Shrugs always seemed like waste of time, which is why I never do em. If I'm gonna go to the trouble of loading up the bar, I'm deadlifting that ****.
shrugs, high or low reps
- Thread starter leckbass
- Start date
I agree with some of G's post, but not all of it 
Not all of us are 500 pound power lifting gorilla's, can leap tall buildings jumping from squatting position, and bend steel just looking at it. G has been lifting for years, and G's size (strength) and trap development are from the "totality of his training" (because I know the G does Dead Lifts, and other exercises that recruit the traps) and not akin to one exercise (such as the shrug and its associated reps/set scheme). :sport:
What G does, is simply irrelevant to what this NEW PERSON should do. G's goal and this new persons goal can be different, and they are two different persons. And simply can respond differently.
Additionally, as a power lifter, our esteemed G, knows what ranges to work in, for his personal goals---A NEWBIE DOES NOT--HE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT WORKS FOR HIM YET.
Generally they have so many questions and are confused on what to do.
The new person hasn't simply experimented enough to figure this out for him or her self, and more than likely doesn't have the educational support to know when/how to make degrees in rep to set changes, and know his personal recoverability. This can take some time, when constructing a base to work from. They simply do not know "their self" and what will work for them within diet and fitness.
And, this brings my point. Is it generally accepted to advise a NEW PERSON when constructing a full-body routine to do 40 to 50 reps in their shrug routine? No, its not.
And, this is my point all along. I know I can be stubborn, but I can not wrap my mind around advising a new person (just starting) to do 40 to 50 shrugs (per set) within a 3 set series when they are performing a solid (for lack of argument) just-starting-out-full-body routine. And, I assume this "solid" routine will include the mighty Dead Lift and the absolute widow maker: the Squat.
Which brings my next point.
And to rephrase G's Real Man wording:
The Dead lift and Squat are to a real man what curls are to the average gym rat.
A shrug is a "sissy" in comparison to the above to lifts. Shrugs wear panties (please no one take offense ).
The body begs for mercy with the dead lift and squat, and can cause many questions of the durability of your heart.
Shrugs don't touch that.
Shrugs.....are way down ladder and its busting wooden steps as it tumbles down toward the ground as compared to these two exercise beasts.
And, as it tumbles down to the ground, it meets: MR. PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED FULL-BODY ROUTINE, and get "thumped"--and "absorbed within", as the MR. PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED FULL-BODY ROUTINE moves up the latter of importance.
I would rather see this person be more concerned with constructing a proper routine (and this can include trap exercises such as the shrug but NOT the 40 to 50 rep range), lift reasonably heavy (to start out), be concerned with progressive overload, and his diet.
A properly constructed full-body routine and diet, and the traps simply follow by their design.
Best wishes
Chillen
Not all of us are 500 pound power lifting gorilla's, can leap tall buildings jumping from squatting position, and bend steel just looking at it. G has been lifting for years, and G's size (strength) and trap development are from the "totality of his training" (because I know the G does Dead Lifts, and other exercises that recruit the traps) and not akin to one exercise (such as the shrug and its associated reps/set scheme).
:sport:What G does, is simply irrelevant to what this NEW PERSON should do. G's goal and this new persons goal can be different, and they are two different persons. And simply can respond differently.
Additionally, as a power lifter, our esteemed G, knows what ranges to work in, for his personal goals---A NEWBIE DOES NOT--HE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT WORKS FOR HIM YET.
Generally they have so many questions and are confused on what to do.
The new person hasn't simply experimented enough to figure this out for him or her self, and more than likely doesn't have the educational support to know when/how to make degrees in rep to set changes, and know his personal recoverability. This can take some time, when constructing a base to work from. They simply do not know "their self" and what will work for them within diet and fitness.
And, this brings my point. Is it generally accepted to advise a NEW PERSON when constructing a full-body routine to do 40 to 50 reps in their shrug routine? No, its not.
And, this is my point all along. I know I can be stubborn, but I can not wrap my mind around advising a new person (just starting) to do 40 to 50 shrugs (per set) within a 3 set series when they are performing a solid (for lack of argument) just-starting-out-full-body routine. And, I assume this "solid" routine will include the mighty Dead Lift and the absolute widow maker: the Squat.
Which brings my next point.
And to rephrase G's Real Man wording:
The Dead lift and Squat are to a real man what curls are to the average gym rat.
A shrug is a "sissy" in comparison to the above to lifts. Shrugs wear panties (please no one take offense
). The body begs for mercy with the dead lift and squat, and can cause many questions of the durability of your heart.
Shrugs don't touch that.
Shrugs.....are way down ladder and its busting wooden steps as it tumbles down toward the ground as compared to these two exercise beasts.
And, as it tumbles down to the ground, it meets: MR. PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED FULL-BODY ROUTINE, and get "thumped"--and "absorbed within", as the MR. PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED FULL-BODY ROUTINE moves up the latter of importance.
