Hey, what's up guys. Welcome back to the channel.
So today we're going to take a closer look at proper form for the barbell shrug
to ensure that you're not only performing the exercise correctly in your
workouts,
but there are a few form cues that can help you maximize the benefits of this
movement,
because it's a much more than just bringing your shoulders up and down like
this. Okay.
And now the primary muscle group we're targeting here obviously is the traps,
or to be more specific upper traps and a bit of mid traps,
as well as the rhomboids.
And this is because our traps are responsible for supporting the neck and
elevating the scapula or bringing your shoulders to your ears,
which we can see happening during every single repetition while performing the
movement also guys, or to perform the exercise correctly,
lead to retract our shoulder blades in this is controlled by the rhomboids,
but as for specific form cues to maximize this movement, well, that's,
what's going to bring us to my three golden rules. So let's jump right into it.
Golden rule. Number one, learn how to position your shoulders. Guys.
A shrug might seem like a simple movement and to be fair, it is right,
but that doesn't stop a whole lot.
People from falling into a bit of spinal flexion
And shoulder protraction, either due to fatigue or from everyday bad habits.
And this is because, unless you're consciously aware of your shoulder position,
most of us go through our daily lives with rounded shoulders. It's just,
it happens, but exercises like this,
give us a chance to not only build up our traps,
but also strengthen our posture and make us more consciously aware of our shoulder
positioning as well.
Now I'm not saying that you need to retract the shoulders as hard as you can
during this exercise,
but you want to make sure your shoulders are slightly pulled back or at least
sitting in a neutral position.
If you want to maximize your traps engagement during the flex or at the top of
the movement and during the stretch or at the bottom of the movement.
But what I see happening a lot in the gym is that because you're grabbing a
barbell that's in front of you,
this instinctively makes us both bend over and protract our shoulders to pick it
up,
especially at picking the weight up off the ground or on a really low rack.
So the best way to unrack a barbell shrugged to avoid both spinal flexion and
rolled shoulders would be to position the barbell just a few inches below your
hands. This way.
Even if lifting super heavy way or using wrist wraps,
you can still unrack the barbell with your shoulders back and chest up.
Also guys, a quick bonus tip here.
Once you have total control the exercise,
try doing a slight lean forward for extra deep stretch at the bottom of
the movement.
Just be sure to keep your chest up and shoulders back while doing this golden
rule number two, know when to use momentum.
You guys have seen me talk about power shrugs, a lot for traps growth, right?
In fact,
that was the exercise that I use in my 30 days of traps training for nuclei
overload. So they definitely have their place,
but you need to learn walk before you can run.
And if you don't learn how to get a proper stretch and flex during the movement,
without using momentum,
you won't be able to utilize variations of the shrug,
like the power shrugs effectively.
What I see happening a lot in the gym is people just flying through their reps.
Up, down, up, down, up, down, up,
down in the sets over barely any time for a proper stretch or flex on the traps
during the entire set.
So what I want you guys to do is focus on a slight pause at the top and
bottom of the movement. This means when you shrug the weight,
hold it for a second and experience when an actual flex of your traps feels
like, and then when you lower the weight really feel the stretch at the bottom.
This is the key to building your mind muscle connection.
So you can transition into more advanced movements like the power shrug and now
for golden rule, number three,
keep your cervical spine safe and properly aligned. Guys,
when performing any variation of a shrug,
you need to keep your core tight and look straight ahead,
nothing hurts more than a straight neck. And if you decide,
you want to check your delts out in the mirror, in the middle of a set,
you're going to have a bad time. If you pull something,
cause neck strains are the worst.
They affect pretty much every other exercise you're going to do.
So to avoid any possible injury or strain, it's simple.
Just keep your head straight and your chin tucked.
Now I also have a quick bonus tip. If you have good flexibility,
I want you to try a behind the back bar bell shrug this variation for the most
part can eliminate spinal flexion and shoulder protraction because the
positioning forces you to stand up straight and retract your shoulder blades.
However,
the only downside is that the movement can feel a bit awkward resulting in not
being able to shrug as much weight,
either due to poor flexibility or your booty getting in the way of the barbell
booty barbell anyways.
But if you can perform the movement, you will notice a bit harder
upper traps contraction as well as more mid traps engagement as well.
That wraps up today's video. I hope you guys enjoyed my quick tips.
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good stuff coming soon. See you guys.