How much are you shrugging?

[275bills]

I've used Versa for years and would never go back to straps. Versas give a different level of non-slip grip.

I will have to get me a pair also. Never tried before

 

[Doitagain]

Traps contract by pulling up and back. But i rarely see people getting anything out of the back part. And even if they try they are not pulling away from gravity so i find it doesn't amount to much.

Bingo. Apparently gravity is like rocket science to most.

 

[Oldwhitedude]

Bingo. Apparently gravity is like rocket science to most.

Rotator cuff work...

 

[Shelby]

Dude that guy was part of the first wave of mass monsters(as you know I am sure) I loved his physique. RIP

Not to quibble but I would say ("in my opinion") that mass monsters started in the 1980s with Lee Haney, then progressed quite a bit with the Yates-era of the 1990s.
(Art Atwood turned pro in 2001). Great bodybuilder, that's when I was first getting into it. I remember seeing him at an Arnold (maybe 2000 or so) eating what looked like a baby food jar of something and I wondered "what is that for, your pinky?".

 

[stackdizzy]

Man I loved.that period in my life. But you would know better than me. I remember fracois first pro i ever seen I person and he was so big. Sitting down he looked like some fat dude,.then you get up close and see his forearms and are like wtf. Blew me away. I met Cutler and that dude just didn't have like nothing exceptionally bigger than any.part on his body. It was like he.was.put together so well.....Really Wide. Also seen health in the gym one day and he was.fucking huge....so wide and thick. Oh and Nasser was in town once and be banged some half horse bitch. She.didnt.stop talking bout him for years...lol but that dude was huge

 

[buck]

I laugh at all the guy in the gym with no muscle who pick up a 5lb. or 10lb. DB for shoulder warmups. I'm literally twice the size of some of these guys and I don't even use weights when I warm mine up.

I rarely really warmed mine up. Maybe i should have. But when training infraspinatus to be stronger i would lie on a bench on my side, use bands or a pulley parallel to the ground and place myself mostly facing the pulley to get most resistance at peak contraction. Same principles when doing the supra.

 

[buck]

Not to quibble but I would say ("in my opinion") that mass monsters started in the 1980s with Lee Haney, then progressed quite a bit with the Yates-era of the 1990s.
(Art Atwood turned pro in 2001). Great bodybuilder, that's when I was first getting into it. I remember seeing him at an Arnold (maybe 2000 or so) eating what looked like a baby food jar of something and I wondered "what is that for, your pinky?".

I remember baby food being a thing for awhile. I read where Gary Strydom used it in prep with pics of him eating it.

 

[dantes]

I hate shrugs, I always tweak my neck. I would rather do something which provides more overall bang for the buck like upright row as you get delt development as well. I don’t find shrugs worthwhile unless your traps are comparatively very undeveloped

 

[Biggerp73]

Several people now have commented about the traps being in proportion and thus not needing more stimulus. Is that the approach you take to arms? They are about as big as the rest of me, I don't want them to get too far ahead? Pecs? Shoulders?

Do you guys honestly think it would look worse to have your exact same body, every single muscle the exact same size, but bigger traps?

Even if you are competing at a high level, strong body parts don't necessarily hurt you. Especially not something like traps which really cant cause an imbalance. What can hurt a physique, with regard to imbalances, is weak muscles. Not strong muscles.

No one thought about Lee Priest, "you know his arms were ahead of the rest of his body, he would have been better off not training them so that the rest of his body could catch up."

That's not a real thing.

If you don't think big ass nasty freaky "up to the ears" traps looks awesome, hey, I guess that's you

but that certainly ain't bodybuilding

and I would venture to guess those of you telling yourself this are lying to yourself and/or have not really thought this throuigh

99% of guys saying "they are already proportional" would be, if they set themselves on building them, much happier with their look if they just hammered the traps and got the as freaky as possible

 

[b-boy]

Several people now have commented about the traps being in proportion and thus not needing more stimulus. Is that the approach you take to arms? They are about as big as the rest of me, I don't want them to get too far ahead? Pecs? Shoulders?

Do you guys honestly think it would look worse to have your exact same body, every single muscle the exact same size, but bigger traps?

Even if you are competing at a high level, strong body parts don't necessarily hurt you. Especially not something like traps which really cant cause an imbalance. What can hurt a physique, with regard to imbalances, is weak muscles. Not strong muscles.

