The Trap House

Being fit is awesome. That’s the reason most people start working out, to look good, feel good, and have a prolonged quality of life. But we’re bodybuilders, being “fit” is just a byproduct of what we do. While most guys want to look like Justin Beiber, we’re throwing heavy iron to look like Ronnie Coleman. Shedding blood, sweat, and tears to sculpt a larger than life physique that most of society doesn’t even find attractive. So if you’re going to give the finger to conventional living and put it in hours at the gym – at least look like it. Cement your traps and your f#ck the world badass persona with this one exercise…welcome to the trap house!

Behind The Back Barbell Shrugs

This movement targets your upper traps, middle traps and the levator scapulae—the rope-like muscle that runs down the back of your neck.

How to perform it

This is just like the barbell shrug except you hold the barbell behind your body. Take the weight off of a standing rack and keep your arms slightly bent as opposed to straight as with a regular barbell shrug. Perform a shrug as usual and when you reach the top squeeze the H-E double hockey sticks out of it. You’re going to really feel it at the top but the mind-muscle awareness will bring more blood into the traps thus giving them a greater pump and giving ground for greater growth.

Don’ts

• Don’t stick your head forward or downward. This can cause injury or worst…take away from this trap building mecca.
• Cheat yourself on the negative part of the exercise
• Go too heavy at first. Again, this could cause injury or the bar could slip out of your hands. If you’re going to go heavy, use straps.

Why this work

The angle. You are forced to squeeze the shoulders together with every rep, and this causes you to recruit every single muscle fiber in the trapezius.

Most of the muscle fibers are activated during the concentric (upward) movement of this exercise, however controlling the weight back down to starting point is equally as important as it promotes mind body connection and gives the added benefit of full range of motion.

There you have it, the forgotten exercise that really should never have been forgotten. It’s a simple yet effective exercise that most bodybuilders can do with the equipment they’re using everyday. This exercise is great in that it builds the mind-muscle connection, recruiters every single muscle fiber in the trapezius, and will cement that swole look you’ve been going for.

What do you think of the lost art of the the behind the back barbell shrug. Was it gone for a reason, or is the simplest answer sometimes the best?

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