6 Upper Trap Exercises for Beginners to Build Muscle and Strength

If you're looking to build muscle and strength, then traps are a great place to focus. The traps (or trapezius muscles) are located at the top of your shoulders and run from your neck down over your spine. They're engaged while lifting and stabilizing heavy objects, like suitcases, backpacks, and anything else that requires upper body strength. But if you want bigger traps—and who doesn't?—you need a few exercises that target them specifically. Luckily, there is no shortage of options.

Best Upper Trap Exercises For Beginners

1. Bent Over Rear Delt Raise

This movement primarily works the muscles in your upper back (the upper and middle traps), although it also recruits some help from other smaller muscle groups like those in the forearm and front shoulder region, too (this is why we recommend using light weights so that you're not overdoing it or risking injury).

Here's how you should do it:

To perform bent over rear delt raise, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a pair of dumbbells at arm's length by to your sides.
Keeping your elbows straight, slowly raise the dumbbells out to the sides until they reach shoulder height—do not swing the weights up! Only move as far as you can while keeping good form; then lower them back down to starting position again and repeat for 1–3 sets of 8–12 reps each time you train this exercise (if you're new to weightlifting, start with just one set).

2. Barbell Upright Row

Here's how you should do it:

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and a loaded barbell in front of you, resting on the floor.
Keeping your knees slightly bent and back flat, bend at the waist to grasp the bar with an overhand grip that's about shoulder-width apart. Your hands should be facing forward (not toward each other).
Without letting go of the barbell, raise it straight up until it reaches chest level (or just below chin height if doing it correctly) where you'll pause briefly before lowering it back down again under control until fully extended at arm's length again—that's one rep!

3. Barbell Shrug

The barbell shrug is performed with a barbell by pulling the weight up until your shoulder is raised, just below the neck.

Here's how you should do it:

With your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent, drive up from the floor so that you are standing straight up with arms locked out and palms facing forward.
As you do this, lift the shoulders to as high as possible without moving your jaw/head or bending at any other joint except for at the hips and knees (you should keep them locked out).
Once you have fully raised your arms overhead and contracted your traps as much as possible, slowly lower yourself back down to starting position under control.

Repeat for the desired number of reps before switching sides for one more set.

4. Lateral Shoulder Raise

This is the best exercise for firing up your deltoids as we all know. However, it's also exceptional at building a solid set of traps.

Here's how you should do it:

Start with your arms hanging straight down from your shoulders.
Raise your arms to the sides of your body, keeping them straight, but not locked out.
Keep your elbows slightly bent and shoulder blades together, but not squeezed together.

5. Face Pulls

This exercise is useful for building upper trap strength and muscle.

Here's how you should do it:

Attach a rope to an overhead bar or cable machine.
Grasp the handles with your palms facing away from you, arms fully extended, back straight, and knees bent at 90 degrees.
Keeping your elbows tucked into your sides, pull the rope toward your face until it touches (or nearly touches) your nose.
Pause briefly before reversing direction and slowly lowering back down to starting position. That's one rep; do 10–15 reps total per set with 3 sets total per workout session (or as recommended by your personal trainer).

6. Incline Chest-Supported Rows

Incline chest-supported rows are excellent at isolating your traps, the upper back, and rear delt muscles. By using an incline bench, it completely eliminates the possibility of using momentum to lift the weight.

Here's how you should do it:

If you are short on time and want to work multiple muscles at once, incline chest-supported rows are surely useful.

This exercise can be done using either a bench or an incline board.
The key is not to lean back too much and keep your torso stable throughout the movement.
Your elbows should be close to your body as well; don't let them flare out like wings!
Lie with your chest on the inclined portion of the bench and grab a pair of dumbbells.
Maintaining an overhand grip, row the weights up until your arms are fully extended and you can feel the flexion in your back.
Reset and repeat for 10–12 reps.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for some great trap exercises, try these six that will help you develop your upper traps. They offer a variety of benefits and can be used in many different ways depending on your needs and goals.

Edited by Ramaa Kishore