Shoulder shrugs

mmuscle · 08-Mar-05, 09:33 AM

Hello guys.

I have a quick question here on shoulder shrugs. I know a guy who has ended up with quite painful shoulder joints, which he believes (and his doctor seems to agree) is caused by years of performing heavy shoulder shrugs in the gym.

I personally have never had any problems with this exercise. Although I admit that I don't do it as regularly as he did.

What do you guys think about this??

Cheers!

ShawnNWF · 08-Mar-05, 09:45 AM

Well I only do shrugs once per week, so maybe he was overtraining that part, but I don't know since I don't know his workout schedule. It may also have been from bad form. Rolling the shoulders or some other problem.

Lift2Live · 08-Mar-05, 10:04 AM

It's also possible that he was doing them completely wrong. Alot of people seem to think they need to 'roll' thier shoulders (as Shawn stated) but this causes alot of stress on the joint and can result in injury, especially with heavy weights. Many people also 'jerk' the weight up as it gets heavy(er). Jerking weights has more risk for injury than a smooth controlled motion. Just thoughts...

mmuscle · 13-Mar-05, 09:13 AM

Thanks for the info. To be honest whenn watching him he does seem to roll them!

rbuchman · 13-Mar-05, 01:01 PM

There are many ways to do them I feel barbell in front puts the most stress on the shoulder.
Depending on the available equiptment I prefer them in this order (from a safety standpoint) Dumbells, trap bar, bar bell behind the back, front barbell.

mmuscle · 06-Apr-05, 11:41 AM

Cheers for the responses guys.

Blaze · 08-Apr-05, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lift2Live

It's also possible that he was doing them completely wrong. Alot of people seem to think they need to 'roll' thier shoulders (as Shawn stated) but this causes alot of stress on the joint and can result in injury, especially with heavy weights. Many people also 'jerk' the weight up as it gets heavy(er). Jerking weights has more risk for injury than a smooth controlled motion. Just thoughts...

Yes. Rolling the shoulders is bad. This one guy that is in my gym rolls his shrugs and of course he's Mr. Arrogant Punk...and he thinks he's the man so he won't take any advice...But that could very well be the problem.
Though I've never seen any one jerk the weight on shrugs...That just seems like it would be instant injury

**j407** · 08-Apr-05, 08:16 PM

i do this exercise. but i dont seem to feel it work anything. i know its a shoulder exercise but how important is it. what part of the shoulder does it work??

Lift2Live · 09-Apr-05, 10:21 AM

It works the Trapezius. It's the muscle that starts at the base of your neck and extends outward toward the shoulder (like wings) and a little ways down your spine but not quite as visible as the top part.

mmuscle · 17-Apr-05, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lift2Live

It works the Trapezius. It's the muscle that starts at the base of your neck and extends outward toward the shoulder (like wings) and a little ways down your spine but not quite as visible as the top part.

Thanks for the clarification.

**midgetcop** · 17-Apr-05, 12:07 PM

I don't even find that I need to do shrugs...my traps are pretty shapely (for a chick), and I figure I'm getting that from my uprights barbell rows. Maybe my form is off? :confused:

**threenorns** · 17-Apr-05, 01:02 PM

i don't do traps, either - mine are getting a good enough workout as it is.

i don't let bill do shrugs: he's been cheating his workouts so much, his traps are pretty built up and are slightly too large for everything else.

**.V.** · 18-Apr-05, 07:24 PM

People keep mentioning jerking the weight up. How in the heck can you do that - if they are heavy enough, you shouldn't be able to jerk them - just go straight up and straight down. Since the arms are only the connection between the traps and the bar - if you are able to jerk the weight, something is bad wrong. Must be rolling the shoulder down - and jerking to roll it back up. That sounds like a future dislocation to me. But, what do I know - I can only shrug 270 and upright row 130 - this might be why I have no traps yet.

If I'm thinking of the right muscle - the trap is the one that is supposed sit on the shoulder and hold your ears up -- right?

Lift2Live · 19-Apr-05, 10:19 AM

Yeah, the jerking I see is when someone loads more than they can do on the Bb or grabs too heavy of a dumbell and 'yanks' the weight up with momentum. It's hard to describe other than jerking. Either way it's bad for yuh.

luke.w · 19-Apr-05, 11:21 AM

actually the thickest part of the traps are in your back, shrugs are not nessessary (it's personal prefferance) you can get very thick traps through heavy deadlifts and olyimpic stlye lifts, and saying the jerks aren't good for you, well, you have to know what your doing. ever seen an olyimpic lifter with no shirt they have the most impressive trap development all through doing cleans and explosive (shrug type) pulls.

Shoulder shrugs

Shrugs