When you see tall traps what do you instantly think? Correct! Power and strength.When built with a set of well-developed shoulders, traps can greatly contribute to your general physique especially if you are wanting to impress the ladies with your large biceps underneath that regular shirt.
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Many people are wondering, ‘what is the best way to build huge traps? What do I need to do? Can I really do it?’ Yes! You can! And let me be the one to give you the golden ticket towards doing so.
In order to obtain the large traps that you’ve been dreaming of, there are 3 separate exercises you should include in your routine:
Barbell Deadlift
Nothing will help you put on muscle to your upper back than a basic deadlift will. Just look at any serious body builders or power lifters and you will see what I mean.
Not only is it the most effective way to help meet your goal of building large traps in the shortest amount of time possible but it also will help work out a large amount of other muscle groups as well. Some of the areas that it can help build muscle in as well are listed below.
- Spinal Erectors
- Lower back
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Glutes
- Along with other many small supporting muscles in different regions of your body
Sometimes while performing the basic barbell deadlift it doesn’t feel as if it’s working your muscles very hard. But rest assured it’s actually heavily working your muscles as you perform each rep and be prepared to feel sore from doing so the very next day if not by the end of the day. Although the deadlifts tend to be largely demanding and greatly intense life to perform, the rewards you will gain by doing so are well worth all the work and soreness you feel and put in. As the motto goes, “No pain, no Gain.”
A common and accepted recommendation is to start with 2-4 sets of 5-7 reps each.
Shrugs
It’s just as the name suggest. You can use either a barbell, dumbbells, a smith machine or even cables while performing this exercise. This is an amazing way to help isolate those upper traps to add and improve thickness in that region.
While performing the exercise be sure to do complete shrugs. Use large and full motions by lowering your shoulders as low as you can towards the floor while keeping your legs and back straight. Then go ahead and raise them as much as possible on each rep. As long as these are done correctly than these will make you feel as if your traps were lit on fire by the end of your set.
A good recommendation is to start by doing 2-3 set while choosing to do a higher rep range of 8-10 each.
Face Pulls
Face pulls are a less common exercise but your traps will not be complete without a few sets of added to your routine. The face pull consist of basically taking a row that is performed using a rope attachment than simply pulling towards and into your face.
These not only provide great stimulation to your trap muscles but they will always play your rear delts and other smaller muscles in your upper back regions as well.
It’s common for most bodybuilders to have an inconsistent chest/front delt development compared to their upper back/rear delt development. And the face pull help prevent this imbalance while building your trap muscles at the same time.
To get the most stimulation out of the face pulls, try focusing on driving your elbows outward as you row those weights in, be sure to squeeze your shoulder bla-des together at the end of each rep you do.
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For the face pulls, our recommendation is you do 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps towards the end of each of your workouts.
There it is. I have given you the golden exercises to help you reach your goal of gaining larger traps. Also remember that your traps will also be receiving indirect training when you are performing your shoulder exercises. So here is the complete workout plan that you should perform at least 1-2 time a week and slowly adding heavier weights as you go on each week as well.
- Barbell Deadlifts 2-4 sets // 5-7 reps
- Shrugs (With the choices of using Barbell, Dumbbell, Smith Machine or Cable) 2-4 sets // 8-10 reps
- Face Pulls 2-3 sets/ 8-10 reps
Also, while performing any and all exercises while working out and muscle building please practice any and all safety precautions so that you do not end up causing serious harm to your body and self. Also please note all exercises you perform can have possible health risk so be aware of your body. Although the motto of, ‘no pain, no gain’ is true you still do not want to push your body more than it can take so be aware of when you hit your stopping limit to prevent any injuries.