mid thigh as a starting position) . Three of these SS cycles for 8 to 12 reps. You should feel it very strongly for the next few days after. Also improved muscle growth. Good Luck.

First valuable answer.

Thank you for this insight

[Soundness]

Trying these tonight with a really wide grip and concomitant lesser weight

Has anyone had any good results from this?

Any insight on variations on muscle load and activation?

jpm gave good advice. Wider grip will hit the traps slightly more on the lower-outer-most areas. The parts towards the AC joint at the shoulder, but lower down on the traps where that slant is when you flex. This is good if you want to bring out your "wings." However, they're probably 95% the same as regular shrugs, since the fibers fire all-or nothing from the insertion point. But the traps will be hit lower on those outer areas because the weight is just slightly shifted, coming more from the outside than straight down. Just slightly more tension there on the pull.

Here's a better way to accomplish what this will: Do what is called Kelso Shrugs. Here, instead of doing your shrugs standing straight up and down, you do them either bent over like a row or completely horizontal on a bench, for example:

From

to

and repeat.

http://www.weighttrainersunited.com/latshrug.html

This targets the middle portion of the traps as opposed to the upper portion, and will bring out your middle back thickness if that is an area you need to target. Try them, it really works!

My favorite shrug variation is on a low pulley. Try it, you'll love it to death. Go to the cable machine, set it on the low pulley, attach a straight bar, and sit on the ground on your butt with your legs straight. Get close enough you can just reach the bar, and secure your feet by having so much weight to push on you won't move when you shrug the stack. You can go VERY heavy on them and they work tremendously well!

There are many, many productive variations of shrugs to target certain areas. Basically, the more tilted forward, toward the weight, your upper body is, the lower on the traps you will stimulate. See, our conventional method of standing shrugs targets the upper-most part and we're missing out! For more info, check out this brilliant work. Good luck!:

[DK II]

thanks for the post, i was doing it like that on cable rows.

here's another great exercise for your traps:

i try to explain it, since i don't know a name for it, and i have never seen it somewhere, but this is what i do.

get a cable with a rope attached into the upper position, like if you wanted to do triceps pulldowns. Now what you do is not grap the rope like you would on cable pulldowns, but you reach under the rope and grap the rope from behind.

Now when you put up your arms, the arms should be in a position like on close grop lat pulldowns. hands are about at height a bit above your ears.

What you do now is to pull your elbows BACK as much as you can and flex the traps in the end.

i hope you can understand what i meant.

[Soundness]

thanks for the post, i was doing it like that on cable rows.

here's another great exercise for your traps:

i try to explain it, since i don't know a name for it, and i have never seen it somewhere, but this is what i do.

get a cable with a rope attached into the upper position, like if you wanted to do triceps pulldowns. Now what you do is not grap the rope like you would on cable pulldowns, but you reach under the rope and grap the rope from behind.

Now when you put up your arms, the arms should be in a position like on close grop lat pulldowns. hands are about at height a bit above your ears.

What you do now is to pull your elbows BACK as much as you can and flex the traps in the end.

i hope you can understand what i meant.

Wow, very interesting angle! I haven't heard of this one before.
I think it hits the lower traps, correct? Not many ways to do that, thanks!

[DK II]

Wow, very interesting angle! I haven't heard of this one before.
I think it hits the lower traps, correct? Not many ways to do that, thanks!

yes, very much.

I do that in a superset with upright cable rows and shrugs. 

[Soundness]

yes, very much.

I do that in a superset with upright cable rows and shrugs. 

Good idea, kind of like what I was talking about here for the chest:
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=249218.25
Using a superset to exhaust all parts. We're on the same page. 

This is good; it's difficult to hit particular areas with one movement, but this way,
we create a combined set, a more intense one that annihilates the entire muscle, not just part.

[DK II]

Good idea, kind of like what I was talking about here for the chest:
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=249218.25
Using a superset to exhaust all parts. We're on the same page. 

This is good; it's difficult to hit particular areas with one movement, but this way,
we create a combined set, a more intense one that annihilates the entire muscle, not just part.

Now the only thing that is left is to change the weight and the reps for each movement so you reach all sorts of muscle fibers. 

[jpm101]

Kelso shrugs are a good execise and has been around for quite a time. But for some people the Kelso shrug can put too much pressure on the chest after awhile. When heavier weight is used (can build up to some pretty impressive weight in this exercise) there is a lot of pressure on the rib box and the breathing can seem constrictive.  That's why I suggest for that form of shrugging in the bent over row position. May not be as effective on a bench, I am not sure.

Most of you guy's probably already know that the bar used in the pic can also be used in benching, allowing a better stretch on the pecs. Some big bencher's like it because to can affect and strengthen the muscle/tendons past the normal ROM, where the bar touches the chest and stops it's travel. Something like giving a reserve of power and  better control to the lift.  Like going below parallel when squating, which can improve the lift. Good Luck.