How to pump up a trapezoid with dumbbells?

There should be no secondary muscles for a person seriously involved in bodybuilding.



A striking example of this is the trapezius muscles. In no case should their importance be discounted, since they:

1. They visually widen the shoulders by “pulling” them up. Sloping shoulders are not at all what you want.
2. Powerful muscle knots at the base of the neck add definition and athleticism to the figure.
3. They are indispensable assistants for deadlifting and pumping up the latissimus dorsi muscles.

The trapezoid consists of three beams: lower, middle and upper. And if the middle and lower beams receive sufficient load when training the back or deltas, then hypertrophy of the upper beam can only be achieved with shrugs. The Shrug exercise is performed with a barbell or dumbbells, with many experts preferring the latter. Dumbbells increase the intensity of training, provide precise load on the right muscles, without spraying it over the entire shoulder girdle.

Answering the question: how to pump up the trapezium with dumbbells, we immediately note that the main method is quite simple and is based on the correct technique for performing virtually just one exercise. We will look at it further...

The starting position is as follows: stand straight, legs slightly apart. To relieve stress on your lower back, bend your knees slightly (imagine your legs as powerful springs absorbing weight). Lift your chin up, but do not tilt your head back during the approach; focus your gaze on something below eye level and keep this point constantly in your field of vision. Rotate your shoulders to eliminate assistance from your chest and deltoids. Hands at your sides. Hold the dumbbells parallel to each other, close to the outer thighs. The hands are as relaxed as possible, their task is simply to hold the projectile.

From this position, begin to pull the weight up as you inhale. Pull as high as possible using only your shoulders. As your trapezius muscles get tired, you will reflexively pull your head down, try to avoid this. From the top point, while exhaling, lower the dumbbells as low as possible. The greater the range of motion, the more effective the exercise will be. The main thing in it is not exorbitant weights, but precise execution along the maximum trajectory. It is with this kind of training that thick and compact muscle knots are obtained, while in people who focus only on the weight of the projectile, the trapezius turns out to be flat and long. And never make circular movements with your shoulders, such shrugs are simply very dangerous.

It is enough to pump the trapezoid once a week, performing 4 series of movements of 12-15 repetitions. You can do this both on the day of your shoulder and back training (but not on the day of the deadlift). As an additional exercise, you can raise your arms to the sides above the shoulder line.

Since the main equipment of this exercise are dumbbells, you have an excellent opportunity to pump up the target muscles even at home. Well, for those who don’t even have dumbbells, use something heavy and handy - for example, a couple of bricks or a couple of plastic bottles filled with water. There would be a desire!