Ultimate Traps Workout

The traps workout that will shock your muscles into growth

So you wanna look like a pitbull, huh? Want that “no-neck” look, do ya? Well, this traps workout will grind your trapezius muscles into a ball of putty and make you cry like a sissy school girl. If you eat right and get your sleep to recover, you’re gonna see some serious trap growth!

We’ve posted a few traps workouts here before, including some tips on how to maximize traps growth and how to properly perform shrugs. That being said, we won’t delve into those tips in this article. Rather, we’ll get right to the meat and potatoes and explain the important parts of this workout and show you the exercises.

Tips for this traps workout

1. Focus on using the traps only.

We stress this in every workout we post: MIND-MUSCLE connection. If someone had told us about this secret when we were getting started, imagine the monsters we’d be now! We’re literally handing you the keys to the kingdom here. If you don’t know how to use the mind-muscle connection, we can show you how on a simple exercise like shrugs.

Have a friend stand behind you when you shrug. Have your training partner put his/her fingers right on the target muscle group. Just a light touch, a tapping, of simply holding your index finger and thumb on the targeted muscle will create an instant mind-muscle connection. In this case, you should instantly be aware of your trap muscles and exactly how much you either are or aren’t using them. Take the other muscle groups out of the equation and pull ONLY with the traps.

2. If you hit the reps and have more in you, DO MORE

The numbers here are guidelines for you to use. We base the total number of reps on what it takes for us to fully flood our muscle cells with blood. For you and the weight you selected, you may fly through the set without even really working your traps too hard. If that’s the case, slow down the tempo, hold the contraction at the top for at least a second, and do more reps until you reach failure.

Try only to think about the set at hand. If you think, “Oh crap, I’ve got 4 sets left on this still. I better save my energy”, you’ve already screwed yourself. The idea is to work the traps muscles as hard as possible for all of the sets.

3. THERE IS NO SHORTCUT

Piggybacking on that last paragraph, you HAVE to seek out the pain and the burn if you truly want to grow. If you’re just trying to survive the workout, then you aren’t pushing yourself. If you speed through the reps at a high tempo with poor form and not focusing the mind on the targeted muscle group, you’re just going through the motions and might as well do the standard 3 sets of 10 for everything – cause that’s basically what it is amounting to.

With every rep you do, on every set, you should be thinking, “How can I make this harder?” or “How can I contract that trapezius harder and force more blood into it?” – and not just on rep 20 but starting with rep number one.

The Ultimate Traps Workout from Body Spartan John Foster

Barbell Shrugs

A tried and true traps builder. Review the video below for proper form.

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Seated Cable Face Pulls with Rope

Form is crucial on this traps exercise. Use an overhand grip on the rope and sit almost completely vertical. A very slight lean backwards is acceptable. Choose a weight that will allow you to get 20 reps and be approaching failure at that number of reps.

When you pull the rope towards your upper head, flare your elbows up and FOCUS on pulling with just the trap muscles. As you return the weight through the negative motion, stop the range of motion short of locking the elbows. This will keep constant tension on the traps muscles. As you begin to pull back towards your upper head again there should be no jerking. Isolate the movement to just pulling with the traps and don’t let your lower back sway.

Trap Flies (bent over flies)

This exercise is requires some serious thinking as you perform it. Grab the dumbbells and keep your palms facing in (supinated) the entire time.  Then bending over at about a 30 degree angle, begin the movement by shrugging your traps rather than pulling with your rear delts. Control the negative motion for a solid two second return. You should feel the resistance directly in the upper/rear part of your traps, more towards the rhomboid muscle. This is how you’ll know you are performing the motion properly.

Rhomboid Pulls (close grip low cable row)

This exercise is a reduced range of motion for a close grip low row. You are literally going to be pulling the cable to your belly button area and feeling your scapula expand and roll forward as you begin to lower the weight. Once the tension starts to release from the rhomboid muscle, stop the negative motion and begin pulling back towards your abdomen. Be sure to pull your scapula together tight to make the positive motion happen.

Dumbbell Shrugs

No instructions here except keep the tension and pull your shoulders like you’re trying to touch your ears. DO NOT BOUNCE!

Traps Workout Summary

Use good form, hit your traps hard, and load the muscle cells with blood. When you’re done, pound a high-protein meal and start growin’!

Body Spartan All Access

Access to EVERY Body Spartan Program! 14-DAY FREE TRIAL

• Get full access to our all of our amazing programs
• Full, custom calculated nutrition
• 10 & 12 week programs
• Instructional videos
• Full workouts
• Triphase, polymorphic, and contest prep style training
• Body composition tracker

$19.00 / month with a 14-day free trial

Learn More