rolling shoulders when shrugging

[rudygee2]

Hey guys, I was just wondering, is it bad to roll your shoulders when you do db shurgs? I first started doing them just up and down, but then saw people in the gym rolling their shoulders. I figured it was doing more work because it was more movement, but i recently heard that it was really bad to do that. What do you all think?

 

[Warboss Alex]

1. A shrug is just and up and down movement, no rolling, swaying, gyrating or grinding of any kind is involved.

2. Who shrugs anymore?

 

[rudygee2]

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
1. A shrug is just and up and down movement, no rolling, swaying, gyrating or grinding of any kind is involved.

2. Who shrugs anymore?

Ah, ok, thanks alot for the clarification Warboss.

If you dont shrug, what do you like to do for traps?

 

[Warboss Alex]

I like heavy deadlifts with proper form: pulling your shoulders back at the top of the movement, but if you're lifting a heavy enough weight you'll be working your traps anyway.

Shrugs, much like db flyes and tricep kickbacks, are what I'd call a worthless exercise.. you can progress up to a point and then what?

Do them if you want but I think they're a waste of time..

 

[semag]

yeah... don't worry about your traps. If you're pulling 400-500 lbs for deads... then any sort of "resetting" at the top of the rep is completely going to blast your traps.

 

[rudygee2]

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
I like heavy deadlifts with proper form: pulling your shoulders back at the top of the movement, but if you're lifting a heavy enough weight you'll be working your traps anyway.

Shrugs, much like db flyes and tricep kickbacks, are what I'd call a worthless exercise.. you can progress up to a point and then what?

Do them if you want but I think they're a waste of time..

crap....ill be honest with you guys, I dont deadlift. I squat, but dont deadlift. Ive tried a few times, but it has always felt SO awkward and uncomfortable. Usually for back Ill just do rows, pull downs, pull ups, and for lower back either the machine where you push back, or the exercise where you stand on a inclined plane and bend forward.

Do you guys know of any other exercise that would work out the traps well other than deadlifts?

 

[Warboss Alex]

You're missing out on a whole lot of growth by not doing deadlifts. I never found them to be uncomfortable or awkward, they were the easiest exercise for me to pick out of the big three really.

Start with a really light weight and persevere.

Otherwise do a google for 'power shrugs', I think it was posted on elitefitness, they're much superior to regular shrugs.

That said, I neither shrug nor power shrug and my traps are in excellent condition. Deadlift wins 'em all.

 

[semag]

yeah... if the form feels awkward, maybe try to get it down (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMEONE WATCH, OR VIDEO IT) with a trap bar.

I have a friend who isn't flexible worth shyt, but we got him working on the trap bar and it helps his form out a lot, he's almost got the basic form down.

 

[rudygee2]

Originally posted by semag
yeah... if the form feels awkward, maybe try to get it down (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMEONE WATCH, OR VIDEO IT) with a trap bar.

I have a friend who isn't flexible worth shyt, but we got him working on the trap bar and it helps his form out a lot, he's almost got the basic form down.

Hey Warboss, I really dont want to be missing out alot of growth, haha. I dont know if youll understand this, but going up it feels fine, but trying to go down, it feels weird, like i have to lean forward to get the barbell out of the way for my knees. And there seems to be a paradox, if i go lightweight (using less than 45 lb plates) then I got to bend down super low to put the bar down because the weights on there are much smaller. but if i go with 45 lb plates, then its heavy for me.

Im actually taking a weight training class, so I could ask him how to do it, but the thing is, I dont know how knowledgeble this instructor really is.... he suggests doing t bar rows behind the back, and those are really bad for the shoulders arent they? And when I said I wanted to do a 3 day split (which ive been doing for awhile) he started going into how the first day I should go light, second day I should go medium, and third day I should go heavy.... Ive never heard of this type of routine. So I have no idea what this guys credentials are.

Semag....whats a trap bar? And do you think itd help with my problem describedd above?

Thanks alot guys.

 

[Warboss Alex]

I'm trying to picture what you mean.. are you very tall or something? That's often a problem with really tall people, they can't deadlift that well.

