Your upper traps support posture, enhance shoulder movement, and define your upper body silhouette. They even shape the foundation of the upper body physique of bodybuilders and serious athletes. These seven proven upper trapezius exercises, which employ multiple movement patterns to deliver results, can help you build strength, size, and function.
Upgrade your trap training at home or the gym with these seven moves.
Understanding the Upper Trapezius Muscle
The trapezius muscle extends from the base of the skull to the mid-back, taking a diamond shape. It’s what you feel on the tops of your shoulders, to either side of your neck.
The upper trapezius elevates the scapula, stabilizes the shoulder, and contributes to neck movement. It’s responsible for elevating your shoulder and upward scapular motion.
The upper trap is unique in that, when properly developed, it becomes one of the most visible muscles.
Functions of the Upper Trapezius
The upper trapezius muscles play several key roles:
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Shrugging: When you elevate the shoulder girdle up and down
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Scapular upward rotation: Used during overhead movements
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Shoulder stability: Supports the shoulder safely during arm movements
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Explosiveness: Contributes explosive pulling or throwing motions
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Posture: Supports healthy head and neck positioning throughout the day
Importance of Training Your Upper Traps
Why should you care about strengthening and growing your upper trap muscles? Whether your motivation is driven by posture, functional strength, or power in the gym, there are plenty of reasons not to neglect these muscles.
Often Neglected
The upper traps aren’t glamor muscles. Neglected upper traps cause imbalances, hinder posture, and limit athletic performance. But without upper muscle work, you’ll start compensating with other muscles and create visible imbalances.
Impact on Posture and Performance
In our modern world, we’re always looking at screens, which pulls our heads down and forward and creates problems with our posture. Strong upper traps help maintain a natural alignment in your cervical (upper) spine and prevent your shoulders from rounding inward. Not only does it make your posture look better, but it feels better too, eliminating neck and shoulder pain and headaches caused by forward head positioning.
Functional Strength: Carrying, Lifting, Pulling
Strength in your upper traps is critical for everyday tasks like carrying groceries or transporting luggage. It supports manual labor activities, such as chores around the house or heavy lifting. The seamless transition of this strength from the gym to real life can’t be understated or undervalued.
Shoulder Stability and Power
Your shoulders also recruit your upper traps during explosive pulling and throwing movements and overhead pressing. Having strong upper traps creates more stability when pressing overhead, preventing shoulder impingement when your arms are elevated. It also reduces your risk of sustaining rotator cuff injuries, which can keep you out of the gym for several months if they occur.
But it’s about more than just stability; it’s also about power. Do you play a sport? Do you need explosiveness behind your throws or pulls? Upper traps supercharge these movements and create an impressive upper body silhouette.
7 Most Effective Upper Trap Exercises
Power up your upper body for functional strength, aesthetics, and explosiveness at the gym by working these seven exercises when training your upper traps.
Face Pulls
A great move on the cable machine at the gym or your Speediance Gym Monster 2 at home, face pulls target your upper traps, rear deltoids, and rhomboids. Think of it as an upright row shifted upward to target the top of your upper back.
If you’ve noticed forward head posture, or what’s commonly referred to as “tech neck,” this move is great to correct your rounded shoulders and neck, too.
Set the cable at face height and secure the rope attachment. Stand facing the cable and grip the rope with your palms facing down. Start with your arms fully extended.
Pull the rope toward your face while moving your hands apart. Squeeze your shoulder blades together while keeping your elbows higher than your wrists.
Once you get as close to your face as possible, slowly release the cable back to the starting position.
Single-Arm Cable Lateral Raises
Another excellent cable machine move, lateral raises create constant tension, maximizing the time your upper traps are under tension during the top portion of the movement. Performing this exercise frequently will help you build both strength and muscular endurance.
Set the cable at its lowest position and use the D-handle attachment. Stand perpendicular to the cable machine and grab the handle with your arm that’s farthest away.
Keeping your arm just slightly in front of your body, begin to pull the cable up by raising your arm to shoulder height. Hold a slight bend in your elbow to protect your joints and avoid using momentum or swinging.
Pause briefly once your hand reaches shoulder height, then lower with control while maintaining tension in the cable.
Farmer’s Carry
While this might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about upper trap exercises, a farmer’s carry is excellent practice for real-world uses of your upper traps. Carrying a heavy weight in your arms requires isometric contractions of your trap muscles while working your grip strength.
Select kettlebells, heavy dumbbells, or farmer’s walk handles to set up for this move.
Choose heavy weights that you can carry while maintaining good posture.
Find a space with plenty of room to walk forward. Keep your shoulders level, don’t lean to one side or the other, and begin to walk forward, taking slow and controlled steps. Keep a normal stride.
Take note of how far you can walk while maintaining perfect form, then add distance each time and build up gradually.
Watch your breathing and keep it smooth despite the load you’re carrying.
