Two Barbell Landmine Shrugs for Traps

The barbell shrug is an excellent exercise for working the upper traps, however it has a major flaw...your body gets in the way.

This is a very simple way to create your own shrug "machine" using a couple of barbells to completely avoid having your body be in the way.

Now, even though I refer to it as a "landmine," you actually don't need to use a landmine attachment for either of the bars...it just LOOKS like a landmine setup.

Just brace the non-working ends of the bars against something solid - I've set my bars against the bottom cross-beam of my power rack. Because you're gripping on the other side of the actual weight, the bars won't flip.

So stand facing either in towards or away from the pivot points and shrug.

Use a controlled movement, not heaving the weight up using your legs. We want the traps to be doing the work.

Really lean into the exercise, using the lean of your body to assist with a strong stretch and contraction.

I find when I do these, my elbows do bend a little. This happens when I'm trying to squeeze out the strongest contraction at top. It doesn't detract from the exercise, so I'm going to allow it.

When doing the exercise, I suggest using 45 lb plates and bracing them against each other to help stabilize the setup. This isn't a balance exercise or unstable exercise so stability is a good thing.

Another benefit of this setup is the fact that you're using the fat ends of the bars to hold onto, which is awesome for building grip strength.

If you're looking for a great way to work upper traps, this setup is excellent for it.

If you've got a cable cross-over setup or some bands, I would also recommend trying Cable-Dumbbell Shrugs to hit more upper trap fibers.

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