Training guide
A shrug is about the simplest lift in the gym: with a weight in each hand and your arms hanging straight, you lift your shoulders towards your ears, hold for a second and lower them all the way. It trains the upper part of your trapezius, the muscle across the tops of your shoulders, more directly than any exercise it has been compared with.
The details matter more than the weight. Lift straight up rather than rolling, and use a load you can lift to full height. No study has tested shrugs on their own for muscle growth, but in a trial in women with long-standing neck muscle pain, 10 weeks of dumbbell training that included shrugs cut their worst pain by about four-fifths and enlarged their trapezius muscle fibres.
This guide covers the shrug step by step on the 3D figure, what it works and what it misses, the versions, how heavy to go, sets and reps, and what to do if shrugs bring on neck pain or a headache.
Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing your thighs and arms straight. Lift both shoulders straight up towards your ears, as high as they'll go, hold for about a second, then lower them slowly all the way. A barbell, a cable or a machine loads the same movement.
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Of 10 exercises in 30 healthy adults, the one-arm shrug worked the upper trapezius hardest, and in 12 women with neck muscle pain the dumbbell shrug reached 102% of a maximal test contraction. The middle and lower parts of the muscle need rows and face-down raises.
No study has tested rolling the shoulders during a shrug, for or against. The American Council on Exercise's (ACE's) coaching advice is to lift straight up "avoiding any shoulder rotation", and our move page says rolling adds nothing and irritates some necks.
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In the women's study, they reached full trapezius activity with 20 to 30 kg, and across many trials light and heavy loads built similar muscle when sets were hard, while full range built more strength than partial range. Use a weight you can lift to full height and hold for a second: 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (our editorial starting point).
Probably, but that's our inference. In 18 women with trapezius muscle pain, 10 weeks of five dumbbell exercises, shrugs among them, enlarged their type II (faster) trapezius fibres by about 20%. No study has tested shrugs alone, or in people without neck pain.
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In women with long-standing neck muscle pain, strength training that included shrugs cut their worst pain by about 79% in 10 weeks; for tension-type headache, strength training did no better than posture advice. If shrugging brings on a headache or tingling in your arm, go lighter, and get it checked if it persists, as our move page says.
Shrugging lifts your shoulder blades straight up with your arms hanging straight, then lowers them. Dumbbells hang at your sides with your palms facing in; a barbell sits in front of your thighs, or behind them in the behind-the-back shrug; cables, a Smith machine, a calf machine and lever machines load the same movement. ACE rates the standing shrug intermediate and allows a split stance for balance.
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The trapezius is a large muscle in upper, middle and lower parts that works with the serratus anterior to steady the shoulder blade. As our trapezius page describes, it runs from the base of your skull and your upper spine to your collarbone and shoulder blades; the upper part lifts your shoulders and helps turn the shoulder blade up as your arm rises, the middle draws your shoulder blades together and the lower draws them down.
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The levator scapulae, at the side of your neck, also lifts the shoulder blade, and shrug studies measure it alongside the trapezius. Your grip and forearm muscles work to hold the weights.
The Kelso shrug isn't really a shrug: lying face down on an incline bench, you squeeze your shoulder blades together, which works the middle traps. Clean and snatch shrugs are fast weightlifting shrugs from mid-thigh, part of the pull; in the second pull of the power clean, trapezius activity and the shrug's range fell as the load rose, in 20 trained men.
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Your shoulder blades travel only a few centimetres, so the weight can climb fast, and piling it on mostly shortens the lift (our reading). Full range built more strength than partial range across 16 studies, and training through the stretched part of a movement tends to grow muscle best, though none of these studies used shrugs.
Most shrug research measures EMG (electromyography: electrodes measuring how hard a muscle works in a few reps). That shows effort, not what a muscle builds over months.
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Of 10 exercises in 30 healthy adults, the one-arm shrug drew the most upper-trapezius activity, while face-down raises worked the middle and lower trapezius hardest. In 12 women with chronic neck muscle pain, the shrug drew 102% of a maximal test contraction (plus or minus 11%) with 20 to 30 kg, against 97% for lateral raises and 85% for upright rows with only 3 to 10 kg. These are small studies of effort in a few reps, not of growth.
With the arms held 30 degrees out to the sides, the upper and lower trapezius worked harder than in a standard shrug, in 23 healthy adults and 14 with loose shoulders. In people whose shoulder blades rest turned down, shrugs with the arms raised to 90 or 150 degrees worked them harder than at 30 degrees (20 people), and a shrug with the arms out to the sides raised upper-trapezius activity (17 people). These are one-session rehabilitation studies, not training trials.
