The Calf-Machine Shoulder Shag is an exercise that is used to strengthen your trapezius muscles. This Calf-Machine Shoulder Shrug eliminates the requirement to build grip strength out of the equation for shrugging and, theoretically, you can exercise the traps more level than by performing other variations of shrug.
Instructions for Calf-Machine Shoulder Shrug
- You should place your body on the machine such that your shoulder pads are higher than your shoulders. Your body should be straight, with your arms extending normally by to your sides. This will be the starting point.
- Lift your shoulders towards your ears while exhaling and keep the contraction for a full 2 seconds.
- Slowly return to your starting position after inhaling.
- Repeat until you reach the recommended number of repetitions.
- variations: You can use barbells, dumbbells, pulley machines and smith machines to do shrugging motions.
Additional Information
- A slight upward glance while shrugging may help to increase the contraction since traps aid in controlling movements within the skull. The movement should be controlled and smooth since a ballistic motion could result in injuries to the neck.
- The traps react well high reps and fast movements (e.g. Snatch grasp high pulls) therefore, you should program your equipment to work to work in that way.
- Avoid excessive jerking or bounce off the balance. There is no need to worry about how many times you shrug.
- Do not let your head be swaying forward as you press the traps, this can cause neck to be in an awkward position and cause in injuries.
- The addition of a pause at top of the Calf-Machine Shoulder Shrug exercise can assist in strengthening the connection between mind and muscle.
Alternates for Calf-Machine Shoulder Shrug
