The trapezius muscles build strength, stabilize the shoulders, and improve posture, making trap workouts essential for upper-body power and alignment. Whether you're pulling heavy weight, pushing overhead, or simply trying to stand tall with confidence, strong traps do the heavy lifting. This guide breaks down trap anatomy and shares the 10 best exercises to build size, strength, and balance across the upper, mid, and lower traps. Now, let’s turn that back into a mountain range.
Understanding Trap Muscles Anatomy
The trapezius muscle, or traps, is a triangular muscle that spans the upper back from the base of your skull to the middle of your spine and across to your shoulders. It’s divided into three main regions, each with a different role in movement and stability:
Upper Traps
The upper traps are located at the top of your back and neck and assist in scapular elevation (shrugging). They elevate the shoulders, assist neck motion, and stabilize posture.
Mid Traps
Running across your upper back between your shoulder blades, the middle traps primarily retract (pull together) the shoulder blades and assist with their upward rotation. This helps to stabilize the scapula during movements like pulling, reaching, and throwing. However, they do not directly generate shoulder extension, which is powered mostly by the latissimus dorsi, rear deltoids, and teres major.
Lower Traps
The lower traps extend downward from your shoulder blades to the middle spine. They help draw the shoulder blades down and work alongside the mid traps to pull them towards the spine, assist overhead movement, and help maintain proper posture.
What Are the 10 Best Exercises for Traps?
1. Shrugs
What It Works
Shrugs activate your upper traps, isolating them to help build mass, strength, and endurance. To a lesser degree, they also target the middle traps. They can be done using dumbbells, barbells, a cable machine, or trap bars.
How to Do It
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Hold your dumbbells by your side, palms facing your thighs.
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Stand with your feet directly below your hips, chest high, and look forward.
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Breathe in, engage your core, and keep your arms long while shrugging your shoulders towards your ears.
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Pause at the top, then slowly lower your shoulder back down in a controlled motion.
2. Barbell Deadlift
What It Works
The deadlift is one of the best compound exercises as it engages your entire back, including all three parts of the traps.
How to Do It
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Step up to your barbell so it is over the end of your shoes, with feet shoulder-width apart, directly under the hips.
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Squat, gripping the bar thumb distance outside of your shins.
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Keep a neutral spine, inhale, engage your lats, and slightly retract your shoulders.
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Extend your legs, pushing into the ground with your feet, keeping your arms straight.
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As the bar reaches knee level, extend your torso and straighten your legs.
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Hold, squeezing your shoulder blades together before slowly lowering the bar without rounding your back.
3. Dumbbell Lateral Rise
What It Works
The dumbbell lateral rise is an excellent shoulder workout, isolating the medial deltoids. Your upper traps will assist in the exercise, but only if you shrug during the movement—in which case, you need to work on your form.
How to Do It
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Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, a pair of dumbbells hanging at your sides.
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Turn your arms with palms facing forward, and bend your elbows slightly.
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Raise your arms to your sides and slightly in front of your torso (about 20 to 30 degrees) in the scapular plane until they reach shoulder level.
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As your arms get close to parallel with the ground, turn your thumbs slightly towards the ceiling, promoting external rotation, which is safer for your rotator cuffs.
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Continue lifting until your arms form a “T”.
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Pause at the top and slowly lower them in a controlled movement.
4. Farmer’s Carry
What It Works
The Farmer’s Carry builds upper trap strength, reinforces grip stability, and improves posture.
How to Do It
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Hold a weight like dumbbells or kettlebells in each hand at your side.
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Engage your core and back muscles by maintaining a strong, upright posture.
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Take even, consistent steps, controlling the weight so it doesn’t move, while maintaining your posture.
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Do laps around the gym or workout area, keeping your shoulders and back engaged.
Tip: Avoid slouching, which will hurt your back and minimize your gains.
5. Face Pull
What It Works
The face pull is a great cable back workout you can do with the Speediance Gym Monster 2. It builds shoulder muscles and promotes good posture. This exercise helps you achieve a sculpted V-shape back, primarily targeting the rear deltoids and external rotators, with traps being secondary stabilizers in the movement.
How to Do It
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Place the rope extension on the cable machine so it sits just above your head.
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Take the ends in both hands with a neutral grip.
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With feet shoulder-width apart, step back until your arms are fully extended, then lean back slightly while engaging your core.
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Pull the rope towards your forehead, letting your elbows flair out slightly.
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Pause, squeezing your upper back, then slowly extend your arms back to start in a controlled motion.
