The traps, as they are commonly called, are the Trapezius muscles. They connect your back and your neck (to put it simply). Most often they are trained when working out the shoulders or back. There are only a few exercises you can use to train these muscles. But don't let that put you off. You can achieve massive growth in this are using just a few simple movements. Often it's enough to simply do a few shrugs after your main workout exercises.
The main movements that utilise the traps are the Shrug, and The Upright Row.
The first exercise is the shrug.
You can perform this exercise very simply with a barbell or dumbbells. You can do these exercises from a position in the back or the front.
All you will have to do is hold the weight and shrug your shoulders. That is all you have to do. Some bodybuilders will use a variation of this exercise by rolling the shoulders instead of simply lifting them up and down. All you do to do this is roll your shoulders when you are performing the shrug.
How it's done:
1. Hold your weight in front of you using an overhand grip.
2. Raise your shoulders and try to touch your ears, as high as you can
3. Hold the movement for a bit, then lower slowly and repeat
When you are performing this exercise you must use control and lower and lift your shoulders slowly. Keep from straining your neck when you are doing the exercises to avoid injury. It is possible to use a heavier weight because of the smaller range of motion. The other exercises that you can use are the upright row. This type of exercise is typically used as a shoulder exercise and will work the traps while you are working your shoulder muscles.
Here is how the upright row is done:
1. Take a wide grip if you're intending to hit the traps with more intensity.
2. Hold the bar with a wide grip at arms length near your thighs
3. Lift the bar straight up along the line of your body until you get to about the hight of your chin
4. Hold for a moment, then lower and repeat
Make sure that you keep your elbows higher than the bar while you are doing the exercise. When you use these two exercises and make sure that you perform shoulder exercises as well, you will be getting a strong neck and trap muscles for your efforts.
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