Cable ShrugsMuscles Worked
Cable shrugs work your traps, mainly the upper traps that lift your shoulders toward your ears. The low pulley gives a smooth, steady pull through every inch of the rep, which makes it a good fit for longer sets with a strong squeeze at the top.
PrimaryTraps
- Equipment
- Cable
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Attach a straight bar to a low pulley and grab it overhand with your hands about shoulder width apart.
- Stand tall close to the stack with the bar in front of your thighs and your arms straight.
- Shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears without bending your elbows.
- Hold the top for a second and squeeze your traps.
- Lower slowly until your shoulders are fully down and you feel the stretch, then repeat.
Form tips
- Stand close enough that the cable pulls straight down, not toward the machine.
- Keep your chest up and avoid rolling your shoulders forward at the top.
Why it made the list
No. 5 of 12
Best Trap Exercises
Constant tension through ROM. Covers the cable equipment slot. Great for high-rep burnout sets.
More trap exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Cable Shrugs 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.
