How to pump trapezius muscles: standard methods and secret exercises

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2014-11-03

Practically all guys want big trapezius muscles. Unfortunately, trapezius muscles grow rather slowly, and the arsenal of exercises to train them is not very extensive. There are not many secrets either. But they do exist. Now, I will try to share everything I know about how to make your "traps" grow.

By the way, I want to make a small aside. Often, quite skinny guys ask me: “How can I develop my trapezius muscles?”. The thing is that before considering the size of these muscles, you first need to gain overall muscle mass. If you are skinny and have, accordingly, a skinny back and shoulders, you will never develop your trapezius muscles until you gain enough mass throughout your body. Now, let's get to the point!

A Bit of Anatomy

So, pay attention to the illustration. The trapezius muscle attaches at the bottom to the coccyx and at the top to the occiput. In other words, it is quite a large muscle. It can be roughly divided into three areas:

• Upper part. The part that is visible from the front over the shoulders. This part is responsible for lifting the shoulders up.
• Middle part. The part located between the shoulder blades. This part of the trapezius is responsible for bringing the shoulder blades together.
• Lower part. The section located below the shoulder blades. This part is responsible, conversely, for lowering the shoulders.

So, we are mainly interested in the upper and middle parts, as these areas are well visible and can be relatively well trained.

Standard Exercises

Standard exercises include:

There’s not much difference in doing these exercises with a barbell or with dumbbells. Both exercises target the upper part of the trapezius. Personally, I recommend performing 3 - 4 sets and 8 - 15 repetitions. Each repetition should be done to failure, meaning until your traps start to burn.

There is much debate about whether to train trapezius on back day or shoulder day. Personally, I believe it doesn’t matter, and everyone should do what is convenient for them.

To better target the middle part of the trapezius, you need to lean forward. The more you lean, the more the load shifts from the upper bundles to the middle ones. When leaning, our task is not to shrug but to try to bring the shoulder blades together. In the video below, you can see such an exercise with dumbbells and support on the bench backrest.

This exercise can also be performed with a barbell and without support. Just lean over as you would with...

It doesn't change the essence of the exercise.

You can alternate between shrugs standing and leaning. For example, on shoulder day you do standing shrugs, and on back day – leaning ones. By the way, it’s better to train the middle part of the trapezius on back day.

Unconventional Exercises

There are also exercises that "ordinary mortals" hardly ever do, but which also develop the trapezius well.

Pulling Snatch

This is purely a weightlifting exercise. Watch the video to see how well the trapezius works at the end of the movement.

Push Press Pull

From the same category, but using a push grip. The traps perform a powerful explosive movement with a heavy weight. This effectively builds their strength and mass.

The downside of these two exercises is that it's quite difficult to learn them on your own, as the execution technique is rather complex. If there's someone in the gym who has done or is doing weightlifting, ask them to teach you. It's unlikely you'll learn to perform these exercises well on your own.

Farmer's Walk

This exercise is very simple and comes from strongman competitions. The essence is elementary: just take a pair of heavier dumbbells and walk with them. But the dumbbells (or something else) need to be genuinely heavy. For a man, it's at least 50 kg each. Many muscles work in this exercise, but to maximize the load on the trapezius, you need to:

• Secure the dumbbells with straps (otherwise, your forearms will give out before the traps).
• Do this exercise only after you've isolated the trapezius with other movements.

Below is a video for clarity. As you can see, there's nothing complicated about it, and you can do it in any gym.

Shrugs with a Barbell Behind the Back

These are done like regular shrugs with a barbell, except the barbell is behind your back. To be honest, I consider this exercise to be completely pointless, as it doesn't provide any special effect besides discomfort.

Conclusion

1. Combine exercises for the upper and middle parts of the trapezius. You can either combine them in one workout or spread them across different workouts.

2. Do exercises for the middle part only on back day. You can do exercises for the upper part on both back and shoulder days.

3. Use additional unconventional exercises.

4. Use a relatively heavy weight. When performing standard exercises, the weight should be such that you can do a MAXIMUM of 15 repetitions.

I would outline a trapezius workout like this (for example):

• Shoulder Day: Standing shrugs (3-4x10-12) + farmer's walk (3-4 sets)
• Back Day: Bent-over shrugs (3-4x10-12) + farmer's walk (3-4 sets)

For those who have mastered the snatch and push press, you can do it this way:

• Monday: Push press pull (3-5x4-6) + standing shrugs (3-4x10-12)
• Friday: Snatch (3-5x4-6) + bent-over shrugs (3-4x10-12)

That's all I wanted to share about training these muscles. Personally, after I started weightlifting, my trapezius grew significantly. This is despite the fact that I don't specifically train them. Good luck!