engbulldog said:
... super heavy for me atleast 3 sets 12-15 reps...
If you're getting out 12-15 reps then you're really not going heavy.
Here's what works for me:
I do traps right after shoulders, my last shoulder excersize is standing dumbell laterals. I find this really helps to pre-exhuast the traps if you do this one correctly and it doesn't require a ton of weight to get the burn going if you use proper form. Try to bring your arms above shoulder level to get the traps warmed up and keep your wrists turned slightly down as if you were pouring water from a pitcher into a glass. Like I said, it won't take a lot of weight, but it's great on shoulders and a good warm-up for traps.
Then it's on to shrugs. I use dumbells as I find they give a greater range of movement for the traps than barbells. I use hooks instead of straps because they are easier to work with on the dumbell than straps. I recommend you use some sort of grip enhancement to help you handle as much weight as you can, because your hands will give out way before your traps do; my personal preferrence just happens to be hooks for this excersize.
I start with a set of 10, then a set of eight, then a set of six, each time increasing the the weights used. Make sure you are using a weight that is heavy enough that your last rep on that set is the last rep you can get out with that weight. When those are done I drop the weight back down and rep out in the 10-12 range.
When I start this excersize my palms are facing my quads about halway between the front and side of my quads. As I squeeze up my palms are facing into my body and at the peak are directly beside me. Focus on bringing you shoulders up and back at the peak and squeeze at the top.
That's what works for me, maybe you could incorporate some of that into your routine and see how it goes.
Nothing like a great set of traps to give you that overall powerfull look.
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