6. Y-Raise
What It Works
The Y-raise is excellent for the lower traps because you raise your arms at a 45-degree angle instead of going directly overhead. This targets the lower traps for scapular depression, which, in turn, improves shoulder stability.
How to Do It
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Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and hinge forward at the hips while keeping a straight back.
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Engage your core and begin with your elbows back, forming a “W” shape with your upper body, holding the weights at shoulder level.
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Keep a slight bend in your elbows and push the weights forward, widening your grip to create a “Y” shape.
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Extend your arms until they are parallel to the ground.
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Pause and squeeze those lower traps, then slowly return to start in a controlled motion.
Tip: Avoid heavy loads and focus on controlled movement.
7. Rack Pulls
What It Works
Rack pulls are essentially the top part of a deadlift, performed with the barbell set at around knee height. While they don’t engage the lower body as much as conventional deadlifts, they strongly target your traps and lats, while also engaging your upper back and spinal erectors.
How to Do It
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Set the rack so the bars are roughly knee height.
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Step right up to the barbell with feet shoulder-width apart.
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Tilt your pelvis forward, pushing your hips back, and knees slightly bent. Then, take the bar in a double overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep a neutral spine and focus on the ground in front of you.
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Engage your lats by creating tension on the bar, take a deep breath, and engage your core.
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Push into the floor with your feet and straighten your legs.
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Squeeze your glutes as you extend your hips.
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Squeeze your upper back as you pause at the top.
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Lower the bar back to start in a controlled manner.
8. Incline Dumbbell Row
What It Works
The incline dumbbell row targets the traps, latissimus dorsi, and rhomboids.
How to Do It
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Facing forward, rest your chest on the incline bench without slouching or resting your forehead on the pad.
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Hold a pair of weights in your hands.
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Keep your torso active and squeeze your abs and glutes.
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Engage your middle back and drive your upper arm to pull the weights up.
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Pause at the top, squeeze those shoulder blades, then lower the weights in a controlled manner.
9. Seated Cable Row
What It Works
The seated cable row is a back-strengthening exercise that targets your lats, rhomboids, and traps. Taking a neutral or narrow grip engages the traps more fully, increasing strength and mass. Remember, this exercise requires a rope anchored at eye level.
How to Do It
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Sit on the cable machine with your feet in the holders, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
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Drive into your heels and squeeze the glutes as you grab the handle.
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Lean slightly forward, maintain a neutral spine, and pull the shoulder blades apart to achieve a good stretch through the lats.
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As you row, pull the shoulder blades down, back, and together, rowing the handle bar to land just above your belly button.
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Finish perpendicular with the floor, spine straight, and shoulder blades squeezed together.
10. Dumbbell Military Press
What It Works
The dumbbell military press is a classic shoulder-building exercise that also works the traps; you can also perform it using a cable machine like the Speediance Gym Monster 2.
How to Do It
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Take a pair of dumbbells and raise them to your shoulders.
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Engage your core and glutes and avoid rounding your back.
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As you press up, ensure that you don’t lift straight up; instead, move in the scapular plane a few degrees in front of your torso and rotate your elbows out slightly.
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Squeeze your shoulder blades, then press the weight up until your arms are fully extended.
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Lower them back down in a controlled motion.
Why Strong Traps Improve Posture, Strength, and Aesthetics
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Improves posture alignment
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Improves shoulder stability
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Boost overall strength
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Builds an aesthetic V-tapered back
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Helps prevent injuries, especially to the back and shoulders
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Most Effective Trap Workout?
Shrugs and barbell deadlifts are some of the most effective workouts for traps, especially the barbell deadlift, as it activates all three portions of the traps. Still, variety is key, so doing face pulls, rack pulls, dumbbell military press, Farmer’s Carry, Y-press, and others also helps.
How to Build My Traps Quickly?
Compound exercises like barbell deadlifts are best for quickly building your traps since they target the traps and promote muscle growth. Consistent training and progressively increasing weights are also essential for optimal results.
Is 1 Exercise Enough for Traps?
While the barbell deadlift engages all three portions of the traps, one exercise alone is rarely enough to target a specific muscle. This is because all the muscles also work in conjunction with other muscles, and variety is key to building mass, strength, and endurance.
Trap Workouts Build Strength, Support Posture, and Reduce Injury Risk
Strong traps improve posture, support shoulder health, and boost full-body strength. You'll see real gains by targeting all three sections of the trapezius with a variety of compound and isolation movements like deadlifts, shrugs, face pulls, and Y-presses. Remember to train consistently, use proper form, and progress your loads over time. Looking to level up your home workouts? Check out the Speediance Gym Monster 2, an innovative, all-in-one solution for hitting your traps and more.