No one thought about Lee Priest, "you know his arms were ahead of the rest of his body, he would have been better off not training them so that the rest of his body could catch up."

That's not a real thing.

If you don't think big ass nasty freaky "up to the ears" traps looks awesome, hey, I guess that's you

but that certainly ain't bodybuilding

and I would venture to guess those of you telling yourself this are lying to yourself and/or have not really thought this throuigh

99% of guys saying "they are already proportional" would be, if they set themselves on building them, much happier with their look if they just hammered the traps and got the as freaky as possible

I agree with everything you said above except in one certain instance. If you are a bodybuilder that lacks width and you get your traps so developed and big that they start to make you slightly hunch over (affect your posture) then that will make you look even more narrow.
I heard Neil Hill say this year's ago and agree

 

[Reload]

405 for 10 reps. I have DJD throughout my spine but especially in my cervical vertebrae so I
leave my ego at the gym door these days.

 

[Mayhem]

Over the course of 30+ years of bodybuilding, I always trained traps, doing either barbell shrugs - front/rear, Smith Machine shrugs front/rear, and or DB's, seated or standing. Also using different techniques and body positions such as leaning forward etc.

But freaky traps are genetic, which I cannot claim, but freaky or not it really should not take more than 315lbs to grow your traps, 'if' the constant tension of squeezing at the top as high as you can go, while lowering the weight and letting your arms hang and get a good stretch. Too much of a risk to injuring your neck, spine or shoulders.

At the current gym where I train, they have a Hammer standing/seated shrug machine, which feels pretty good. But...as of recently I'm now using a Smith machine for shrugs. While shrugging, I make a concerted effort to lock out my arms/elbows. Each rep I shrug up to my ears with a hard squeeze, then lower the weight in a controlled fashion, letting the bar hang and stretch. It was my training partner who pointed out and suggested doing this, as ther. The result....traps have already progressively grown in a very short time. This will now be my go-to when training traps.

 

[solarsentinel1]

You guys may think I am insane, but I like shrugs so much, I built a "shrug machine" in the woods, on my farm. Poured a concrete cylindrical pylon around a PVC pipe, with an iron plumbing pipe running through it. Drilled out two 4x4's to fit around the iron pipe on each side, attached Olympic plate wall mount rods to each with bolts, and then placed eye bolts on top of each 4x4 to attach various types of handles and grips. Allows me to lean forward and back to adjust my angle, and gives me a lot of options for hand position. Have even used a nylon strap running over my delts on occasion (like suspenders) to lock in form and ensure that I don't bend my elbows and cheat with my biceps too much. I know it is a bit dumb, and I wish I had the build some of you monsters do so I could boast about how my ingenuity has resulted in huge traps.... but if nothing else, allows me to be outdoors while lifting heavy (for me) and getting a good trap pump.

 

[Biggerp73]

You guys may think I am insane, but I like shrugs so much, I built a "shrug machine" in the woods, on my farm. Poured a concrete cylindrical pylon around a PVC pipe, with an iron plumbing pipe running through it. Drilled out two 4x4's to fit around the iron pipe on each side, attached Olympic plate wall mount rods to each with bolts, and then placed eye bolts on top of each 4x4 to attach various types of handles and grips. Allows me to lean forward and back to adjust my angle, and gives me a lot of options for hand position. Have even used a nylon strap running over my delts on occasion (like suspenders) to lock in form and ensure that I don't bend my elbows and cheat with my biceps too much. I know it is a bit dumb, and I wish I had the build some of you monsters do so I could boast about how my ingenuity has resulted in huge traps.... but if nothing else, allows me to be outdoors while lifting heavy (for me) and getting a good trap pump.

Nice

 

[Mufasa123]

You guys may think I am insane, but I like shrugs so much, I built a "shrug machine" in the woods, on my farm. Poured a concrete cylindrical pylon around a PVC pipe, with an iron plumbing pipe running through it. Drilled out two 4x4's to fit around the iron pipe on each side, attached Olympic plate wall mount rods to each with bolts, and then placed eye bolts on top of each 4x4 to attach various types of handles and grips. Allows me to lean forward and back to adjust my angle, and gives me a lot of options for hand position. Have even used a nylon strap running over my delts on occasion (like suspenders) to lock in form and ensure that I don't bend my elbows and cheat with my biceps too much. I know it is a bit dumb, and I wish I had the build some of you monsters do so I could boast about how my ingenuity has resulted in huge traps.... but if nothing else, allows me to be outdoors while lifting heavy (for me) and getting a good trap pump.

