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How to do Dumbbell Shrugs properly!
From here, personal trainer Mr. Oshima lectures on the correct way to do shrugs with dumbbells. If you do not have dumbbells, try substituting training tubes, plastic bottles filled with water or sand, or polyethylene tanks.
(1) Stand by with dumbbells in your hands and your feet shoulder-width apart. At this point, as shown in the photo below, lightly bend your elbows to prevent over-straining your arms and to make it easier to shrug your shoulders. However, be careful not to bend your elbows too much, as this will cause your arms to be overstrained and your shoulders to be overloaded.
(2) Exhale as you raise your shoulders, as if both shoulders were attached to your ears. When lowering the shoulders, do not let gravity do the work, but lower them slowly. The goal is to perform three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions. If this is not enough for you, you may want to do it more slowly or with a heavier weight. If 10 repetitions is too difficult, just go as far as you can.
3 tips to increase the effectiveness of shrugs!
Despite the simplicity of the movement, there are surprisingly many points to keep in mind. Here are three tips to make shrugs more effective. If you don’t feel like they are working your shoulders very well or if you want to train your muscles more efficiently, please try them out.
(1) Don’t grip the dumbbells too tight.
If you grip the dumbbells too tight, not only will your arms get tired first, but you may not be able to contract the trapezius muscle properly. For this reason, you want to keep a loose grip so that your arms do not get too tight. Also, beginners can easily handle heavy weights, but if the weight is too heavy, the range of motion may become narrow and the arms may reach their limits first, so be careful.
(2) Avoid using recoil (cheating)
Recoil in shrugs refers to lifting the dumbbells upward using the power of the legs. It is possible to use it as a final push, but you do not want it to become a habit and use cheating from the beginning. Of course, there are such training methods among advanced exercisers, but if you are not used to it, you may not be able to stimulate the trapezius muscles properly, and at worst, you may injure yourself. It is important to use a weight that does not require recoil and to move it carefully.
(3) Hold for a few seconds with shoulders shrugged
For quicker results, I recommend holding with the trapezius muscles contracted. The longer the load is applied, the more effective it will be and the better the muscle development will be. The theory is to start with a one-second hold and then increase the time to two or three seconds. If it becomes difficult to get muscle soreness even if you hold at the top, it would be a good idea to review the weight.
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