EXECUTION
- Assume a standing position with the feet in line with one another and approximately shoulder-width apart. Your body should be erect with the lumbar spine in its neutral (slightly arched) position.
- Your head should be directly above the shoulders in good spinal alignment and your vision focused directly in front.
- Keep the shoulders back and the chest out as much as possible.
- Hold a barbell with extended arms and with the hands slightly wider than hip-width apart. The bar should rest against your thighs.
- Inhale and hold your breath as you raise the shoulders as high as possible.
- The arms should be relaxed but tensed sufficiently to hold the barbell in place. There should be no bending in the elbow as you raise the shoulders.
- After reaching the uppermost position, hold for one to two seconds to maximize the muscular contraction.
- Exhale as you return the shoulders under control to the initial position.
- Be sure to maintain good posture as you execute the shrug. This means keeping your shoulders back as much as possible and your chest out as you raise the shoulders as high as possible.
TRAINING TIPS
- For best results raise the shoulders as high as possible in the shrugging action. When you do this you get maximum shortening and peaking of the upper trapezius. Not only does this give you greater definition but it will help improve your posture by keeping the shoulders up and giving you the square shoulder look.
- Do not use extremely heavy weights. They will cut down on your range of motion and not produce maximum definition of the upper trapezius.
- Very heavy weights will limit your range of motion and your shoulders will be slanted downward during execution. This will result in sloping shoulders creating poor posture.
- To help ensure a straight line pull so that you do not get rounded shoulders, be sure to keep the shoulders back as much as possible when executing the shrug. Allowing the shoulders to come in front which gives you the rounded shoulder appearance, detracts from good definition of the midback muscle as well as taking away from the pectoralis major size. (It will appear as though you have a sunken chest.)
- It is important that you inhale and hold the breath as you execute the up movement. The breath holding helps to stabilize the trunk creating a good base upon which the shoulders can act. In addition it keeps spine in good alignment and helps to prevent injury to the spine or discs.
- The use of exceptionally heavy weights when doing the shrug exercise can also lead to low back problems. The reason for this is that with very heavy weights you will be forced into having rounded shoulders and most likely a rounded back which can lead to rounding of the lumbar spine. As a result the weights will compact the discs greatly with the forces acting on the small portion of the discs, greatly increasing the possibilities for injury.
- Be sure to go through a full range of motion not only to ensure the best muscular development, but also to maintain flexibility in the shoulder girdle, ie., movement of the scapula. Losing flexibility can lead to poorer execution of exercises such as the overhead press and can lead to the possibility of shoulder impingement and other shoulder problems.
- Be sure to keep the shoulders back as much as possible during execution. This gives you a straighter line of pull, especially of the upper trapezius, which can result in better overall muscular development and definition, as well as preventing the round shouldered appearance.
- It is important that you keep the head up and look directly in front as you execute the shrug. If your head is inclined or down to one side, you will get disproportionate development of the muscles on either side of the neck and it may lead to a more pronounced side tilt of the head when you are not exercising.
- Because of the weights being held in the arms during execution of the exercise, there can be compaction of the spinal discs. To alleviate any excess stresses be sure to stretch out with full body hang from a high bar or with the Back-stretch strap.
- If you have a choice, I recommend that you do the dumbbell shrug instead of the barbell shrug, so that you can more easily keep the shoulders back in good position.
MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED Only the muscles that move the scapula, ie., the shoulder girdle, are involved in the barbell shrug. This includes the rhomboid, uppermost portion of the trapezius, and the levator scapulae. The muscles run in pairs with one located on one side of the spine, and the other on the other side of the spine. The trapezius is a large muscle covering the entire upper middle back extending from the base of the skull to the beginning of the lumbar vertebrae and from the inner borders of both scapulae across the upper back. The trapezius forms a diamond shape that is visible when well developed (defined). In the barbell shrug, only the uppermost portion of the trapezius is involved. The middle and lower portion are not. The rhomboid muscle lies beneath the middle portion of the trapezius directly in the middle of the upper back. It is a very powerful muscle whose fibers run up at an upward angle from the inner border of the scapula to the vertebrae of the spine. Their effective range of motion is somewhat less than that of the trapezius and the levator scapulae. The levator is a relatively small muscle on the back and sides of the neck located beneath the uppermost portion of the trapezius. Because of its direct line of pull it plays an important role in the shrug movement.
MUSCLE AND JOINT ACTIONS The muscles involved in the shrug raise the scapula (and clavicle) directly upward with no rotation of the scapula. Because of the angle of the rhomboid fibers, they also down rotate the scapula. This tendency is counteracted by the upper trapezius which has an upward rotation component, thus these actions cancel one another to produce only elevation of the scapula
SPORTS USES The barbell shrug is probably one of the most popular exercises used by bodybuilders to develop the uppermost portion of the trapezius. In weightlifting, the shrug plays an important role in bringing the bar up as high as possible before executing a drop under the bar in the clean movement. It also has a role in powerlifting especially in the end phase of the deadlift. It is also important for posture and for aesthetic reasons when posing. The shrug action is very important in the sports of gymnastics for increasing the radius of rotation when swinging on the high bar or unevens. It is also a very important exercise for improving elevation of the scapula which is needed when raising the arms overhead in various sports. For example, it plays a role in the tennis serve and overhead hits, in all overhead throwing as in baseball, football and the javelin throw. In volleyball it plays an important role in spiking and in basketball when shooting a ball or going for a rebound. In football, the shrug is important for developing a stronger more injury resistant neck. The shrug is also important when you carry heavy objects in the hands when walking or when standing. This includes dumbbells and barbells. In such cases the muscles involved in the shrug contract strongly to keep the shoulders elevated and to prevent excessive leaning of the body to one side.