Worked for Haney. Tried them for a bit, but my ass always impeded the peak contraction.
Yeh, unless you have no ass they are very awkward...B/bell shrugs to the front, d/bell seated or standing... Deadlifts and rack pulls, all better options
It feels like something that puts your shoulder in an awkward position and could have injury potential at higher weights. Try using slightly lighter DBs and instead of pulling your shoulders up to your ears, try to pull your shoulders up while pulling your scapulae together in the upper back. Squeeze and hold at the top.
Made famous by Lee Haney in one of his old videos. We all tried them and none of us developed Lee Haney like traps. End story.
I've hung out and trained with Lee quite a few times when I was in school in Atlanta. He really did do these exclusively for traps. He once said "what works doesn't really make for a pretty picture". Meaning that the photos in the magazines often showed him doing exercises just for that occasion and that he normally did not do. Like dumb bell shrugs and upright rows.
Ronnie did the behind the back barb shrugs....pretty short ROM
On his tv show he also performed cable upright rows with the EZ attachment.
Upright rows are all you need to do for traps