Normal shrugs won't even touch the lower traps because of the way their fibers are aligned and the function they perform.
Here's a view of the trapezius muscle...the lower traps originate on the spine and attach/insert on the scapulae (shoulder blades).
For our purposes with this exercise, we're going to focus on the scapular depression and upward rotation functions of the lower traps.
I'll explain these more in the context of the exercise below, but just FYI, you don't NEED to know how the exercise works to perform it, so you can skip that, if you like. It can get a bit complex biomechanically.
Honestly, if you just do the exercise, you'll be able to feel exactly where your lower traps are for the next three days...(not kidding).
How To Do Arm-90 Hybrid Shrugs for Upper and Lower Traps...
To perform this exercise, you'll need a standing calf raise machine or squat machine and a light dumbbell or bar (if you have room). I'm using a 20 lb dumbbell in the demo.
The calf raise machine allows you to do a "hands free" shrug movement so that your hands are free to hold the dumbbell.
You're going to be holding the dumbbell around the "bell" ends during the exercise with your arms held straight out in front of you (90 degrees at the shoulder)...WHILE you shrug up with the calf machine.
It sounds crazy, looks crazy and, yes, feels crazy.
Holding the dumbbell out in front like this activates the lower traps in their upwards rotation function (which is basically bringing the arms up overhead). In this case, we're stopping that movement halfway through and doing an isometric hold.
The upper traps get worked with the vertical shrug movement. The middle traps will get worked isometrically with the initial setup here.
When you're ready to start the exercise, hold your dumbbell around the ends, face AWAY from the pivot point of the machine (important for the arc of the movement...we want to go up and back). Bring the arms up to horizontal and hold them there.
It's important to get the arms in position first, before you load the body. You need to get the shoulders set in position so you're not fighting the calf raise machine weight to raise the arms up to 90.
Now, before you load yourself and stand up, first "crunch" your shoulders together, bringing them in closer on the pads.
This will allow for a more complete range of motion in the shrug (if your shoulders are set normally, i.e. wide, the weight on the machine won't allow you to raise your shoulder girdle up as much as you can with them set close).
This "crunching' is also known as scapular retraction (bringing the shoulder blades in towards each other), which is the primary function of the middle traps. Because of this, they're going to be contracting isometrically the entire time.
Now stand up. You're ready to start the exercise.
Hold the dumbbell out in front of you and let the calf machine weight push down the upper traps.
Now shrug the entire shoulder girdle up as high as you can.
This hits the upper traps hard while the middle and lower traps activate isometrically. The front delts will get a lot of work here as well, with the dumbbell held out in front.
Hold for a few seconds and squeeze everything hard. Then lower your entire shoulder girdle until the weight stretches your upper traps down again.
Hold that dumbbell at 90 degrees out in front of you the ENTIRE TIME.
The entire mass of your traps, from top to bottom, will be SCREAMING by the time you're done...which incidentally should be when you can't hold the dumbbell up anymore.
In addition to developing the lower traps from a visual point of view, this exercise is INCREDIBLE for developing the exact muscles needed to hold up the arms for a front squat.
I'm going to finish with a bit of biomechanics nerd talk here.
It's going to be a bit of a word salad, just FYI, so only read this if you have good biomechanical knowledge. If you do, feel free to critique my reasoning here. I could be wrong in my interpretation and I'm definitely open to feedback on it.
The interesting thing about this exercise from a biomechanical point of view is that this shrug actually works directly AGAINST what the lower traps are supposed to be doing, which makes it more effective.
This actually adds concurrent eccentric loading on the lower traps at the same time as they're contracting isometrically to support the dumbbell out in front of you.
One of the primary functions of the lower trap fibers is to depress, or lower, the scapulae. When you raise the shoulders up, as in the regular shrug movement, you ELEVATE the scapulae, which is the direct opposite movement of depression.
However, because the lower traps ALSO assist the upper traps and the serratus muscles in upward scapular rotation (which is the movement we're hitting isometrically by holding the dumbbell out in front), they're working on the scapula in that capacity while the scaps are elevating.
So the lower traps are being forcibly lengthened by the contraction of the upper traps while under isometric contraction.
A somewhat good visual is like pulling the arms on a Stretch Armstrong doll.
Bottom line, this hits the lower traps incredibly hard and with strong resistance.
It's a beast of an exercise for the ENTIRE Trapezius muscle.
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Want more unique and challenging exercises to work your entire body with simple equipment? All you need is just a barbell, dumbbells and a bench. Check out The Best Home Gym Exercises You've Never Heard Of!
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