This exercise is useful for removing your grip as a limiting factor in the shrug. This is done by performing the exercise in a hack squat machine. Instead of gripping the weight with your hands, you have it resting directly on your shoulders.
This exercise has the advantage of taking the grip out of the shrugging exercise if your grip is limiting your shrugging weight.
How to incorporate this exercise into your workouts:
This shrug can be done any place in your trap workout.
1. Not using enough weight
Now that you’ve taken the grip out as a limiting factor, it’s time to push it see how much weight you can do.The traps are very strong muscles and thrive on powerful movements with extremely heavy weight. If you don’t use as much weight as you’re capable of, you won’t get the best results possible.
2. Not shrugging high enough
Bring your shoulders up as high as you possibly can when you shrug.
1. Explode
You may wish to try explosive shrugging where you blast off from the bottom and try to get your shoulders up to your ears, not worrying about constant tension throughout the movement. The traps respond very well to this type of training.
2. Use your legs a little
You can help spot yourself with this exercise by giving a little push with your legs. This is a great way to get forced reps as you begin to tire.