Got muscular knots? Back tightness? Spring your traps
Have you ever slept wrong and woken up with a kink in your neck? The muscle that’s kinked is part of your trapezius. The more you know about your traps, the less of a pain in the neck they will be.
Trapezius muscles are on the upper back and are shaped like a diamond. You can easily trace them with your fingers on your workout partner’s back. Start each finger from the neck and go to each shoulder and meet again at about the middle of the back. They are made up of three muscles — the upper, middle and lower trapezius. They attach from the spine to the shoulders, scapula and skull.
Like other muscles, traps can be tight or weak. Weak traps just need to be strengthened. Tight traps are overworked and will most likely have knots in them. Those knots can be relaxed by massage or self-myofascial release mentioned in an earlier column that you can find at www.lvrj.com/health.
Tight traps can cause headaches and even dizziness because the upper trapezius are attached to the base of the skull. Stress at the attachment site can cause a muscular strain to manifest differently. After they are relaxed, you can start a conditioning routine specific to your goals.
Many things can make traps tight. Weak muscles become strained faster than strong ones. If your back is on the weaker side and you work in a career that has you slouched over a computer or sitting for extended periods of time, then your upper back could be tight and tense. If you have suffered trauma from an accident, you could become tight as a result of the healing process. High stress also can have a tendency to make the upper back tight.
If you have a tight upper back, take the time to relax it with SMR, massage and stretching.
Then begin conditioning it by doing shrugs. Start with doing sets of 15 repetitions using a slow tempo for two to three sets.
After a few weeks, begin conditioning more oriented to your goals. If you become tight again, take some more time out to relax the muscles.
Shrugs can be used for more kinds of training than you might think. Most men use them to help grow size.
You also can use them to help with conditioning and toning the upper back. They also are beneficial in correcting posture because they recruit the rhomboids and can help pull forward-slumping shoulders back.
If you do want those large, school bus traps, then lift heavy. Be sure your muscles are properly conditioned first. Lifting heavy if your muscles aren’t ready will lead to injury. I recommend four sets of 10 reps. Be sure to control the movement.
Women can do shrugs without worrying about building bulky muscle. Doing controlled movements with a lower weight will help tone and strengthen the upper back. Shrugs also will help maintain good upper body posture for years to come.
There are a few different types of shrugs you can do in the gym. I’ve illustrated the dumbbell shrugs with this column. Practically every gym has dumbbells in a variety of weights and they require little setup. Just grab the weights and shrug. You can also do them with a straight barbell.
When gripping the barbell have one hand facing palm out and the other facing palm in. Alternate which palm is out and which is in with each set. This will reduce the strain on the elbow joints. Some gyms also have a shrug machine. You can manually load large plates onto it and perform shrugs with hundreds of pounds from a standing or seated position. Some gyms may even have a cable type of shrug machine with a selector pin that allows you to easily change between heavy and light resistance.
Chris Huth is a Las Vegas trainer. You can contact him at 702trainer@gmail.com. Before beginning any exercise program, consult your physician.