In 18 women with long-standing trapezius muscle pain, 10 weeks of five dumbbell exercises (lateral raises, shrugs, one-arm rows, reverse flys and upright rows; three of the five each session, 3 sets at 8 to 12 repetitions maximum, 3 times a week) enlarged their type II trapezius fibres from 3,439 to 4,133 square micrometres, about 20%, measured by biopsy, with a trend towards larger type I fibres. That's the best direct evidence that shrug-based training builds the trapezius, and it's our inference: no study has tested shrugs alone, or in people without neck pain.
We found no study of rolling the shoulders during a shrug. ACE's coaching advice is to lift straight up and down, "avoiding any shoulder rotation or elbow flexion".
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Across 28 studies of 747 adults, light, moderate and heavy loads built similar muscle when sets were taken to failure, and heavier loads built more strength. Full range built more strength than partial range across 16 studies (effect size 0.56). None of these studies used shrugs, so applying them to shrugs is our reading.
At each person's 3-rep maximum, elastic tubing and dumbbells drew similar muscle activity (64 to 86% against 59 to 87% of maximum) in 16 women with neck and shoulder pain, and across 8 studies band training built strength like machines and dumbbells.
More weekly sets built more muscle, with returns shrinking as the sets go up, and the American College of Sports Medicine's (ACSM's) overview of 137 reviews found growth enhanced with 10 or more sets a week. Across 67 studies, counting indirect sets as half sets predicted growth best.
Steps from our move page and ACE's standing shrug; the stopping rule is our editorial suggestion.
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The movement on the figure: Dumbbell shrug
Lift and lower in a straight line. ACE's coaching advice is not to roll your shoulders or bend your elbows; no study has tested rolling either way.
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Your arms only hold the weight; your shoulders do the moving, as our move page cues. If your elbows bend, the weight is too heavy.
Keep your chin level and your eyes ahead. Craning your neck forward makes shrugs uncomfortable for many people (our view).
Holding your arms slightly out from your sides, as the snatch-grip shrug does, made the upper and lower trapezius work harder in a one-session study. Using it in the gym is our reading, not a tested programme.
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If your grip gives out before your traps, use lifting straps, as our barbell shrug page suggests.
Lift straight up and lower straight down, as ACE coaches it.
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Your arms hang like ropes; only your shoulders move. Go lighter if your elbows bend.
Keep your head level and your eyes ahead.
Use a weight you can lift to full height and hold for a second; full range built more strength than partial range in trials.
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Lower slowly, all the way, until your arms hang long.
Stand tall. Dumbbells at your sides or the behind-the-back shrug keep the weight out of the way.
Each gives 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short, on its move page; the clean and snatch shrugs give 3 sets of 3 to 5 fast reps. Learn the barbell shrug in front before the behind-the-back versions. There's no trap bar shrug in our catalog: hold the handles at your sides, as for dumbbell shrugs.
3D demoDumbbell shrugBeginner · A dumbbell
3D demoBarbell shrugBeginner · A barbell
3D demoBehind-the-back barbell shrugBeginner · A barbell
3D demoSmith machine behind-the-back shrugBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoCable shrugBeginner · A cable machine
3D demoCalf machine shrugBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoLever machine shrugBeginner · Strength machine
3D demoProne dumbbell shoulder-blade squeezeBeginner · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoClean shrugBeginner · A barbell
3D demoSnatch shrugIntermediate · A barbell2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short of failure, with a one-second pause at the top (our move page's editorial starting point); the last set can go to 0 to 2 reps short, as our plans allow for small moves. The trapezius trial used 3 sets at 8 to 12 repetitions maximum, and our back workouts use 2 sets of 8 to 12 or of 12.
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60 to 90 seconds between sets, our plans' rest for small moves.
Twice a week suits most people (our suggestion). The trapezius trial trained 3 times a week, doing three of its five exercises each session.
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Build towards about 10 hard sets a week, counting shrugs in full and other trap work (carries, rows, deadlifts and upright rows) as half sets at most, since no study has measured how much they load the upper traps (our editorial counting). For health alone, shrugs are optional: the guidelines ask for strength work for all the major muscle groups on at least 2 days a week.
There's no useful ratio to any other lift. The women in the activity study used 20 to 30 kg, which is an observation, not a target. Start with a weight you could lift about 10 to 12 times, as our plans suggest, and add reps before weight.
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A few slow shoulder circles and band pull-aparts, then one light set of shrugs, as our back workouts do.
