In past diaries we have discussed other more popular muscles like pecs, delts, and your lats. All of these are popular because they can be seen and admired. Your traps however are less visible but just as important for the proper functioning of the body.
Join me below to discuss this diamond shaped back muscle that runs from the back of the neck all the way down to your mid-back.
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Where Are Your Traps?
This video covers the lats as well as the traps but at least it gives us a reference point for the functioning of the traps.
Notice How High the Traps Extend Up onto the Neck
The traps are easily divided into three sections because they have three distinct functions.
The upper traps extend up the back of the neck to about mid-ear level. It extends down to slightly below the shoulder and the parallels the rear delts. How many of us that spend hours on the computer know the pain in the back and side of the neck because it stays crunched forward in an awkward position for too long. Other than wrist fatigue, the pain from your traps is the most common pain from blogging too long. Take a break for a minute. Rock back in your chair, pull your shoulder back and down and then begin to roll your shoulders in a circular motion. Shrug your shoulders up and you are using your upper traps. As you reach about 25% of the circle, you begin to retract the scapula and are using the mid traps. As you rotate your scapula in a circle, extend your elbows out to the side to exaggerate the circle and this helps to isolate the traps. The lower traps are effective in pulling the scapula downward but also assist in the shrug motion. Do the circles for at least 10 full rotations. Now reverse the direction of the circles. Do then slowly and with some thought as you feel the muscles in the back of the neck begin to relax and warm. Make sure to press out that tension by retracting the scapula completely at the back of the motion.
As you fully retract the shoulders place your hands on your upper pecs. You can feel the chest expanding and rising. Breathe deeply. Pull your scapula together as close as your flexibility will allow. Often you feel feel or hear a "snap" in your vertebra. This is OK and normal. If I have sat in the same position for too long, I can often get 2 or 3 snaps in my spine right below shoulder level.
Your Posture
You have often seen where I reference the imbalance of muscle strength and the need to exercise competing muscles. This has never been truer than with the traps. How many men work on pushups and bench presses to strengthen their pecs and front shoulders only to avoid exercising the back.
Next week I will present an assortment of exercises like inverted row and dumbbells rows to begin the process of balancing your body's muscles and helping to bring your shoulders back to improve your posture and pain from staying in the wrong position for too long.
For those that just can't wait to get started, The National Research Center for the Working Environment has 5 very common exercises that can be performed to relieve some neck pain from the upper traps. I especially like to do the exercise #3 which is the upright row. You can do this exercise with either dumbbells or a barbell or even go to the pantry and pull out two cans of soup. Any small weight will work. The main idea is to lead with your elbows and keep them higher than the hands throughout the movement. Make sure to pull back the scapula at the top of the lift and squeeze the upper traps for a 3 count. Squeeze it so hard that you think you are going to cause a muscle cramp. Make sure to relax your neck as you breathe out as you begin to lower the weight and your arms downward. Hell, I feel better just describing it.
Another look at the traps: Get Body Smart
For the next three months, I will return to lower body muscles and discuss the quads, the hamstrings, and your calves. Finally, I'll return to probably the biggest "trophy" muscles of all. The biceps and the abs. If I can remember correctly, that would give me 11 muscle groups discussed since I started this series. The final or 12th diary would be a summary/review with a focus on several lesser known supportive muscles that we all neglect at our own peril like the rotator cuff area.