Trapezius muscle tends to give you that masculine look even when you are wearing your t-shirt on. One thing about traps is that it is one of the most prominent muscles in your back. Apart from aesthetics, it can also benefit other parts of the upper back. Upper traps can support your arms and even elevate the shoulder blades. The mid and lower trapezius, on the other hand, are responsible for the scapula’s retraction, depression, and rotational movement.
Therefore, working on your traps is practical since the scapula is responsible for keeping your shoulder stable and injury-free.
Unfortunately, a lot of people find it frustrating to grow their traps. They’d think that they need heavy dumbbells to be able to shrug and see some proper gains on their traps. Here are some strategies that can help develop your traps even if you don’t have access to a lot of equipment.
Find the right sport
One of the best ways to develop traps is by doing sports that involve the use of your traps. Wrestling, judo, and Brazilian jiujitsu are some of the sports that require a lot of isometric contractions on your traps. It means that you hold positions in place keeping the muscle in tension.
Dumbbell Military Press
Doing military press is a good way to work on your shoulders. However, this can also help target your traps. Instead of doing military press on your barbell, you can switch to either a kettlebell or a dumbbell. This is also safer since you don’t overestimate your strength by stacking more weight than you should. If you are doing the exercise, be sure that you are going to brace your core avoid rounding your back.
Kettlebell Snatch
The trapezius muscle has been associated with power for good reasons. Kettlebell snatch requires posterior muscles such as your traps to maintain proper form. The traps come in handy especially when you have the weight above your head.
A lot of people find it difficult to perfect their snatch using a kettlebell. If you feel like you still don’t have the proper form, start with light kettlebells. Next, you also want to build your way up to doing a snatch by perfecting your swings and cleans.
Dumbbell Overhead Carry
Carrying anything above your head requires the action of your trapezius muscle. Dumbbell overhead is a great way to improve your shoulder’s stability. It also helps work on your core muscles. And even if you are carrying light dumbbells, your traps are working extra because you are performing an isometric hold. According to experts, it is possible to still experience hypertrophy without changing the amount of weights that you use and even its reps. Instead, you can increase the amount of time spent by the muscle under tension.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Dumbbell lateral raise is a good way to work your middle deltoid. However, the traps are also going to work since it will have to act as a stabilizer. Just one note, you don’t want to just get your arms on your sides but have a 20 to 30-degree angle in front of your body instead. This will get your raises to work on your scapular plane.
Bent-Over Y Raise
Bent-over Y may look easy on the outside but it can make your traps feel the workout even with lighter weights. It is a functional workout as well as increases both pushing and pulling power and overhead stability. You don’t even need to use heavy dumbbells for this exercise. You can also make use of resistance bands.
Farmer’s carry
Heavy lifting is the gold standard for building traps. Farmer’s carry is one of the best exercises that you can do if you want to engage your traps, shoulders, and core. Just be sure that you are not letting yourself have a rounded back while doing the exercises. This can easily prevent gains from your core and shoulders.
Face Pull Using a Resistance Band
You can still be doing face pull even if you don’t have access to the gym. All you need is a post and a resistance band. This exercise is known to hit the lower trapezius. To get the best results, be sure to squeeze as you pull the resistance band close to your face. The longer you squeeze, the better the results.
Final Thoughts
Before you get obsessed about having large traps, you also want to understand that there are drawbacks to having large and overdeveloped traps if you are an athlete. Overdeveloped traps can lead to an upper cross syndrome which can ultimately lead to posture problems, upper body limitations, and back pain.
Also, if you are an athlete who needs to swing your arms overhead such as a basketball player or a tennis player swinging his or her racquet above, this can be a problem. It is possible to compromise your technique or even lead to an injury because you will have to compensate.
You will need to have a goal in mind if you are going to put extra effort and focus on your traps. If it is just for aesthetics, then it’s not a problem. But if it’s for athletics, be sure that you don’t overdo it. Better yet, talk to a strength and conditioning trainer familiar with your sport.