August, 2023 - The Fit Ethos

The best exercises to build massive traps

Let’s face it. Big traps are intimidating and cool. They round off a powerful physique. You can’t have a jacked upper body and have deflated upper traps. Massive deltoids look silly when they’re next to tiny traps.

When people think of building their traps, they always think of shrugs. When I ask for any other exercise for their traps they… shrug… Shrugs are great but that’s way too limiting. Here are the best exercises to build massive traps.

You Need a Fitness Journal: The Secret to Strength Gains

If you’ve lifted weights for any amount of time, then you know that progressive overload is the thing you need to be pursuing. This is one of the fundamental tenets of strength. If you don’t lift heavier weights or do more work over time, you will not get stronger.

The Problem

Sounds easy enough. However, when I ask most people what they lifted on any given exercise in the last few days or weeks, they always have a hard time telling me. Not that they need to have their numbers memorized, but they don’t even have something they can reference in order to check their progress.

If you’re squatting 200 pounds for 3 sets of 5 today, you need to be using heavier weights or do more reps/sets next week or month. But if you can’t remember if you were squatting 185 or 225 last, how are you going to make intelligent decisions in the gym?

You can’t.