The shrug – a real Arnold Schwarzenegger classic exercise and great for training the upper back, shoulders, and neck. But what are the key benefits of shrugs and what are some different ways that we can perform them in our training?

Top 3 Benefits of Performing Shrug Variations

Reduced concussion in sport

For those that play contact or combat sports like rugby, football or boxing, concussion is a real risk for your short-term well-being and long-term health. For this reason, strengthening your neck is an essential part of a training programme. A stronger neck is thought to be able to handle contact better, so that the neck and head doesn’t whip back/forward/sideways as aggressively upon hard contact.

Isolates Scapula Motion

Movement like shoulder elevation are often-neglected movements of the shoulder and scapula complex and therefore shrugs are a great opportunity to train this motion, so that no gains are left on the table.

Helps Reduce and Protect Against Neck Pain

Again, like with concussion in sport, a stronger neck is a more pain free neck, so using exercises, like shrugs, to strengthen it can be very beneficial for day-to-day functioning, as well as for sport and gains, given how prevalent and debilitating neck related pain can be on a daily basis.

Our Top 11 Shrug Variations

1 - Trap Bar Shrug

The neutral grip of the trap bar allows for a greater range of motion than a traditional barbell shrug, while also reducing the strain on the wrists, which may be beneficial if you struggle with wrist pain during any straight bar variations of the shrug.

Kit Required

• Trap Bar

• Weight Plates

2 - Behind the Back Barbell Shrug

The behind the back shrug forces you to maintain a very upright torso and extended thoracic while you work the shrugging motion. This can be beneficial for anyone sensitive to a more flexed upper body position.

Kit Required

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

3 - Dumbbell Shrug

The neutral grip allows for a greater range of motion than a traditional barbell shrug, reducing the strain on the wrists, making it a great alternative to the trap bar shrug if it is not practical or possible for you to use a trap bar. Because of the individual weights, it also allows you to target each side of your upper body individually to reduce side-to-side imbalances.

Kit Required

• Dumbbells or Kettlebells

4 - Cable Shrug

The constant tension of the cable allows you to target your traps and upper body throughout the movement, instead of biasing the top of the rep like in traditional loading patterns.

Kit Required

• Cable Machine

5 - Banded Shrug

The banded shrug uses a variable resistance loading pattern. This progressively increases the resistance as the band is stretched, thus making the movement even harder towards the top of the shrug. This is great for targeting the top of the movement and also increasing your intent during your shrugs so that you are working as hard as you can.

Kit Required

• Resistance Bands

6 - Trap Bar Jump Shrug

The Trap Bar Jump Shrug exposes the upper body to high-speed movements, initiated by the lower body. This is a great movement for preparing you for whole body powerful sporting movements, like throwing.

Kit Required

• Trap Bar

• Weight Plates

7 - Chest Supported Shrug

The incline bench takes the load of the low back and the lower body so that you can purely target the upper body. The chest supported position also allows you to target scapula retraction, a key movement in rowing variations.

Kit Required

• Adjustable Weight Bench

• Dumbbells

8 - Chin Up Shrug (aka Scapula Pull Up)

The chin up shrug allows you to target scapula depression in isolation, working the lats and developing the foundation strength for achieving your first chin.

Kit Required

• Pull Up Bar

9 - Snatch Grip Barbell Shrug

The wider grip further challenges your grip strength and strength of your upper body. It is a great variation for general strength to compliment your Olympic Lifting.

Kit Required

• Barbell

• Weight Plates

10 - Dip Shrugs

The dip shrug is a great regression to the tricep dip, isolating the scapula depression and elevation that occurs on the way down and the way up during a dip.

Kit Required

• Tricep Dip Bar

11 - Push Up Scapular Shrug

The Push Up Scapula Shrug is a great way to work on strength and mobility of the upper body by training it in a position with maximal active protraction. This is a great way to help with your upper body positioning during a front squat, allowing you to perform front squats without stressing your wrists, optimally loading the lower body.

• Increase the intensity with a Weighted Vest or Resistance Bands

Which shrug variation you use is up to you and the best for you will be very individual. Our advice would be to use 2-3 variations of the shrug at a time, twice a week, as a start. You can then rotate which variations you use every few weeks to vary the stimulus over time. Remember, motion is lotion, so remember to apply it regularly!

Written by guest author Ewan Hammond.

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Tags: Equipment > Bars and Weight Plates ; Exercise Type > Strength