Weighted Shoulder shrugs

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Fozzi43
Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
edited January 25 in Fitness and Exercise
How good are they? Thinking of adding them to my workout. Is it just the shoulders that work?

Replies

  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    They're an accessory exercise to build traps. For shoulders, are you currently doing overhead presses?
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    Yes I am ^^
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    They're good if you're trying to build up your traps. What exactly are you trying to do?
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    Just define my upper body..I don't really have a proper plan as such. My upper body is looking really good and I'm happy with it but wanted to know if they would be a good additional move?
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    Just define my upper body..I don't really have a proper plan as such. My upper body is looking really good and I'm happy with it but wanted to know if they would be a good additional move?

    I'd pick a plan to help you organize and prioritize your exercises. Over time you can then start to tweak it. Strong Lifts would be a great program to start with. Many people also like The New Rules of Lifting for Women and Starting Strength.
  • Vonwarr
    Vonwarr Posts: 390 Member
    Shoulder shrugs with heavy weight can build your traps, but it's unnecessary for most people.

    Your best bang-for-the-buck is to stick with the compound exercises. If you want a great looking upper body - Bench, OHP, Pull-ups, and Rows will have the best and most balanced effect.

    Edit: if you're not already following a program of some sort, definitely check out Stronglifts 5x5 or New Rules of Lifting for Women. Stick with the big compounds, don't do small accessory work.
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    I've heard of them..will look into it but I need to get heavier weights..the ones I have now are getting too easy.
  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
    Personally, I wouldn't add in an isolation exercise until I'd stopped seeing progress with a compound lift. In my opinion, it invites injury.
  • mhcoss
    mhcoss Posts: 220
    I started doin a lot of shrugs and noticed a significant improvement in my traps.. which have been a weak area for me.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    I do shrugs. When I started lifting, I had a very wimpy upper body with no muscle tone and my clavicles were poking out. One thing I noticed is that after adding shrugs in, my squats and dead lifts improved. I actually have a little something to rest the bar on when I do squats now. And with dead lifts, I had a nice increase in my 1 rep max after I started doing shrugs. My upper body used to give out before my lower.

    But I don't do them very often. Maybe once a week.
  • mhcoss
    mhcoss Posts: 220
    hey fozzi are you doing deadlifts? I just looked at your photos and your traps are almost non-existent. I'd recommend starting some front and back shrugs or deadlifts if your not already doing them
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    I do them as an accessory after my main movements (OHP and bb rows) on Shoulder / Back day.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Personally, I wouldn't add in an isolation exercise until I'd stopped seeing progress with a compound lift. In my opinion, it invites injury.

    i've never found this to be true
  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
    i've never found this to be true

    Injuries due to isolation exercises?

    I should explain further. Isolation exercises thrown into a routine before the trainee has a significant strength base to work from, in my experience, has a greater propensity to invite injury, either due to overtraining or improper ROM.

    I assumed that the OP hasn't had years of significant training behind her. Isolation exercises for injury or for a trainee with a lot more experience are fine.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Call me facetious, but clean and jerk good for beginners, bicep curls bad?
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    Honestly, I don't do shrugs and my traps develop fine because a lot of people don't know traps functionally have the purpose to stabilize really heavy weight. This is why pyramiding up on dead lifts until 1-3 rep maxes have built mine up with the additional caveat of rowing. The trap muscle travels more from front to back than up and down as far as what people think from aesthetics. You can build traps through shrugs, but it builds the part farther behind, which people don't realize + you have to lift really heavy to engage the stabilizing muscles.. with that said most of the develop actually comes from the negative portion of the exercise and not the positive IMO.

    Let's just say traps were my weakest body part... definitely a main strong point now.
  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
    I think simple squats, deads, OHP and bench are sufficient for most newcomers. Basically the "Starting Strength" base. You could go all Stronglifts and throw in BB rows, or try one of the many SS variants and put in power cleans or pullups/chins.

    Especially for women, since we're essentially just hardgainers. I checked out NROLFW a while ago and was surprised it focused at least a little bit on isolation movements. I've personally had a lot of success on the SS model and would recommend something similar for other women.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Yeah, I do them on shoulders day.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    i've never found this to be true

    Injuries due to isolation exercises?

    I should explain further. Isolation exercises thrown into a routine before the trainee has a significant strength base to work from, in my experience, has a greater propensity to invite injury, either due to overtraining or improper ROM.

    I assumed that the OP hasn't had years of significant training behind her. Isolation exercises for injury or for a trainee with a lot more experience are fine.

    Isolation exercises as the boogeyman
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