How to do the shrug
The simplest way to build your upper traps. A short, heavy lift that suits anyone who wants a thicker neck and upper back or a stronger grip.
The Helthy team · Updated · 6 min read
- Works
- Traps
- Also works
- Forearms
- Equipment
- Dumbbells or barbell
- Level
- Beginner
The shrug is about as simple as lifting gets: hold something heavy, lift your shoulders toward your ears, lower them. It's the most direct way to train your upper traps, the muscles that run from your neck to your shoulders and give the upper body that thick look from the front. Heavy deadlifts and rows already work your traps quite a bit, so if you only care about strength, shrugs are optional. If you want your traps to grow, they're worth 3 or 4 sets a week, and they're cheap on recovery.
How to do a shrug
- Stand tall holding the weight at your sides or in front of your thighs. Dumbbells: palms facing your body, arms hanging by your sides. Barbell: grip just outside your thighs, palms facing you. Feet about hip width.
- Let your shoulders drop all the way down. Arms straight, shoulders sinking toward the floor until you feel a stretch along the top of your shoulders and the sides of your neck. This is the start of every rep.
- Lift your shoulders straight up toward your ears. Go as high as you can, aiming your shoulders at your earlobes. Your elbows stay straight, and your head stays still, chin level. Breathe out on the way up.
- Hold the top for 1 to 2 seconds. You should feel a hard squeeze along the top of your shoulders, close to your neck.
- Lower slowly back to the full stretch. Take about 2 seconds, and breathe in on the way down. Let your shoulders sink all the way before the next rep.
The whole movement is a few inches. That's normal, but make sure you're using all of those inches.
Cues that help
"Shoulders to your earlobes." A target gives you something to reach for, and it stops the shrug from shrinking into a half-inch twitch.
"Your arms are just hooks." The weight hangs from your hands; your arms don't pull. It stops you bending your elbows, which turns the shrug into an upright row. If that doesn't click, try "long arms".
"Straight up, straight down." Think of your shoulders moving like an elevator, not a steering wheel. It fixes the rolling habit before it starts.
"Tall neck." Imagine a string pulling the top of your head toward the ceiling. It keeps your head from poking forward as the weight gets heavy.
Common mistakes
Rolling your shoulders. Circling your shoulders forward or back at the top is still a common habit. It adds nothing, because your upper traps lift your shoulders straight up, and rolling under heavy load puts your shoulder joints in an awkward spot. Go straight up and straight down.
Bouncing the weight up with your legs or momentum. A little dip at the knees and a jolt turns the set into a cheat. It lets you move more weight, but the traps only do part of the lifting. Keep your knees still and start every rep from a dead hang. If you can't lift it without a bounce, it's too heavy.
Skipping the pause at the top. Without the pause, most reps just touch the top and drop. Holding the squeeze for 1 to 2 seconds is where the shrug does its job, and it's a quick check on whether the weight is right: if you can't hold it, go lighter.
Bending your elbows. As a set gets hard, the arms start helping and the elbows bend. Now your biceps and delts are lifting the weight. Keep your arms straight and let the hands hang.
Poking your head forward. Jutting your chin out as you shrug feels like it helps. It mainly strains your neck. Keep your head stacked over your shoulders and your eyes looking straight ahead.
Going so heavy the range disappears. Huge weights and tiny shrugs look impressive in a gym but build less than a lighter weight moved all the way. If your shoulders aren't getting close to your ears, drop the load.
Barbell or dumbbells?
Both work. Our default is dumbbells for most people: they hang at your sides, so your shoulders can move straight up without anything in the way, and it's easy to feel whether both sides are working evenly. A barbell in front of your thighs pulls your shoulders slightly forward, but it lets you go heavier and doesn't need a huge set of dumbbells. If your gym has a trap bar, it gives you the best of both: the weight at your sides and plenty of room to load it.
Sets, reps and how much weight to use
Traps respond well to moderate and higher reps. We'd use 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 as the default, with the pause at the top. Heavier sets of 6 to 10 are fine now and then. Pick a weight you could do 2 or 3 more reps with while still pausing on every rep. Shrugs fit at the end of a back or pull day, or after deadlifts, once or twice a week. Rest about 90 seconds between sets.
No big warm-up needed. One light set of 10 to 12 at about half your working weight will do.
Grip is usually the limit long before your traps are tired. Straps are a good answer, and we'd rather you use them than let the set end because your hands gave out. You can still do a set or two without straps if you want the grip work.
Progress by adding reps first. When you can do the top of your rep range with a proper pause on every set, add 5 lb (2.5 kg) per dumbbell or 10 lb (5 kg) to the bar.
Here's roughly what people use for their working sets:
| Bodyweight | beginner | intermediate | advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 130 lb (59 kg) | 25 lb (11 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) | 80 lb (36 kg) |
| 160 lb (73 kg) | 30 lb (14 kg) | 65 lb (29 kg) | 95 lb (43 kg) |
| 190 lb (86 kg) | 40 lb (18 kg) | 75 lb (34 kg) | 115 lb (52 kg) |
| 220 lb (100 kg) | 45 lb (20 kg) | 90 lb (41 kg) | 130 lb (59 kg) |
| 250 lb (113 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) | 100 lb (45 kg) | 150 lb (68 kg) |
If you use dumbbells, read these as the weight in each hand. On a barbell the weight is the total for both hands, so most people end up well above these numbers. Either way, how high your shoulders rise matters more than the number.
Variations and alternatives
- Dumbbell shrug: the default. Weight at your sides, a straight path, and easy to spot a stronger side.
- Barbell shrug: heavier loads, bar in front. Good if your gym's dumbbells don't go high enough.
- Trap bar shrug: the weight at your sides with barbell-level loading. The best of both if you have one.
- Cable shrug: constant tension and easy to adjust. Handy for high-rep finishers.
- Rack pull: heavy pulling from knee height works your traps hard along with the rest of your back.
- Face pull: trains the middle and lower traps and rear delts, which shrugs don't reach much. Worth pairing with shrugs for your upper back as a whole.
Shrug questions
Do I need shrugs if I deadlift?
For strength, no. Deadlifts, rack pulls and rows keep your traps working hard. For visible trap size, shrugs add direct work that's easy to recover from, so they're worth adding if you want the look.
Why does my neck hurt after shrugs?
Usually your head is poking forward, or you're going too heavy and jerking the weight. Lighten it, keep your chin level and slow the lowering. If neck pain or headaches keep coming back after that, get it checked rather than training through it.
Should I roll my shoulders back at the top?
No. It doesn't work your traps any better, and it puts extra stress on your shoulders. A straight up-and-down shrug with a pause at the top does everything you need.