On the 7th Day of Fitness my Swolemate gave to me: 7 Shrugs-A-Shrugging

I have to admit back in the days when I was in my mid 20s I loved shrugging. There was something primal about lifting and holding heavy weight. I started shrugging using the smith machine (such a pussy, now in hindsight). I eventually made the transition to the olympic bar. Oh did I ever rip, tear, shred numerous lifting straps in mid lift. 3 plates aside eventually turned to 4 plates aside and so on. As time went on my body, my spine, my grip got stronger and now at 40 I shrug 5 plates and on good days even 6 plates aside. Old man strength.

The hardest thing to teach clients, kids and people in general is patience. I realize now that my strength increased over the years because I really did try and challenge myself with the compound lifts. I don’t shrug with the volume I did when I was younger but I train differently now. I still challenge myself but nowadays I do heavy deadlifts, or rack pulls rather than heavy shrugs. But every now and then when I'm focusing on my deadlift numbers I slip a set of shrugs in to work my spine, my grip and back - to feel the heavy load. You can always hold and shrug more than you can deadlift so it helps with my lifts. I also use straps and a belt at the 4 plate mark. My grip will fail before my traps. With the addition of slower tempo shrugs and different angles I can annihilate my traps. Mix it up.

EXERCISE: Barbell Shrugs

EQUIPMENT: Barbells and Weighted Plates (45lbs or 25lbs) and Power Rack

TECHNIQUE:

1. Grasp barbell with pronated (overhand) grip with hands approximately shoulder width apart below waist.
2. Shrug your shoulders moving the barbell up then down in the dead hang position.

PROGRAM:

5 reps x 5-6 sets to max (45s rest b/t sets)

• Set 1: 135lbs/5reps
• Set 2: 225lbs/5reps
• Set 3: 315lbs/5reps
• Set 4: 405lbs/5reps
• Set 5: 495lbs/5reps
• Set 6: 585/5-1reps
• Set 7: Drop Set from your max, same increments all the way down:
  eg: 585/5, 495/5, 405/5, 315/5, 225/5, 135lbs/5

(Drop Set: No Resting and perform them slower and slower as you keep decreasing your weight)

NOTES:

1. Use 45lb plates for if you're beastly and 25lb plates if you're just starting.
2. Use overhand grip for both hands. Otherwise, one hand over/ one hand under grip is fine if you keep alternating them with each set.
3. Use belt and straps if you're going heavy.
4. Do not use momentum or body english (eg: bending knees, heels leaving the ground)

Just Shrug it out.