In a trial of 48 women with chronic trapezius muscle pain, 10 weeks of specific strength training (five dumbbell exercises, shrugs among them) cut their worst pain by 35 mm on a 100 mm scale, about 79%, while leg cycling gave only a small, short-lived drop. In 198 workers with frequent neck and shoulder pain, 2 or 12 minutes a day of band training, 5 days a week for 10 weeks, cut pain by 1.4 and 1.9 points out of 10 against health information.
Training the lower trapezius and serratus while keeping the upper trapezius quiet cut neck and shoulder pain by 2.0 points against a control group, in 47 office workers.
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In 60 patients, 10 weeks of shoulder and neck strength training with bands did no better than ergonomic and posture correction (44 finished the trial), and neither group's improvement reached clinical significance.
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If shrugs bring on a headache, or pins and needles, numbness or pain down your arm, lighten them or leave them out, and get it checked if it persists, as our move page says. Arm symptoms that spread further or last more than an hour afterwards mean make the exercise smaller or leave it out, as our neck pain guide says.
During exercise, neck pain of 0 to 3 out of 10 is minimal and 4 to 5 acceptable; 6 or more is too much, and your neck should be no worse the next morning, as our neck pain guide sets out from NHS inform.
For the middle and lower traps: Y-T-W raises at 5 to 8 of each shape for 2 rounds, face pulls at 3 sets of 12 to 20, and reverse flys and one-arm rows, as our workouts use them. Farmer's carries load your traps and grip. The upper trap release takes 2 slow holds of 30 seconds each side (its move page), and chin tucks suit a stiff neck.
3D demoProne Y-T-W raisesBeginner · No equipment
3D demoFace pullIntermediate · A band
3D demoBand pull-apartIntermediate · A band
3D demoBent-over reverse flyIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoSupported single-arm dumbbell rowIntermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoFarmer's carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoUpper trap releaseBeginner · No equipment
3D demoLevator scapulae stretchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoChin tuckBeginner · No equipmentBoth work the upper traps hard: in the women's activity study the upright row reached 85% of maximal trapezius activity with 3 to 10 kg, and the shrug 102% with 20 to 30 kg. Upright rows also work the side of the shoulder; shrugs keep your arms by your sides, which suits a shoulder that complains when you raise your arm (our view). Our upright row guide has the details.
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Carries hold your shoulders up while you walk and train your grip, but no study has measured how hard they work the traps. Many programmes use both; our farmer's carry guide covers carries.
They train different parts: shrugs the upper traps; face pulls and face-down raises the middle and lower traps and the back of the shoulder.
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Start with our neck pain guide's plan and the neck and shoulder strength routine, and add loaded shrugs within its pain rule.
Breathe out as you lift rather than holding your breath, keep the effort moderate, and get advice before maximal lifts, as our breathing guide sets out. The American Heart Association says people with controlled high blood pressure can do low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing.
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The NHS says you can keep up strength training if you already do it, and stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell. Tommy's says not to hold your breath, and that pregnancy isn't the time to try your heaviest weights.
See a GP if you think you have a hernia, and get advice before heavy lifting, as our breathing guide suggests.
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Our traps workout is built on the five dumbbell exercises of the trapezius trials, with shrugs first and carries to finish. The back workouts end with shrugs at 2 sets of 8 to 12 or of 12, and the neck routines use them, or band work, for sore necks.
A 30-minute traps workout with dumbbells: shrugs for the upper traps, then rows, raises and reverse flys for the rest of them, and farmer's carries to finish.
30 minBeginner9 movesA band, A dumbbellA back workout at home with dumbbells and a band: pull-ups or band-assisted pulls, two rows, face pulls, reverse flys, shrugs and Romanian deadlifts.
40 minIntermediate14 movesA band, Pull-up barA gym back workout: lat pulldowns, cable rows, dumbbell rows, face pulls, back extensions and shrugs.
45 minBeginner8 movesPull-up bar, A bandKnotted neck and shoulders: a minute of self-pressure, two gentle stretches, then the shoulder-blade strength work that eased neck pain in trials.
15 minBeginner8 movesA foam roller, A bandDeep neck holds and shoulder-blade strength in under 20 minutes: one of the best-supported kinds of exercise for a stiff, sore neck.
18 minBeginner11 movesA band, An anchor pointA 25-minute carry workout with dumbbells or kettlebells: farmer's carries, suitcase carries on each side and an overhead carry, with a safe pick-up first.
25 minBeginner7 movesA kettlebell, A dumbbellThe bro split's back day ends with shrugs.
