Shrugs: How to Do Them, Muscles Worked and Mistakes

By Alex Lawrence · Updated 4 November 2026

Primary muscles: Traps
Secondary muscles: Forearms
Equipment: Barbell

A shrug is lifting your shoulders straight up towards your ears while holding a weight, and it’s the most direct exercise for the upper traps, the slope between your neck and shoulders. Use a barbell, dumbbells or a trap bar, keep your arms straight, and pause at the top.

What muscles do shrugs work?

Shrugs work the upper fibres of your trapezius, with your forearms and grip working hard to hold the weight. The upper trapezius runs from the base of your skull to the top of each shoulder and lifts (elevates) your shoulder blades, which is exactly the movement of a shrug.

In one EMG study of 30 healthy adults, a one-arm shrug produced the most upper-trap activity of the exercises tested. The middle and lower traps do much less, so pair shrugs with rows or face pulls for the rest of the muscle.

Think of shrugs as the lift in a lift-and-shift job: one specific move, done with heavy kit. They’re very good at it and not much else.

How to do a barbell shrug

Hold a barbell at arm’s length, shrug your shoulders straight up, pause, and lower slowly to a full stretch.

Set up. Take the bar from a rack at about mid-thigh height. Grip just outside your thighs, palms facing you. Straps are fine if your grip gives out first.
Stand tall. Feet hip-width apart, knees soft, chest up. The bar rests against your thighs.
Shrug up. Lift your shoulders straight up towards your ears. Keep your arms straight.
Pause. Hold the top for one to two seconds.
Lower under control. Let your shoulders drop all the way until you feel a stretch in your traps, then go again.

Dumbbell shrugs are the same, with the weights at your sides and palms facing in. Many people find them kinder on the shoulders, and you can do one arm at a time.

Form cues that help

The best shrug cue is “ears to shoulders, then hold”: a short pause beats a heavier weight bounced through half the range.

Straight up, straight down. Don’t roll your shoulders forwards or backwards. Rolling adds nothing but wear and tear.
Arms stay straight. If your elbows bend, it’s turning into an upright row or a curl.
Chin neutral. Don’t poke your head forward to meet your shoulders.
Full stretch at the bottom. Let the weight pull your shoulders down before the next rep.

It’s like lifting a heavy box onto a high shelf with your shoulders instead of your arms: up, set it down for a second, then lower it back.

Common shrug mistakes

The most common shrug mistake is loading so much weight that the range shrinks to a twitch.

Mistake	What it looks like	Fix
Too heavy	Shoulders move a few centimetres	Drop the weight and pause at the top
Rolling the shoulders	Circles at the top of each rep	Straight up and down only
Bending the arms	Elbows bend as you lift	Keep the arms long and loose
Head poking forward	Chin juts out at the top	Keep your neck long and eyes forward
No pause	Reps bounce	Hold one to two seconds at the top

Sets, reps and weight

For upper-trap growth, 3–4 sets of 8–15 reps with a pause at the top is a sensible starting point. The ACSM position stand supports a broad range of loads for muscle growth, so pick a weight that lets you reach a full range with control.

Shrugs are usually one of the heavier lifts you can hold, so a plate calculator helps when loading the bar. Use straps if your grip stops the set before your traps do.

Shrug alternatives

Any exercise where you hold heavy weight with your shoulders lifted or braced works the upper traps.

Farmer’s carry: hold heavy weights and walk. Trains traps and grip together.
Rack pull: a heavy partial deadlift that loads the traps at the top.
Trap bar shrug: the weight sits in line with your body, so the bar doesn’t drag on your thighs.
Cable or machine shrug: steady tension and easy to load in small jumps.

See all nine options in our trap workout guide. Log your shrugs in Get Gains to track your weight and reps over time.