I would rather see this person be more concerned with constructing a proper routine (and this can include trap exercises such as the shrug but NOT the 40 to 50 rep range), lift reasonably heavy (to start out), be concerned with progressive overload, and his diet.
A properly constructed full-body routine and diet, and the traps simply follow by their design.
Best wishes
Chillen
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If the OP wishes, I can delete this post. Let me know, Leckbass.
And, Leckbass.......some feedback would be nice. We have some very knowledge people responding (i.e. Evo, Mreik, "G", and others), and your feed back could be good.
Gooch......post your stuff.....(calling you out, my friend). You 190ish beast. Show the TRAPS bro!
When you look at these pics, you really have to grasp, that the weight is just above 160 pounds--and I am approaching 50 years old. Way passed my prime.
This picture is more recent (162 pounds, 7.8% BF):
Further back view:
Closer view (7.8%, full of water, ripped, and veiny--Carbs back IN):
This one is a little further back, when low carbing and very dry (carb smooth out-reverse):
IMO, weak front show traps. Which I am working on in this bulk period. Strong Shoulder and Pectoral development for my size and weight.
This picture is also recent (162 pounds, 8%), showing the rear upper back development (or rear traps, which is one of my stronger components (other than abs):
A different look of the rear trap/upper back:
And another:
And, another:
And, one more:
I don't remember why this picture got cut off, but it is a picture of my rear back at 152/154 pounds, and if you compare it to the others at 162 pounds (as much as you can see) there is a HUGE difference in the rear back: (also at 8% BF)
I will dig up some front flex view for the weight of about 152/154 pounds, but post this one for a comparison (which is also 152/154 pounds). There is a huge difference as compared to 162 pounds. I will dig them up off my flash drive stored from One Note 2morrow.
Any hoot, I hope the OP doesn't mind......
And to progress a bit further on answering the OP's question:
1. What does your weight program currently include--other than wanting trap development?
2. What are you doing about diet?
(If need be, we can delete the pics, if the op or mods wish)
Best wishes,
Chillen
And, Leckbass.......some feedback would be nice. We have some very knowledge people responding (i.e. Evo, Mreik, "G", and others), and your feed back could be good.
Gooch......post your stuff.....(calling you out, my friend). You 190ish beast.
Show the TRAPS bro!When you look at these pics, you really have to grasp, that the weight is just above 160 pounds--and I am approaching 50 years old. Way passed my prime.
This picture is more recent (162 pounds, 7.8% BF):
Further back view:
Closer view (7.8%, full of water, ripped, and veiny--Carbs back IN):
This one is a little further back, when low carbing and very dry (carb smooth out-reverse):
IMO, weak front show traps. Which I am working on in this bulk period. Strong Shoulder and Pectoral development for my size and weight.
This picture is also recent (162 pounds, 8%), showing the rear upper back development (or rear traps, which is one of my stronger components (other than abs):
A different look of the rear trap/upper back:
And another:
And, another:
And, one more:
I don't remember why this picture got cut off, but it is a picture of my rear back at 152/154 pounds, and if you compare it to the others at 162 pounds (as much as you can see) there is a HUGE difference in the rear back: (also at 8% BF)
I will dig up some front flex view for the weight of about 152/154 pounds, but post this one for a comparison (which is also 152/154 pounds). There is a huge difference as compared to 162 pounds. I will dig them up off my flash drive stored from One Note 2morrow.
Any hoot, I hope the OP doesn't mind......
And to progress a bit further on answering the OP's question:
1. What does your weight program currently include--other than wanting trap development?
2. What are you doing about diet?
(If need be, we can delete the pics, if the op or mods wish)
Best wishes,
Chillen
Last edited:
i like power shrugs. look 'em up.
explosive shrug>normal shrug
explosive shrug>normal shrug
Gooch......post your stuff.....(calling you out, my friend). You 190ish beast.
The only recent pic showing my traps is my avatar pic. I'll post it larger.
I haven't quite figured out the logistics of taking my own back pic
My dooch Cell camera, has a rotating camera head, and when I take back pics, I flip it to the front (where the touch pad is), turn my back, place the camera in front of me (where I can see the LCD), and take the shot.
Gooch your traps are developing nicely, and your arms are friggen huge! Nice work........>
However, when we get done with one another (in our team journal of friggen business), you will be leaner, and so fuggen ripped.....your wife will forget to go to work
)) and want to stay in bed with the fellow forum brotha. You will not be the same, my friend. Best wishes,
Chillen
Ok, Times Out for a second. Apparently Chillen has misread most of my post.
To be clear, nobody said not to do squats, deadlifts, or a myriad of other lifts that are important.