This is cool as hell. At the end of the day each of us does this for ourselves and our own motivations and passions. I love seeing stuff like this as it's a pure expression of how much you or someone else enjoys this endeavor we all share. My home gym is kind of mine. Sometimes I just walk around in it or sit on one of the benches. Brings me reflection and peace to have built up my own.

Appreciate the share!

 

[solarsentinel1]

This is cool as hell. At the end of the day each of us does this for ourselves and our own motivations and passions. I love seeing stuff like this as it's a pure expression of how much you or someone else enjoys this endeavor we all share. My home gym is kind of mine. Sometimes I just walk around in it or sit on one of the benches. Brings me reflection and peace to have built up my own.

Appreciate the share!

Thank you, brothers, for the encouragement. It means a lot to me. Truly.

By the way, I can also run a bar through the handle end of the 4x4's, apply a hip belt with chain, stand on the logs and do belt squats.

Mufasa-Thank you, Sir! Reflection and peace is where it is at. Especially in this day and age. It makes me smile to know someone understands.

I always enjoy the mental and physical (and spiritual) results of my workout at any number of public locations (the two gyms I have a membership to, the athletic field and track at our local high school, the hill I occasionally run - at a somewhat nearby park hiking trail), but stepping off the porch of my farm house (where I am blessed enough to have supreme privacy, out of ear shot and line of site to any other neighboring human dwelling or structure)....walk into my woods, where all I can hear are the cows mooing in the field and the birds chirping and insects buzzing by, load up plates and shrug to my hearts content.....well it is just very different and indeed incredibly peaceful.

It is also cool if I want to really load up that I can grunt as loud as I want, and even scream at the top of my lungs without bothering anyone else or getting booted from the gym (although I have to warn the wife so she doesn't come running out of the house and into the woods with the portable defibrillator thinking I'm having a heart attack....LOL).

 

[Mufasa123]

By the way, I can also run a bar through the handle end of the 4x4's, apply a hip belt with chain, stand on the logs and do belt squats.

This is genius BTW!

Used to love training outside or with open garage doors even. Must be amazing on a farm with quiet and nature. My gym in this home is in a room of a finished basement. Kind of plain decor but when it's before dawn on a freezing winter morning...there's no place I'd rather be than just walking downstairs with a nice warm cup of coffee. No prize for hardcore but helps me get it done!

 

[cage99]

@solarsentinel1, there’s a fella that does a lot of DIY gym equipment. I posted his info in my garage gym thread. If you’re interested you can check it out for other ideas.

https://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/index.php?threads/garage-home-gyms.178984/page-2

It’s post #28, page 2.

Cage

 

[carnivor]

You guys may think I am insane, but I like shrugs so much, I built a "shrug machine" in the woods, on my farm. Poured a concrete cylindrical pylon around a PVC pipe, with an iron plumbing pipe running through it. Drilled out two 4x4's to fit around the iron pipe on each side, attached Olympic plate wall mount rods to each with bolts, and then placed eye bolts on top of each 4x4 to attach various types of handles and grips. Allows me to lean forward and back to adjust my angle, and gives me a lot of options for hand position. Have even used a nylon strap running over my delts on occasion (like suspenders) to lock in form and ensure that I don't bend my elbows and cheat with my biceps too much. I know it is a bit dumb, and I wish I had the build some of you monsters do so I could boast about how my ingenuity has resulted in huge traps.... but if nothing else, allows me to be outdoors while lifting heavy (for me) and getting a good trap pump.

Absolute genius! That’s the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while. It looks relatively simple once you’ve seen it, but I would have never come up with that. It also looks like a great place to train.

 

[marssel]

I tore my bicep in September and to train traps since then I've been loading up the hack squat with 14 plates and repping it out hise shrugs style. But yesterday I saw Nick Walker saying he was "going heavy" doing barbell shrugs with 405, and I was motivated to switch and try since my bicep is healed now. Now I was doing it on the smith machine and using wrist straps but, probably due to shrugging 14 plates on the hack all these months, 405 was way too easy. 12-15 reps easy.

What are you guys shrugging?

Also, whose else's arms are the worst length, such that the bar is getting caught on the end of your Johnson every rep?

I get better results from dumbbell shrugs but 405 is pretty easy especially on a smith machine. I think everyone hits their dick doin shrugs lol