# Behind neck press or upright rows.



## Guest (Aug 2, 2005)

Behind neck press or upright rows for trapezius?, my vote is upright rows as ive had good gains from this.I hate shrugs as i cant master the tequnique so it dont burn my traps enougth.


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2005)

Upright rows all they way

J


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2005)

upright rows agreed, i got to about 80kg on these, 

i hate srhugs aswell, if i do ,do em i use dumbells.


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## reef (Jul 14, 2005)

Ive seen good growth without shrugs aswell, deadlifts and upright rows have been very good for my traps.

Im not a fan of behind the neck press as it seems to give me some rotary cuff problems in my right shoulder. Theres also the fact that the exercise is primarily a shoulder excercise (targets anterior deltoid) and only uses the trapezius as a stabiliser.


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## TommyT (Aug 2, 2005)

Behind the Neck press has caused me niggling injuries a few times so I avoid them like the plauge now.

Also upright rows are not considered a natural movement and are criticized by some, however I do do them occasionally. Dumbell shrugs for me, barbell shrugs aslo great but like Steve can never master the technique with these always feel I'm not doing them properly.

TT


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2005)

I find behind neck press seems to stretch the traps more and the upright rows seem to baisicly shorten the neck if you understand me seems to add more hieght to the traps.Im going to do upright rows in one session and behind neck in another session.


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2005)

dont get the question, its like asking whats better for biceps bent over rows or curls. sure your traps do get worked by press behind neck but its not the primary muscle in the exercise. upright rows are a crap exercise, they force your joints into unatural positons and this leads to injury. if u wanna work traps its shrugs all the way.


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2005)

Both! and thn some side raises then some shrugs 8)


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## Stu21Ldn (Mar 17, 2005)

Neither!

Upright rows kill my shoulders

Behind the neck presses are to dangerous IMO


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2005)

Bullshit gary my traps have come on leaps and bounds since doing upright rows so upright rows are good for the traps, ive had no pains or probelems when doing them as i concentrate more on good form and that way you shouldnt get injuries with em.

You say "i dont get the question" its simple, what works traps better im not saying either one is directly a traps exercise alough i bielieve upright rows are but i wanted views on which people find better.

JESUS!


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## Stu21Ldn (Mar 17, 2005)

i think garys point was that behind the neck presses do not direct target the traps like upright rows, so its difficult to compare the two exercises.


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2005)

Fair enougth then, SORRY MY BAD.


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2005)

divie if you dont understand what i mean then ask me to explain. i never said upright rows dont work i said there crap they force your joints into unatural positions and as the weight increases the wear n tear on those joints gets worse its not instant injury but sustained long term damage which you may regret in the future. sounds to me like your mind was made up before you posted so why bother asking.

for future reference i never bullshit.

stu thanks, nice to see some people take the time to read through the posts and understand them without over reacting


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## GTForce (Oct 23, 2004)

The clean is an excellent exercise for the traps.

If you performed it with a press then you would be getting the best of both. The clean & jerk (or press) is a phenomenal exercise, the only requirement is the patience to learn, coordination to perform , and you must have flexibilty in your wrists.

You can perform it as a full-body exercise (from the floor, w/the overhead press) or, specifically for traps, you can do standing power cleans.

An additional benefit is that the rotator-cuff muscles (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor) will be strengthened as opposed to potentially damaged with the behind the neck press (which primarily works the delts anyway). Another benefit is muscular endurance, a challenging set of 10 pwer cleans will leave you more spent than any set of shrugs or overhead presses ever would.

That said, to answer your initial question, I would go with shrugs every time over behind the neck press.

Have you tried shrugs holding a barbell behind your back? You can perform them in a Smith machine rack and lean away from the bar so your traps get an awesome stretch. Holding the barbell at a level just under your bottom, you lean forward (kind of like that skinny twit Leonardo Di Caprio at the front of the Titanic). Done correctly, you will defenitely feel those.

Good luck, GTForce


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## razg (Nov 23, 2004)

garry, I see your point regarding upright rows with a straight bar (in terms of wrists) - do you think it's still bad posture using an ez-bar? Using that, it doesnt seem particularly unnatural.


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2005)

To be honest i cant see the probelem with upright rows nor do i bielieve there is one.

I think a lot of the complaints on this exercisse are just down to people trying to go mad with how much they lift doing 4-6 reps at so heavy maywell cause probs with theese, however i always do a minimum of 8 reps as doing 4-6 dont give me a pump.


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2005)

true its better with an e z bar but i find it still pulls the wrist n elbow joints. i've injured me left bicep twice doing them and each time it took months to be able to train anything like properly again so i hate the exercise.


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2005)

> true its better with an e z bar


what about dumbells?


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

neither are safe-stick to deadlifts and chin religiously-if had a suitable bench i would do incline shrugs also


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