Have you ever wonder why you should work on your traps? I mean for guys it may be more of looks of strength but why is it important for the others? Primary reason is because of our shoulders.
Unfortunately with our evolution, our shoulders has become one of the poorly deigned structures in our body.
Why?
When you look at the picture to the left you can see that only bone that connects with scapula is your clavicle. Other than that it is only supported by the muscles.
Average adults has arm weighs about 8 lb each. Guess what muscle is supporting the weight of arm and scapula. It is back muscles, mainly trapezius or traps.
Many of the people, especially women and those who work in front of the computer a lot, is complaining about their tight traps. And what do most doctors and massage therapists suggest to do? Not to work on traps. To avoid extra stress on the muscle.
Well, suggestion seems logical but this is an issue since reason why your traps are tight is because your traps are not strong enough to hold dragging down of scapula either due to the weight of arms or weight of the breasts.
Whether you like it or not, or suggested by your doctor to not work on your traps, you still need to work on strengthening it, if you want to fix the issue.
If you do have severe neck issue that is come from your trap, start working on mobilizing your traps and strengthening them.
Here are some sample list of exercises that you can do.
Face Pull
Upright rows
Band Pull Apart
Shrugs
Start with light resistance where you feel like it is easy so you can work on sending more blood to the traps to relieve the tension. 3 sets of 15-20 reps with 3 seconds hold at the squeeze should be a good place to start.
Once you start feel that the tension is subsiding, start adding resistance and work on 4 sets of 8-12 reps.
Traps strength are important not just for the looks but for proper functioning of your shoulders.
Kota Shimada
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