Exercise Profile
- Target Muscle Group
- Exercise TypeStrength
- Equipment RequiredDumbbell
- MechanicsIsolation
- Force TypePull
- Experience LevelBeginner
- Secondary Muscles
None
Target Muscle Group
Traps
Seated Dumbbell Shrug Instructions
- Set up for the seated dumbbell shrug by choosing a pair of dumbbells and sitting with your back straight on a flat bench.
- Grasp the dumbbells with a neutral grip (palms facing in), with your hands down at your sides.
- Let your shoulders sag as far as possible. This is the starting position for the exercise.
- Slowly shrug your shoulders up as far as possible.
- Pause, and then slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
- Repeat for desired reps.
Seated Dumbbell Shrug Tips
- Focus on lifting the weight with your traps and not your biceps.
- Pausing at the top of the dumbbell shrug makes the exercise more challenging and you'll get more out of it. Try and pause for a count of 1-3 at the top of each rep.
- There's no benefit to rolling your shoulders forward or back when you shrug - that's a myth! Just raise the weight straight up and straight down.
2 Comments
Is there difference in effectiveness between standing or sitting when working the upper body/arms? It would seem that sitting would make it easier to maintain correct form. Is that correct?
I am a novice but sitting shoulder press said it was better than standing because it isolated the muscles more instead of having to balance and include the core when standing. So I think yes to your question and yes because it isolates them more as well.