Dumbbell ShrugMuscles Worked
The dumbbell shrug works your traps, especially the upper traps that raise your shoulders. Holding the dumbbells at your sides keeps the weight in line with your body, so your arms hang naturally and there is no bar brushing against your thighs.
PrimaryTraps
- Equipment
- Dumbbell
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand, arms hanging at your sides and palms facing your body.
- Brace lightly and let your shoulders drop down so each rep starts from a full stretch.
- Shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears, keeping your arms long.
- Pause at the top and squeeze for a second.
- Lower the dumbbells slowly until your shoulders are fully down again.
Form tips
- Keep your head neutral rather than pushing your chin forward as you shrug.
- Let the weights hang straight down so your arms stay relaxed and only your shoulders move.
- Use a weight you can lift to full height on every rep, since shorter, heavier shrugs miss the top squeeze.
Why it made the list
No. 2 of 12
Best Trap Exercises
Allows more natural arm positioning than barbell. Slightly more ROM since dumbbells can travel to the sides.
More trap exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Dumbbell 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.
