How to pump up your trapezius

Basic principles of training

You can effectively pump up your trapezius only with a full understanding of the anatomy, physiology and biomechanics of special exercises. Thousands of beginners and amateur athletes train their trapezius for years, but cannot achieve the desired result. The reason is that they do not use the knowledge from the above-mentioned sciences.

Before attempting to pump up any muscle group, you need to look into the anatomy. The trapezius muscle occupies a large area in the back and shoulder girdle. Externally, it resembles a rhombus, the tops of which are attached to the neck, middle of the back and deltoid muscles. Pay attention to the location and direction of the muscle fibers of the trapezius: they are directed from the shoulder attachments towards the spinal column.

How to build up your trapezius muscle

The main anatomical function of the trapezius is to bring the shoulders and scapulae to the spinal column. This is clearly demonstrated in the illustration. Shortening the length of the fibers brings the humerus and scapula closer to the spine.

Note that technically, the trapezius is attached not to the shoulders, but to the acromion of the scapula, but for us - simple fitness enthusiasts - such nuances are of little importance.

To pump up the trapezius, it is enough to take into account such nuances from anatomy. All exercises aimed at working out this muscle segment should make you bring the shoulder blades and shoulders to the spinal column. It is important to reduce the length of muscle fibers as much as possible.

Trapezius Exercises

All pulling exercises, including the deadlift, involve the trapezius muscles, since when the elbows are pulled back, the shoulder blades are brought together and the trapezius muscle fibers are contracted accordingly. Here is a list of the most productive ones:

Deadlift ;
Pull-ups ;
Yates's (Yates') thrust;
Bent-over barbell row;
T-bar row on the machine, close or parallel grip.
Don't be surprised by the absence of an exercise called "shrugs", which visually resembles shoulder raises. Shrugs are a thing of the past. Previously, athletes' knowledge of physiology, anatomy and biomechanics was zero, since these sciences were just beginning to develop in the context of sports tasks.

This exercise is given a separate paragraph below. For now, let us note that the most developed trapezius muscles are typical for representatives of functional training, mixed martial artists, and other similar disciplines. If the trapezius muscles receive a complex load of a basic format, they progress better than with isolating movements such as shrugs.

The exercises listed above differ in biomechanics, execution technique and load factor. Despite this, they all form the trapezius. It is not necessary to use all of them, 2-3 exercises are enough.

Pay special attention to the deadlift and Yates row. They have a high load factor, which has a more significant effect on stimulating the trapezius to grow. However, training the back without pull-ups is counterproductive, so athletes use three main exercises for the trapezius: pull-ups, deadlifts and Yates rows.

Mistakes in trapezius training
Shrugs are the key to everything

The trapezius' function is to bring the shoulders to the spine. Classic shrugs involve lifting the shoulders, which weakly innervates the trapezius. Note that the trapezius is one of the strongest muscle groups in humans, but oddly enough, the working weight in shrugs is small.

Shoulder raises do not provide the necessary stimulus for trapezius growth, since its fibers do not contract over the entire area. In addition, shrugs are a clear example of axial load of a negative format, which, if the technique is incorrect, will lead to complications in the form of osteochondrosis and protrusions. Be careful.

If you can’t give up doing shrugs, try to improve the technique: bring your shoulders not up, but behind you at the top point, trying to follow the natural anatomical function of this muscle as much as possible.

However, we note that due to the isolating format of the load and the lack of involvement of other muscle groups, the benefit of such an exercise in the context of developing the trapezius will be minimal.

Lack of adduction of the shoulder blades

All pulling movements, from Yates rows to pull-ups, involve bringing the shoulder blades together at a critical point. This movement corresponds to the function of the trapezius, which stimulates it to grow and develop.

Learn to do deadlifts correctly: work not with your arms, but with your back muscles. Pull your elbows back, bring your elbows together, and lift your shoulders. Such nuances radically change the biomechanics of the exercises.

Deadlift

An excellent exercise for the leg muscles, back extensors and trapezius. However, performing this pull jerkily and then throwing the shoulder girdle up will not give a positive result. At the end of the movement, you need to do the usual contraction of the trapezius by bringing the shoulder blades together and slightly lifting the shoulders up and back. Forget the advice about lifting the shoulders up as much as possible. This is not a deadlift.

How to pump up the trapezius correctly

Do not forget about the anatomical function of this muscle, and the diamond-shaped arrangement of the fibers. It is not enough to simply raise the shoulders. It is necessary to bring the shoulder blades together and slightly raise the shoulder girdle. The movements should be directed backwards and upwards at an angle.

Think not about lifting the weight, but about bringing the shoulder blades together and about the peak contraction at the critical point of the trajectory. Many exercises also require you to move your elbows behind your back as far as possible, which innervates the trapezius to a small degree.

Don't train it separately. It's a muscle segment of the back, so it should be loaded on the appropriate day . The ideal back workout is built on basic exercises such as pull-ups and rows. Deadlifts are left to your discretion. They should not be considered a back exercise, even though the trapezius works well in the middle and peak of the trajectory.

Add functional exercises whenever possible. Kettlebell swings, barbell snatches, etc.

Don't waste your attention on unnecessary and unproductive exercises, such as shrugs and all their variations. The pro-level bodybuilders you see on YouTube do them either for the camera or just trying to increase the tonnage of the back workout, because other exercises lead to failure, pain, discomfort, injury or cramps, if we are talking about pre-competition time.