How to Build Big Traps Fast | Get a Big Monster Upper Back With Traps Training

Best Exercises to Build Big Traps

How to Build Big Traps

• Overview
• What You Should Be Doing
• Other Exercises

Overview

Trapezius muscles are one of the body parts that not only give you an amazing aesthetic look, but also perform many great functions.

They help you heavy stuff, stabilize your shoulder blades and keep them nice and back, which is crucial to maintain that upright correct posture.

They also absorb any shock to the shoulders and neck preventing them from getting injured.

The trapezius muscles (Traps) are divided into three portions:

• The upper traps: The diamond shape muscle located in the space between your shoulders and neck.

• The lower traps: Forming two triangle shapes in the mid back area.

• And the middle traps: Sitting between the upper and lower traps.

Traps workouts hit all three muscles, but some exercises that favor the activation of one muscle over the other. 

So, if you want to focus on the upper traps to look more masculine and jacked or the lower and middle traps for more stabilization and erect spine, you can always choose what targets those areas better.

However, for a balanced upper body with minimum risk of bad posture or injury to other muscles like the shoulders, all three portions should be given their needed part of the work.

What You Should Be Doing

1. Shrugs

This exercise can be performed with dumbbells or a bar, and it can hit all three muscles almost equally. 

Grab some heavy weights; your traps can handle more weight than you could imagine. 

If you want to see really great results fast, you need to incorporate different techniques within the same set. 

As you may know, muscles grow when they are stretched, but the muscularity (Being shaped to look impressively bigger than they actually are) is developed by the squeeze and time under tension. 

For this end, start of by doing five (05) reps applying a 3 second pause at the top, then do ten (10) fast reps letting the weight stretch your traps down. 

During the first 5 reps, try to control the movement. 

However, with the fast reps, you can use some momentum as long as you do not use much of your lower back.

If you want to favor your middle and lower traps with the shrug, all you want to do is to have the barbell behind you. 

If this is your first time doing this variation, try it with the smith machine. 

But, if you do not have one in your gym, start off with a weight that you can handle and then load up more plates. 

You can do pretty much the same with dumbbells; it is easier to do it seated. 

On a bench, grab a pair of dumbbells to your sides, lean your torso forward about 45 degrees and start shrugging.

2. Rack pulls

As opposed to the deadlift, which works on your whole back, the rack pull is a better choice if you want to target your traps more - especially the upper portion - and minimize the recruitment and assistance of other muscles. 

Although only the traps which are carrying the weights, it is recommended that you go pretty heavy on this one as it is primarily to add mass to them through stretch. 

This is one of the exercises where cheating works better than controlled slow movement. 

Use momentum to get that weight up and then let it drop like crazy to give you a wonderful stretch you have never experienced before. 

Mind! You need to always have safety pins during this exercise, because your grips are likely to fail and let the bar down.

3. Farmer’s Walk

By now, I am sure you realized that stretch is the number one factor for bigger traps. 

Just grab a heavy dumbbell in each hand and walk around the gym for at least 30 seconds. 

This is one set; you can do 3-4 set of these. 

However, many people fall into the mistake of bending their elbows too much than they actually should, allowing more activation of the biceps and taking a lot of stress off the traps. 

Along with not getting the most out the exercise, you might end up injuring your bicep tendons.

4. Yates rows

If you want to build a thick mid back with strong middle traps, then the Yates rows are the perfect choice exercise for you. 

Unlike regular barbell rows, with Yates rows you want to be positioning your torso a little bit higher as this shifts the focus to your middle traps. 

Have a mind-muscle connection with every rep, envision yourself holding and crushing a pencil between your shoulder blades at the top of every rep.

5. Face pull

This move here, especially if done with an underhand grip, targets the lower traps more. 

Do controlled reps with a hold and squeeze at the end. 

This increases strength of the lower traps and makes them more muscles. 

The majority of people chase the aesthetic aspect of having big upper traps neglecting the important function of the lower traps. 

As a result, they end up with underdeveloped weak lower traps and a more risk of injury especially to the shoulders and neck. 

If you are one of those people, try doing three sets of face pull, literally, at the end of every workout, not only back workouts.

6. Y raises

Once again, this exercise is for those precious lower traps. 

Set your incline bench at about 45 degrees and lay there on your stomach with a pair of light dumbbells on each hand. 

The starting point should be with your hands hanging perpendicular to the floor, retract your shoulder blades (Squeeze them together) and then start raising your arms forming a Y at the top. 

Do not perform fast uncontrolled reps here; go slow and have a short pause at the top really squeezing those traps muscles.

Other Exercises:

• Most of the Olympic lifts are great traps builders. This includes the deadlift, power cleans and snatches, and overhead presses.
• The upright row with a wide grip is also a traps and shoulders builder, but it is notorious for being a risky move for your shoulders. So, if you do not have the flexibility I recommend you do other more suitable exercises for you, and there are plenty.
• Plate raise are also a good choice which is more or less like the Y rises and work on the lower portion of the traps.