Cable Shrugs
Cable shrugs are simple, effective, and a classic trap exercise. We’re ditching the dumbbells to minimize friction in the resistance, eliminate dead spots in the movement, and create a smooth resistance curve.
Set the cable at a low position and attach a straight bar. Stand facing the bar with your feet shoulder-width apart. Take a slight forward lean to grip the bar, keeping your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.
Stand up straight and brace your core, bringing your shoulders back and down into position.
Shrug your shoulders straight up, bringing them as close to your ears as possible. Hold here at the top for a few seconds, then lower back down to feel the stretch in your traps at the bottom.
Don’t roll your shoulders forward or back. Keep them centered and in line with the rest of your body. The movement should be a strict up-and-down pattern.
High Pulls
Putting the explosiveness of your upper traps to the test, transition into some high pulls for both power and strength. High pulls are excellent for targeting the entire upper back and help you improve your force.
Place a barbell on the floor in front of you. Bend down to grip it with your hands just slightly closer together than shoulder width. Perform a deadlift to bring the weight up toward your hips.
Correct your posture and brace your core, then pull the bar up your body toward the top of your chest with explosive power. Your elbows should go high and wide as the bar reaches chest level, and the bar should remain close to the body throughout the entire movement.
Slowly lower the bar to the return position with control; don’t let it drop.
Y-Raises
Give your upper traps a unique challenge with lying Y-raises. Because we’re taking a different angle here than the other standing exercises, you’ll work your muscles differently and build more balanced upper traps.
Start by setting an incline bench to 45º. Lay face down. Place light dumbbells in each hand and hang your arms straight down toward the floor.
When you’re ready, raise your arms in a Y-shape until they are parallel to the floor. Your thumbs should be pointing upward. When you reach the top, squeeze your shoulder blades together to activate the upper traps.
Lower weights to the floor and repeat, only adding weight as you get stronger. This exercise is about the quality of the movement, not lifting the heaviest load.
Behind-the-Neck Shrugs
Behind-the-neck shrugs target the posterior traps, increase muscular density, and strengthen shoulder stabilizers. Rather than using cables, we’ll place a barbell behind the neck to emphasize the work on the posterior portion of your upper traps.
Note that this move should only be performed if you have excellent shoulder mobility, otherwise, you’ll put yourself at risk of injury.
Position a barbell across the upper back as if performing a back squat. Make sure you can move your shoulders safely.
Brace your core, find your correct posture, and then shrug your shoulders straight up while keeping your positioning. Repeat as you would with a normal shrug.
If you notice any shoulder discomfort, stop the exercise and consider alternatives like the cable shrug listed above.
Incorporating Upper Trap Training Into Your Program
Integrating upper trap work into your training program the right way matters. They don’t require a dedicated focus day, but should instead be included in your pull and shoulder days to balance your muscle development.
Use a mix of compound movements, like high pulls, early in workouts when your energy is high. Then, incorporate isolation exercises, like shrugs, toward the end of your sessions. Pair your trap exercises with other complementary movements to create an efficient workout flow.
Frequency and volume are up to you since your upper traps will respond well to both low-rep, heavy work and high-rep, moderate-weight work. We’ve provided some suggestions below to get you started.
Frequency and Volume
Training your upper traps 2-3 times a week is optimal. What you do within each session is up to you. If you prefer to go heavier with your weight, keep your sets low, around 8-12 per set. If you prefer a more moderate weight at a higher volume, drop your weight and increase reps to 15-20 per set.
Allow 24-72 hours of recovery between trap sessions, allowing more time after more intense work.
You can progressively overload your upper traps by increasing your weight, reps, or total time under tension. Slowing the movements down is a great way to get more out of them without raising any of your numbers.
Pay attention to how you feel after trap work and adjust your recovery and frequency based on your individual response.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Best Upper Trap Exercise?
There’s no one “best” upper trap exercise. For optimal results, use a combination of moves like barbell shrugs (the gold standard for building mass), face pulls (for posture correction), and farmer’s carries (for functional strength). The more comprehensive your workout is, the more well-rounded your upper trap development will be.
Should I Hit Traps Every Day?
You don’t need to hit traps every day. In fact, daily trap training could potentially be counterproductive. Try incorporating 2-3 upper trap sessions weekly, allowing a day or two to recover between workouts. Focus on the quality of your sessions, not volume. Adjust frequency as needed depending on how your body reacts.
Upper Trap Training Builds Strength, Posture, and Performance
Upper traps are some of the most visible muscles on the body when they gain volume and strength. By incorporating a few of the seven upper trap exercises listed above into your workouts 2-3 times per week, you’ll hit all the angles and movement patterns needed to achieve complete upper trap training.
Maintain consistency and a progressive overload schedule; over time, you’ll build bigger, stronger traps. Form, control, and equipment matter, too. Moving intentionally, connecting your mind to your muscles, and choosing equipment that helps increase time under tension, like the Speediance Gym Monster 2, will help you get the most from your upper trap work.
