Traps 04 May 2007 07:14 pm
May 4, 2007 (Posting #39) - Trapezius exercise: Shrugs
Finally, Friday is here! Hope the week has been good for you all. One of the best ways to get the weekend started is by exercising. Let’s work the trapezius muscles with shrugs. This exercise will develop tone, strength and definition in the upper part of your back. Did you stretch? Cool, let’s do it. Grab your dumbells, water jugs or whatever you use for weight. I like to do this exercise seated to isolate my traps. While standing, I might swing or try to use my legs to help move the weight when I get tired. Now that you have a weight in each hand, shrug your shoulders upward using your trapezius muscles. After you’ve reached the maximum height of your shrug, keed your traps squeezed for about 5 seconds and then release the weight back to your starting position. Enjoy the workout and the weekend too!
DO SOMETHIN’!
on 14 Dec 2007 at 5:13 am 1.Izzy said …
Hey Martin,
I was wondering I had once heard if you perform shrugs going forward and backwards with your shoulders with weights it can mess them up. I was wondering your outlook on this subject?
on 15 Dec 2007 at 1:45 pm 2.Martin said …
Hello Izzy,
to my knowledge, shrugging forward and backward should not cause any damage to the shoulders (assuming there is no preexisting shoulder issue) as long as you are not using too much weight and your posture and form is such that you feel no pain or discomfort during the exercise.
Also, I suggest that you talk with your physician on this matter for perspective from a health professional. If you can get some background as to why some might believe shrugging forward and backward is not advised, this information might help your physician in explaining if the statement is correct or not.
Thanks for your comment!
Martin