Become a Trap King: The Ultimate Back and Traps Workout
Editor's Note: Introduction by Brently Rousset and workout by Ryan Rodal.
Sometimes it can be tough to keep your back workout interesting. You may be stuck on the same 3 day split, 5 day split, or upper body/lower body split; a routine you've been running week after week for the last 6 months.
You may be afraid to switch up your training regime. Or perhaps you have just become so comfortable with your training split that you don't know how to change it.
If you have a training schedule that is working for you and you are seeing growths in strength and muscle then stick to it. Keep crushing your lifts in the gym. If it's not broke don't fix it right?
But, for some of you, the current back workout plan you are running may be starting to become monotonous and not providing you with the gains you were hoping to achieve.
If that's the case then it's time to change your split. it's good to keep your training program new and different. I'm not saying to completely overhaul your lifting split every week because results take time. it's important to stick with a program for at least a month or two to see what kind of results it can produce.
If you're looking to try something and re-vamp your back day or your upper body day, depending on your split, then you need to keep reading and keep this back and traps workout in your back pocket.
Building a massive, wing-like back can be difficult. Your back is a huge muscle group and can take a serious beating, meaning you need to lift heavy and hard if you want your back to grow.
it's important to perform back exercises in a variety of angles as you want your back to be equally developed from top to bottom. Performing lifts that target your lats along with your upper, mid, and lower back is crucial towards developing a back that forces you to turn sideways when walking through doorways.
Your traps are sometimes overlooked and don't get the attention they deserve. A couple sets of dumbbell shrugs at the end of a workout with no focus or intensity seems to be the norm. The traps have become the calves of our upper body; a body part that's trained at the end of your workout as an afterthought, rather than having a specific set of exercises, sets, and rep ranges you need to complete.
But, traps are the new abs right?
If so, then it's time you start working out your traps just as hard as any other body part on your body. We all desire a big chest, a massive back, or big arms, but what about large, well-defined traps? Without a strong set of traps how do you expect to wear a tank top?
Your tank top needs something to rest upon and secure itself on or else it's going to just flail in the wind with each step you take. Secure that tank top on your body with traps big and strong enough to catch a bear.
Reverse Grip Rows. Personally recommended by Phil Heath via Instagram. On the last set we performed a triple drop set to failure removing 10-20 pounds at the end of each set.
V-Bar Superset. On the last set we went to complete failure constantly maintaining focus on muscle tension.
You thought the workout was done, but it's just getting started baby. They don't call us the trap kings for nothing.
Plate Shrugs. On this exercise the first 5 reps should be slowed and controlled with a 2 second upward, 4-second downward motion. The last 10 reps should be performed with constant tension at a normal controlled pace.
Upright Rows. Superset heavy and lower weight. For this exercise we took a barbell (or EZ bar if you prefer) and performed a set for 10 reps. Next, we grabbed another barbell that was 20 pounds lighter and performed 10 more reps. Repeat this superset for 5 sets with a 45-second break in between each superset.
Dumbbell Shrugs. Run the rack. 9 sets using a 20-15-12-10-8-10-12-15-AMRAP rep scheme. To finish off this workout we started with 60-pound dumbbells for 20 reps and pyramided our way up to 100-pound dumbbells before reverse pyramiding back down to 60 pounds for AMRAP for our last set. This is a great traps finisher to incorporate to your trap routine every week or bi-weekly. don't worry your traps will be feeling good for days after completing this movement.
After crushing these workouts put on your Tiger Fitness gear, take a picture, and use the hashtag #TFTrapKing because we want to see your results.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram @thebrentness and @ryanrodal.
Sometimes it can be tough to keep your back workout interesting. You may be stuck on the same 3 day split, 5 day split, or upper body/lower body split; a routine you've been running week after week for the last 6 months.
You may be afraid to switch up your training regime. Or perhaps you have just become so comfortable with your training split that you don't know how to change it.
If you have a training schedule that is working for you and you are seeing growths in strength and muscle then stick to it. Keep crushing your lifts in the gym. If it's not broke don't fix it right?
