4 Exercises Upper Body Trap Bar

With my article on the 5 Trap Bar Exercises You’re Not Doing, I already gave you a taste of how the trap bar can be used to push your gains to the next level. But, as I’m sure you noticed, all of the exercises discussed were lower body and core focused. Not that focusing on core strength is a bad thing (as it will assuredly do much more for your body composition and athletic performance than endless bicep curls do) but pigeonholing the trap bar doesn’t do justice to its versatility.



Upper-Body Push
With both horizontal and vertical pushing movements, it's important to grip the handles in the middle to prevent the bar from tipping one way or another. This control is one of the hardest aspects of any of the Trap Bar Pushes.

Shrugs

Let’s start with everyone’s favorite trap bar exercise: the shrug. The beauty of using the trap bar here is that it allows you to hold a lot of weight in a shoulder friendly position without using lifting straps or an over/under (snatch) grip. It’s a great way to build size in the traps, and when done for high reps, it’s also a great grip exercise too.

Trap Bar Bench/Floor Press

Floor pressing with dumbbells offers a certain degree of freedom with your hand and wrist position. However, progressively overloading the muscles to build strength and size can become an issue. Using the trap bar allows you to load and lift more weight, thereby  increasing results for your chest, shoulders and triceps.

Setup: Lie either on the floor or on a bench, grip the bar and lower it toward your chest. Avoid hitting yourself in the head as you lower the bar. Once you reach an appropriate range of motion, press the bar up.

Trap Bar Rows

Bent over rows can be very hard on your lower back, and tough to grip when done with a lot of weight. Thankfully the trap bar helps solve these problems by reducing stress on the low back while allowing you to hold big loads without using straps. My favorite variation of this exercise is to do these dead stop every rep, as if performing a “Pendlay” row with a straight bar. This will improve starting strength for the pulling muscles while allowing you to go very heavy in a controlled fashion.

Neutral Grip Pull Ups

Pull ups are one of the best overall exercises for muscle and strength, which I’m sure you already know. But by putting the trap bar in a power rack you can perform neutral grip pull ups which may be even more effective, as the grip is the most shoulder friendly, and the bar allows for a true vertical pull causing complete contraction. Give these a shot, especially if your gym doesn’t have neutral grip bars.

Commentaires

Enregistrer un commentaire

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

12 Best Dumbbell Exercises For Shoulders

Image
To build robust shoulders you need to target them from multiple angles to activate all three heads of the deltoid muscle. Dumbbells are the perfect tool for the job. While barbell moves often require a spotter, and most machines fix your movement in one plane of motion, dumbbells require all your stabiliser muscles to work, force your core to hold everything together and offer plenty of versatility with every exercise.   This three-part shoulder complex from trainer Tom Dyer puts dumbbells to good use in targeting all three heads of your deltoids, helping you increase and maintain tension on the muscles, starting with the weaker rear deltoids and finishing by hitting all three in one big-hitting lift even Arnold Schwarzenegger would be proud of.  Palms-In Shoulder Press Stand up and hold two dumbbells at shoulder level, palms facing each other. Push the dumbbells straight up until your elbows come close to locking and lower them back down after a short pause. Be careful ...
Lire la suite

What You Should Know About Getting Rid of Your Chubby Body and Getting Six-Pack Abs

Image
  Muscle definition is a sign of true fitness and health in general, but reaching six pack abs is one of the most impressive weight-room accomplishments. This can only be accomplished by reducing body fat, particularly fat in the abdomen. Furthermore, committing to losing body fat in order to achieve a healthy BMI (body mass index), which is the ratio of your body weight to your height, is commendable. ↚ What Exercises Burn Belly Fat the Fastest? Burning the majority of belly fat is every person's dream when it comes to going from chubby to six-pack abs. When losing weight, starting with a flat and toned stomach allows your body to show clear abs definition. It's also motivating, especially when you start receiving compliments from family and friends or discover clothes that haven't fit you in a long time. However, you will need to stick to your regular exercises and a healthy eating plan to burn the most belly fat, so you can try weight loss pills for faster results. The f...
Lire la suite

This Leg and Glute Exercises Will Help You Increase Your Testosterone Levels

Image
  What is testosterone, and how does it work? Testosterone is a powerful steroid hormone that has different functions in both males and females. It allows us to gain lean muscle mass, maintain a healthy body composition, and maintain adequate bone density. Testosterone is found in humans and some other mammals. Males produce testosterone in their testicles. Women's ovaries do contain testosterone, though in lower amounts. The brain and pituitary gland control the amount of testosterone released by the body. It enters the bloodstream after being produced and performs a number of important functions. Testosterone levels increase during puberty and then begin to decline later in their forties. What is the significance of testosterone? Testosterone is essential for good health in addition to helping you have a nice body. Low testosterone levels can lead to a variety of health issues in both men and women, including depression, a lack of sex drive, obesity, and osteoporosis. Men with lo...
Lire la suite