Barbell ShrugMuscles Worked
The barbell shrug works your traps, mainly the upper traps that lift your shoulders toward your ears. Holding the bar in front of your thighs lets you load it heavier than most trap exercises, and the movement itself is short and simple.
PrimaryTraps
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Stand tall with your feet about hip width apart and hold a barbell in front of your thighs with an overhand grip just outside shoulder width.
- Let your arms hang straight and your shoulders settle down before the first rep.
- Lift your shoulders straight up toward your ears as high as you can.
- Hold the top for a second while squeezing your traps.
- Lower your shoulders slowly to a full stretch, then repeat.
Form tips
- Shrug straight up and down rather than rolling your shoulders forward or back.
- Keep your elbows straight so your biceps don't turn the shrug into a curl.
- Use straps if your grip fails before your traps are tired.
Why it made the list
No. 1 of 12
Best Trap Exercises
The definitive trap exercise. Allows the heaviest loading. Simple — shrug up, squeeze, lower. Everyone knows it.
More trap exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Barbell Shrug sets in KasMaker and watch your traps fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
