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Originally Posted by cookieduster
My current routine includes the following and are performed on Back days 2 times a week:
5x10 dead lift
5x10 front shruggs
5x10 back shruggs
5x10 dumbell shruggs
I've tried 3 or 4 weeks of heavy weight low reps and I've tried 3 or 4 weeks light weight high reps....Hell...I've even tried splitting both heavy and light for 3 weeks or longer with mininal results.
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Well, that's way too much volume. I know because if I was to do that, I'd be using 100 lbs for half the workout!
Big traps will happen with heavy weight and time. Lighter weight won't do a thing. You have way too much volume on those traps...Hell, I wouldn't subject my legs to that much volume, and legs happen to be one of the biggest muscles you have..
First of all, you certainly don't need back shrugs. Yes, I've seen a vid of Cutler doing them, but he doesn't count. There is no way under God you'll be able to use half the weight you do for regular shrugs. Deadlifts should be in the rep range of 3-8 reps, not 5 sets of 10. For regular shrugs, sets of 10 is fine. However, don't keep strict form cause remember, you want heavy weight.
I recommend
POWER SHRUGS. Basically, the only real difference between those and regular shrugs is that power shrugs have you using momentum. You lean forward more, using the swing upwards in your lower back to drive the weight up. It is a little cheat movement, but IMO necessary since my traps only respond best to a ton of weight.
I'll give you a better explanation in the next post!
Deadlifts kick ass for traps growth so you're ok there aside from the rep range. In my opinion, some ideal rep ranges for deadlifts are 5x5, 3x3, or [1x6-8, 1x3-4] Keep in mind that two or three sets don't
sound like a lot, but if you add up all the warmups and the super heavy weight you'll end up using, it's more than enough!
A few other exercises to think about are:
- Cleans (hanging or regular)
- Rack Deadlifts (put bars knee level in power rack so the exercise turns deadlifts into partial deadlifts..That translates to heavier weight, more upper body, less legs)
- High Pulls (Using barbell, hand placement shoulder width, essentially a wide grip upright row)
- The incorperation of supersets w/ upright rows..An example would be a super heavy set of rack deadlifts OR power shrugs followed by a set of upright rows (10-15 reps)..
If you keep your focus on progression to heavier and heavier weight from session to session, over time your muscles can and will eventually respond..Just don't give them a choice.