Okay, let's see.. trying to go through the motions in my head here. Come to think of it, I lean forward a little too to get the bar in front of the knees, not a whole lot though. (I'm 6'1 or so)

OUCH .. that just hurt my quad. Oh god, no, don't tell me I'm outta deadlift commission too (and this was with no weight), okay, I'm gonna die here.. lol

rudy, try and persevere mate. If you really can't do it then you could try really heavy barbell rows and rack deadlifts (also called rack pulls) instead, with the latter you start/stop at knee level anyway. They blast your back more but are a less compound exercise than regular deadlifts - they might suit you well though.

 

[rudygee2]

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
I'm trying to picture what you mean.. are you very tall or something? That's often a problem with really tall people, they can't deadlift that well.

Okay, let's see.. trying to go through the motions in my head here. Come to think of it, I lean forward a little too to get the bar in front of the knees, not a whole lot though. (I'm 6'1 or so)

OUCH .. that just hurt my quad. Oh god, no, don't tell me I'm outta deadlift commission too (and this was with no weight), okay, I'm gonna die here.. lol

rudy, try and persevere mate. If you really can't do it then you could try really heavy barbell rows and rack deadlifts (also called rack pulls) instead, with the latter you start/stop at knee level anyway. They blast your back more but are a less compound exercise than regular deadlifts - they might suit you well though.

Not tall at all, haha, only 5'8. I guess Ill see if my instructor can help me out or whatever on thursday. Ill try it out for awhile, but if all else fails, ill give rack deadlifts/rows a go.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[semag]

yo yo yo rudy...

Trap bar could help you yes... because you don't have to worry about going around your knees.

http://gymratz.co.uk/weight-training-gym-equipment/usrimage/cat42.jpg

That's a trapbar...

As far as having it be awkward on the way down??? Don't control it on the way down... I don't like that at all, adn I think it's dangerous. Down should be quick... almost dropping it... that's IMO. I can show a vid of some world class competing powerlifters doing deads for reps, and what they do is pull up... and drop down.... pull up, and drop down. Each rep is a single rep, you could even re-grip in between practically... no touch 'n go

 

[rudygee2]

Originally posted by semag
yo yo yo rudy...

Trap bar could help you yes... because you don't have to worry about going around your knees.

http://gymratz.co.uk/weight-training-gym-equipment/usrimage/cat42.jpg

That's a trapbar...

As far as having it be awkward on the way down??? Don't control it on the way down... I don't like that at all, adn I think it's dangerous. Down should be quick... almost dropping it... that's IMO. I can show a vid of some world class competing powerlifters doing deads for reps, and what they do is pull up... and drop down.... pull up, and drop down. Each rep is a single rep, you could even re-grip in between practically... no touch 'n go

Ah, thanks for the pic semag... Ive seen those, but unfortunately, Im pretty sure my gym doesnt have those

As for the dropping on deadlifts, our gym doesnt have a padded area nor do we have rubber plates. Even when i tried and did the controlled drop, it made a crap load of noise... I dont even want to think about how loud it would be if I did the almost drop way. Not to mention Im not sure if that would do any damage to the ground because of the lack of padding. Any way around this?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Semag, we're not looking for a slow controlled negative here and I do let the bar down fairly quickly, but I don't think we should drop the weight as such (I know you don't mean literally drop though).

Remember powerlifters train the movement, not necessarily the muscle.

 

[semag]

*grins*

I know warboss... I'm still subscribing to the theory of "how many little guys do you see deadlifting 500-700 lbs" ya know??

but yeah... I don't do a complete drop, but I don't do nearly as much control on the negative as I would on anything else. Just the physics of the motion make me cringe at how much wacko pressure that puts on your baack... since you can't directly reverse the movement you do on the way up .

 

[rudygee2]

Originally posted by semag
Just the physics of the motion make me cringe at how much wacko pressure that puts on your baack... since you can't directly reverse the movement you do on the way up .

I think thats one of the big reasons deadlifts are uncomfortable to me