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For a headache that started suddenly and is extremely painful, for example while straining under a heavy lift: a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy, the NHS says. For numbness or weakness in your face or body, a drooping face, being unable to lift both arms and keep them up, or difficulty speaking, swallowing, balancing or walking, as our neck pain guide lists. For sudden chest pain that doesn't go away, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness. For palpitations that don't stop, or come with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint. If someone faints while exercising. For back pain with numbness, tingling or weakness in both legs, loss of feeling around your genitals or bottom, or changes in your bladder or bowels. If glaucoma symptoms come on suddenly, such as intense eye pain or a red eye. Don't drive yourself.
For severe neck pain that starts suddenly or gets worse quickly, heaviness or weakness in your arms or legs, or pins and needles in an arm along with neck or arm pain, as our neck pain guide lists. For a headache brought on or made worse by exercising, coughing, sneezing or bending down: stop heavy lifting until it's been checked. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
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If neck pain or stiffness hasn't gone after a few weeks, painkillers haven't helped, or you have pins and needles or a cold arm. In many areas you can refer yourself to NHS physiotherapy.
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Stop, sit or lie down until it passes, and get up slowly. See a GP if it keeps happening.
If a pain is sharp, builds during the set or lingers into the next day, go lighter or leave shrugs out, and see a clinician if it persists.
No study has tested rolling, for or against. ACE's coaching advice is straight up and down without rotation; rolling adds nothing we know of, and some necks dislike it, as our move page says.
Source 1
Women with neck pain reached full trapezius activity with 20 to 30 kg, light and heavy loads built similar muscle when sets were hard, and full range built more strength than partial range. A weight too heavy to lift far only shortens the lift: go to full height and hold for a second.
The shrug topped the upper trapezius, but face-down raises worked the middle and lower trapezius hardest.
Source 2
Lateral raises and upright rows reached 97% and 85% of maximal trapezius activity with only 3 to 10 kg in women with neck pain. No growth trial compares shrugs with anything else, so shrugs are the most direct option, not the only one.
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We found no trial of shrugs for posture. The neck pain trials measured pain and strength, not posture; our posture guides cover what does change it.
Strength training that included shrugs eased long-standing neck muscle pain in women, and short daily band training helped workers with frequent neck and shoulder pain. Some people do get headaches or arm symptoms when shrugging: lighten the load or leave them out.
Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing in. Lift your shoulders straight up towards your ears as high as they'll go, hold for a second, then lower them slowly all the way. Keep your arms straight and your head level.
Mainly the upper trapezius, the muscle across the tops of your shoulders, helped by the levator scapulae at the side of your neck, while your grip holds the weights. The middle and lower trapezius do much less: face-down raises and rows work them hardest.
The trapezius is a back muscle that moves your shoulder blades, so shrugs fit on a back day or a shoulder day, and in a push and pull split they count as a pull. What matters is doing enough hard sets in the week, not which day they're on.
Heavy enough that 8 to 12 reps are hard, light enough that you can lift to full height and hold for a second. Women in one study reached full trapezius activity with 20 to 30 kg, and light and heavy loads build similar muscle when sets are hard. Add reps before weight.
Start with 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short, with 60 to 90 seconds' rest. A trial that enlarged trapezius muscle fibres used 3 sets at 8 to 12 repetitions maximum, 3 times a week. For bigger traps, build towards about 10 hard sets a week.
No. No study has tested rolling either way, and the American Council on Exercise's coaching advice is to lift straight up and down without rotation. Rolling adds nothing we know of, and some necks dislike it.
They all train the same movement. Dumbbells hang at your sides; a barbell in front can bump your thighs, which the behind-the-back version avoids; a cable adds weight in small steps. We found no study comparing them, and with a trap bar you hold the handles at your sides, as with dumbbells.
They can for some people, often from going too heavy or craning the neck. If shrugs bring on a headache or tingling in your arm, go lighter or leave them out, and get it checked if it persists. A sudden, extremely painful headache while lifting is a 999 call.
They can be part of it. In women with long-standing trapezius pain, 10 weeks of strength training that included shrugs cut their worst pain by about 79%, but training the lower traps instead also helped, so shrugs aren't essential. Our neck pain guide has the plan.
Without any weight, shrugs are too easy to build much strength. Filled water bottles, a loaded backpack or a band under your feet all add load, and band training built strength like weights in trials.
Probably, but no study has tested shrugs on their own. In a trial in women with neck muscle pain, 10 weeks of five exercises, shrugs among them, enlarged their trapezius muscle fibres by about a fifth. That's our inference, not a tested promise.
Lying face down on an incline bench with dumbbells, you squeeze your shoulder blades together instead of lifting them. It works the middle traps, which standing shrugs don't, and our 3D demo shows it as the prone shoulder-blade squeeze.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
