The Shoulder Shrug and why so many of you seem to "roll" away from good form.

 Yo!

Ahhh the good ole Shoulder Shrug. Whether with dumbbells, barbell, kettle bells, cable, smith shrug machine or whatever your means, it seems like more and more of you tend to just "roll" along through the movement. For this example we'll look at the dumbbell shrug. Here I will demonstrate how a properly executed Shoulder Shrug should look:

Preparation: Stand holding dumbbells to sides.

Execution: Elevate shoulders as high and as straight as possible. Lower and repeat. 

A good rule of thumb is to try and smash your shoulders into your ears. Haha.

It's actually such a simple exercise and movement that I believe most people feel they have to add something to it as if they aren't sufficiently being trained for the upper trapezius muscle. It makes sense to feel the need to add something to it. However, you DO NOT need to. In fact you should try to avoid this altogether as you could expose yourself to injury. Straight up and down movement is ideal as this will maximize your resistance to gravity. It is only necessary to raise and lower the shoulders during this exercise. Remember weight moves perpendicular to gravity!

I truly hope this helps! Sometime later this week when I have the time I'll post a video of a properly executed Shrug and an improperly executed one.

Stay Fit!

RADFitness

If you have any corrections, suggestions or questions please email me at Radfitnessblog@gmail.com