Trap exercises for the gym and home

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These are the 9 trap exercises in our library. Each one includes the correct technique, the muscles it works and alternatives if you lack the equipment. You can generate a free routine that includes them based on your level and goal.

Muscles you work when training your traps

The trapezius has three parts: the upper elevates the scapula (shrugs), the middle retracts it (rows and face pulls) and the lower depresses and upwardly rotates it, heavily involved in shoulder health. It is trained indirectly in almost every back pull, but the lower portion usually needs specific work to balance posture.

How to train your traps: sets, reps and frequency

For muscle growth, the meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger (2017), covering 15 studies, found a dose-response relationship: more weekly sets per muscle lead to more hypertrophy, and the practical benchmark usually drawn from it is around 10 or more sets a week. Splitting them over two sessions works better than doing them in one (Schoenfeld and colleagues, 2016), and light or heavy loads give similar hypertrophy when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld and colleagues, 2017).

Deadlifts, rows and face pulls already train it indirectly. Add shrugs for the upper traps, and rows or face pulls with an emphasis on squeezing the shoulder blades for the middle and lower portions. If you are starting out, stay at the low end of the sets and build up gradually. We explain it in how many sets per muscle you need.

Blog guides: Traps

• Deadlift: correct technique, variations and safety — Deadlift: correct technique step by step, which variation suits you (conventional, sumo, Romanian) and the truth about whether it is bad for your back.
• The best back exercises: a zone-by-zone guide — The best back exercises by zone: lats, traps, rhomboids and lower back. Which ones give the best stimulus-to-fatigue ratio and how to combine them.
• Upper/lower split: why it works and who it suits — Upper/lower split: why training each muscle twice a week works, 48 hours of recovery, who it suits, common mistakes and sample upper and lower sessions.

The 9 trap exercises

Compound exercises (3)

Isolation exercises (6)

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