High rep shrugs are ok for a beginner to do. Shrugs, being a low skill movement that can be progressed to other, more advanced lifts. We use them all the time to show young lifters and athletes positioning for power shrugs and high pulls. I know many very smart strength coaches who use shrugs, both heavy and high rep, with young athletes without imposing injury or doing anything too advanced.
Nothing I stated is specific to powerlifting, or my own training. It is merely some various ways to train shrugs for further trap development. In reality what I stated was, train this exercise a variety of different ways to get the most progress out of that specific exercise.
Apparently I was wrong and a lifter who is learning how his body responds to different exercises should NOT, under any circumstance, experiment with different rep ranges to see how they felt and what possible benefit could come from it. Trying different things is obviously NOT a good way to learn or to get to know ones body better.
But Chillen states that "The new person hasn't simply experimented enough to figure this out for him or her self, and more than likely doesn't have the educational support to know when/how to make degrees in rep to set changes, and know his personal recoverability." SO, we must NOT try new and different rep ranges and training methods in order TO experiment and figure things out for ones self.
ANYHOW, I apologize to the OP, leckbass, for misinterpreting his question -
To mean - "What works better for building mass for traps, heavy weight and low reps or lighter weight and higher reps?"
As opposed to what the question actually meant -
Should I do A properly constructed full-body routine and diet?
Please forgive me.
To be clear, nobody said not to do squats, deadlifts, or a myriad of other lifts that are important.
High rep shrugs are ok for a beginner to do. Shrugs, being a low skill movement that can be progressed to other, more advanced lifts. We use them all the time to show young lifters and athletes positioning for power shrugs and high pulls. I know many very smart strength coaches who use shrugs, both heavy and high rep, with young athletes without imposing injury or doing anything too advanced.
Nothing I stated is specific to powerlifting, or my own training. It is merely some various ways to train shrugs for further trap development. In reality what I stated was, train this exercise a variety of different ways to get the most progress out of that specific exercise.
Apparently I was wrong and a lifter who is learning how his body responds to different exercises should NOT, under any circumstance, experiment with different rep ranges to see how they felt and what possible benefit could come from it.
Trying different things is obviously NOT a good way to learn or to get to know ones body better. But Chillen states that "The new person hasn't simply experimented enough to figure this out for him or her self, and more than likely doesn't have the educational support to know when/how to make degrees in rep to set changes, and know his personal recoverability." SO, we must NOT try new and different rep ranges and training methods in order TO experiment and figure things out for ones self.
ANYHOW, I apologize to the OP, leckbass, for misinterpreting his question -
To mean - "What works better for building mass for traps, heavy weight and low reps or lighter weight and higher reps?"
As opposed to what the question actually meant -
Should I do A properly constructed full-body routine and diet?
Please forgive me.
That wasn’t the question, but thanks for your attempted interpretation.
The question is what it is!
I do appreciate everybody's opinions, and like I’ve said in other posts, I totally believe in established routines. I've come a long way in the last 2 years. A LONG WAY. Everything was based around core exercises.
Eventually I got a big head, in the summer I was fooling around with too much exercises and weight. I hurt my back and elbow. The back is near 100%, so I’m back to doing squats, but DLs are out of the question FOR NOW. It is a killer on my elbow. When I’m 100% I’m going back to all of the basics.
I was hoping to hear shrugs with low weight and high reps will work for some, and I did, so thank you.
PS you do not have to delete this post, I’m enjoying it.
"Generally" the reps for the traps (when considering Shrugs) are at the higher rep end. Meaning something like: 12 to 15 (for example). While others go heavier (thus lower reps), and get good response.
The main point in the other post I made (which was obviously missed) was that you need to experiment with various rep ranges and see what works for you.
I am not going to argue/debate, logistics. I am just concerned about you, and what you decide to do. I want to get things done, not muck around.
Obviously you have to select a "rep range" to start off with, lol. I just do not have the opinion, that 40 to 50 reps is the "default" for you at this present time (it could be as you work with your routine, however).
If you think about it a well constructed full-body routine, the traps can get a beating (and take it rather well, and have a high tolerance/endurance to stress). They have a rather high tolerance level that is close kin to the ab core (but obviously do not respond in muscle growth the same).
I would be interested, in what you decided to do, and the rep range you decided use.
Remember progressive overload. Its "YOUR-MOMMA"
Let us know!
Best wishes
Chillen
At the present, I think these rep ranges you are speaking are a wise range to begin constructing your exercise.
Wish you the best.
Chillen
Whenever I try BTB shrugs, my ass gets in the way
Maybe its cuz of your anterior pelvic tilt???
Now that i think about it i guess when i do them, i kind of suck in my ass and pull my shoulders back.
Heavy weight most of time, with occasional lighetr weight & high reps.
What the rest of the routine look like? Is there anything we can assist you with?
Best wishes
Chillen
Sorry, if I had missed you had problems with your elbow.
How long have you been experiencing pain? Have you had this looked at by a medical professional?
Best wishes
Chillen