The barbell shrug is the well-known exercise for working the upper traps, however it has a major flaw...your body is in the way.

This is the reason why the trap bar was first created...to get the bar around your body so that you can perform the shrug with a straight up and down movement.

If you don't have a trap bar, you can do something very similar...and potentially even better...with a straight bar and a bench.

Sit on the very end of the bench with your feet in front of the bar, lean forward and grip it, then sit back upright. That's the start position.

I recommend using grip assistance for these so that grip strength isn't a limiting factor.

I would also suggest not using super heavy weight on this one to start with...we're looking for solid trap contraction without heaving the bar up, and the seated position FORCES the issue. When you're seated, you can't use your legs to heave the bar up.

Now, with the bar directly under your thighs (make sure it's not under the bench end or that will shorten the range of motion by a few inches), shrug the bar up.

Pull the bar up and into your hamstrings...the adds an "immoveable object" to the top of the shrug, similar to if you were pulling into the bottom of the rails of the power rack.

Hold that contraction at the top and keep pulling the bar into your hamstrings for a few seconds.

Lower the bar down, get a stretch at the bottom (leaning forward just slightly is fine), then repeat.

You may also notice that I have a slight bend in my elbows at the top of the shrug...this isn't 100% required but I find it does deliver a better contraction at the top of the shrug, so feel free to give it a try.

Aim for 6-8 reps with this one, doing the movement under full control with pauses at the stretch and contraction.

This is great exercise for hammering the traps without needing to have a rack or a trap bar.

You can watch the full video rundown of the exercise here.

Click here to start from the exercise demo.

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Want more awesome back exercises like this?

I've got four more for you to try out here.

(including one that's actually a variation of this seated shrug above but focusing more on the middle traps).

Nick Nilsson
The Mad Scientist of Muscle

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https://youtu.be/VcOsXBPSOj4
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