Tip Know Your Anatomy Build Bigger Traps Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Know Your Anatomy Build Bigger Traps To build all three portions of the traps do exercises for each not just shrugs Here' s how by Michael Warren November 16, 2017August 18, 2019 Tags Bodybuilding, Tips, Training, Traps Know the anatomy of the traps and you'll know the best and most effective exercises. The trapezius is made up of three regions. Here's what they are and what they do: Upper – Shrug shoulders upwards Middle – Squeeze shoulder blades together Lower – Bring shoulder blades downwards The upper region originates on the back of the skull (occipital bone) and connects along the spine and ligaments of the vertebrae of the neck. It then inserts on the outer part of the clavicle (collar bone). The upper trapezius works by: Shrugging the shoulders upwards. Think shrugs. Extending the neck backwards. Think neck extensions. Rotating the shoulders upwards as you go past 90 degrees. Think laterals or overhead flyes. The middle and lower trap originates along the mid spine and inserts along the outer to inner part of the shoulder blades (spine of the scapula). The lower trapezius works by: Retracting the scapula. Think of squeezing the shoulder blades together during seated rows. Lowering the shoulders or scapular depression. Think of a reverse shrug using a lat pulldown. Muscle Fiber Makeup Another point to consider is the muscle fiber makeup of the traps. They're made up of 45% fast twitch and 55% slow twitch muscle fibers. This means they should be trained with both heavy weight and low reps as well as lighter weight and high reps. Half the time you should be training traps with 6-12 reps at 60-80% of your 1RM. The other half you should be training traps with 12-30 reps at 50-60% of your 1RM (to near failure). Finally, regarding where trap activation is greatest on a deadlift, if you look at the deadlift as three different parts you'll see the beginning (floor to mid-shin), middle (mid-shin to mid-thigh) and end phase (mid-thigh to lock out). Research shows that upper traps are maximally activated during the middle phase of the lift. So rack pulls starting at the mid-thigh are a good addition to target peak upper trap activation. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training The Holistic Chest Blast Thibs is a sadistic SOB because he's always glad to bring more pain your way. This time the red glow of his laser sight is dancing around your chest and he's ready to pull the trigger. Chest, Training Christian Thibaudeau October 13 Training Gold School Diamond-T Calves In four weeks, you can build the best calves of your training career. Warning: It's going to hurt — a lot. Training Ellington Darden, PhD December 1 Training Five Deadly Strength Errors Been a while since you've added some plates to the bar? See if you've fallen victim to one of the five deadly strength errors and learn how to fix it. Powerlifting & Strength, Training Tim Henriques November 17 Training Fix That Weak Link Regardless of whether your goal is to deadlift 1,000 pounds or to build a shredded Christmas tree, the principles are basically the same. Bodybuilding, Training Mike Robertson November 13