Fitness Tips - How to Build Towering Traps

So, your chest is getting thicker. Your shoulders are rounding out, and your lats are starting to sweep like you've always wanted. If your torso were an engagement ring, you'd have a nice platinum thing going...but something is missing...the diamond.

"The diamond" is the name I give to the trapezius: the large diamond-shaped muscle that attaches at the top of the neck, spreads to the shoulder and down the middle of your back, tying your shoulders and your lats together. The traps, like the biceps and the abs, are largely aesthetic. Nothing says muscle like a pair of towering slopes running from your neck to your shoulders. The traps, however, are also very functional, assisting in every movement that goes from a lower position to a higher one.

In fact, when you consider that the traps are involved in far more movements - and that the traps are larger - than the abs and biceps combined, it's a wonder that people don't pay much attention to them.

It's time for that to stop. If you want to find your diamond - if you want a set of towering traps - here's how to get them.

AN ISSUE OF TIMING
Perhaps the most debated aspect of weight training is not how many sets and reps to do. It's not how frequently to train. It's not even whether machines or free-weights take the cake. The biggest argument in weight training is over when you should work what muscles, and this argument extends to trap training.

Some say traps should have their own training day, but since you work your traps during shoulder and back exercises, relegating a whole trap day is likely to result in overtraining. Some say you should train your traps with your back, but since your back workout should be the longest workout of the week, adding more trap sets to it would be overkill. The answer: you should train your traps after your shoulders. This way they won't be exhausted for your compound shoulder movements, but they'll be warmed and ready for a hard hit when you're done with you delts.

The best exercise for "making the shift" from your shoulders to your traps is the upright row.

UPRIGHT ROW: Grasp a barbell with a shoulder width overhand grip. Pull the bar to your neck with your elbows leading. Allow your wrists to flex as the bar rises. Lower and repeat.

TRAP TIP #1: TRAIN YOUR TRAPS AFTER YOUR SHOULDERS, AND BEGIN YOUR TRAP WORKOUT WITH UPRIGHT ROWS TO "MAKE THE SHIFT" FROM YOUR SHOULDERS TO YOUR TRAPS.

BUILD A TALLER TOWER
They're heavy. They hurt. Everyone knows about them, but too few people really use them correctly. They're the shoulder shrug, and they're the number one mass building movement for traps.

You can do them with a barbell or with dumbbells. With a barbell, you can typically do more weight, which might help the traps grow. But as we all know, execution is more important than weight, and what the dumbbell shrugs lack in heaviness, they make up for by allowing a greater range of motion. They're the most important of the trap exercises, and if performed correctly, are guaranteed to add height to your towers.

DUMBBELL SHOULDER SHRUGS: Hold heavy dumbbells in both hands, and let them hang at your side. Lean in a little bit (just a slight tilt forward) and pull your shoulders - and the weight - upwards, trying to touch your shoulders to your ears. Actually touching your ears is impossible, but the illusion will ensure proper form.

TRAP TIP #2: USE DUMBBELL SHOULDER SHRUGS TO ADD HEIGHT TO YOUR TRAPS. THEY ALLOW A GREATER RANGE OF MOTION THAN BARBELL SHRUGS, AND THEY EMPLOY MORE OF YOUR MUSCLE.

THINK THICKNESS
When people think about traps, they often think only about building up the slope from the neck to the shoulders. Your traps, however, are much more than this. In fact, most of the traps' mass is below your shoulders, between your lats. To truly develop great traps, you have to pay attention to the lower part, too. After all, it's your lower traps will provide your back with thickness. Seated shoulder shrugs on a row machine are a great way to achieve that coveted thickness.

SEATED ROW SHRUGS: Sit down at a row machine. Adjust the chest pad and seat so that when you grasp the handles, your arms are fully extended and parallel to the floor. Holding the handles, pull your shoulder blades together while keeping your arms locked. You should imagine trying to squish a grape in the middle of your back. Hold for a few seconds, return, and repeat.

TRAP TIP #3: Don't ignore your lower traps. Use seated row shrugs to add thickness to your traps.

FINDING FATIGUE
You've heard it before, but it can't be stressed enough: your muscles will not grow if you do not take them to failure. That being said, it is important to make sure you totally fatigue your traps. This is sometimes difficult to do because, often, your forearms will tire-out before your traps do. If you can't hold on to any more heavy weight, you can't continue to fatigue your traps...right? Wrong.

Using calf machine shrugs is a great way to take your tired forearms out of the equation all together. If you finish your workout with these, you're sure to totally exhaust your traps and make them grow.

CALF MACHINE SHRUGS: Position yourself on the calf machine so that the shoulder pads are above your shoulders. Put your hands on your hips. Raise your shoulders up towards your ears and hold it for a full second. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat. You can change your shoulder position (bending over a little) to hit the traps from different angles.

TRAP TIP #4: Finish your workout with calf machine shrugs. They'll take your tired forearms out of the movement and allow you to totally fatigue your traps.

ROUTINE
EXERCISE
SETS
REPS
Upright Rows
2
15
Dumbbell Shrugs
4
10-15
Seated Row Shrugs
3
10-15
Calf Machine Shrugs
3
10-15