But, for some of you, the current back workout plan you are running may be starting to become monotonous and not providing you with the gains you were hoping to achieve.
If that's the case then it's time to change your split. it's good to keep your training program new and different. I'm not saying to completely overhaul your lifting split every week because results take time. it's important to stick with a program for at least a month or two to see what kind of results it can produce.
If you're looking to try something and re-vamp your back day or your upper body day, depending on your split, then you need to keep reading and keep this back and traps workout in your back pocket.
Building a massive, wing-like back can be difficult. Your back is a huge muscle group and can take a serious beating, meaning you need to lift heavy and hard if you want your back to grow.
it's important to perform back exercises in a variety of angles as you want your back to be equally developed from top to bottom. Performing lifts that target your lats along with your upper, mid, and lower back is crucial towards developing a back that forces you to turn sideways when walking through doorways.
Your traps are sometimes overlooked and don't get the attention they deserve. A couple sets of dumbbell shrugs at the end of a workout with no focus or intensity seems to be the norm. The traps have become the calves of our upper body; a body part that's trained at the end of your workout as an afterthought, rather than having a specific set of exercises, sets, and rep ranges you need to complete.
But, traps are the new abs right?
If so, then it's time you start working out your traps just as hard as any other body part on your body. We all desire a big chest, a massive back, or big arms, but what about large, well-defined traps? Without a strong set of traps how do you expect to wear a tank top?
Your tank top needs something to rest upon and secure itself on or else it's going to just flail in the wind with each step you take. Secure that tank top on your body with traps big and strong enough to catch a bear.
The Best Back Workout for Monster Traps and Back Gains
| Back Exercises | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best back Workout | |||||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |||
| Deadlifts - 75% of Max | 5 | 5 | |||
| Deadlifts - 90% of Max | 1 | 3 | |||
| Reverse Grip Bent-Over Rows - 70% of Max | 4 | 10 | |||
| T-Bar Rows - 70% of Max. Last set triple drop set to failure. | 5 | 8 | |||
| Hammer Strength Row Machine | 4 | 8 | |||
| V-Bar Lat Pull Down superset with Straight-Bar Lat Push Downs. | 5 | 15 | |||
Reverse Grip Rows. Personally recommended by Phil Heath via Instagram. On the last set we performed a triple drop set to failure removing 10-20 pounds at the end of each set.
V-Bar Superset. On the last set we went to complete failure constantly maintaining focus on muscle tension.
You thought the workout was done, but it's just getting started baby. They don't call us the trap kings for nothing.
| Trap Exercises | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best back Workout | |||||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |||
| Plate Shrugs. | 4 | 15 | |||
| Upright Rows | 5 | 10 | |||
| Dumbbell Shrugs | 9 | See below | |||
Plate Shrugs. On this exercise the first 5 reps should be slowed and controlled with a 2 second upward, 4-second downward motion. The last 10 reps should be performed with constant tension at a normal controlled pace.
Upright Rows. Superset heavy and lower weight. For this exercise we took a barbell (or EZ bar if you prefer) and performed a set for 10 reps. Next, we grabbed another barbell that was 20 pounds lighter and performed 10 more reps. Repeat this superset for 5 sets with a 45-second break in between each superset.
Dumbbell Shrugs. Run the rack. 9 sets using a 20-15-12-10-8-10-12-15-AMRAP rep scheme. To finish off this workout we started with 60-pound dumbbells for 20 reps and pyramided our way up to 100-pound dumbbells before reverse pyramiding back down to 60 pounds for AMRAP for our last set. This is a great traps finisher to incorporate to your trap routine every week or bi-weekly. don't worry your traps will be feeling good for days after completing this movement.
Become a #TrapKing
With this workout you will hit your traps just as hard, if not harder, than your back. By combining this intense, high-rep, high energy trap workout with your back workout you will be focusing on developing your upper body from the top of your neck all the way down to your lower back. it's time you develop those hills into mountains on each side of your neck so your tank top has something to properly rest itself upon.After crushing these workouts put on your Tiger Fitness gear, take a picture, and use the hashtag #TFTrapKing because we want to see your results.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram @thebrentness and @ryanrodal.
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