Trapezius Exercise – Upright Cable Row

In this post you’ll learn the correct way to complete the upright cable row exercise for the traps or trapezius.

Exercise Details

• Main Muscle Worked: Traps (Trapezius)

• Other Muscles Worked: Shoulders

• Equipment Needed: Cable

• Exercise Type: Compound

Starting Position:

Standing upright, grasp a straight bar connected to a cable machine with your hands about shoulder width apart.

Let the bar hang straight down in front of you.

Keep your body and wrists straight.

Pull the bar straight up towards your chin, keeping it close to your body.

Concentrate on either pulling with your traps or the front of your shoulders, depending on what you want to work most.

Finishing Position:

Lower slowly to the starting position.

Don’t cheat by leaning forward or backward.

Don’t swing!

Watch Upright Cable Row  Exercise On Video:

Windows Media

Real Media

Media Courtesy of Bodybuilding.com

Trapezius Exercise – Upright Barbell Row

In this post you’ll learn the correct way to complete the upright barbell row exercise for the traps or trapezius.

Exercise Details

• Main Muscle Worked: Traps (Trapezius)

• Other Muscles Worked: Biceps, Shoulders

• Equipment Needed: Barbell

• Exercise Type: Compound

Starting Position:

Standing upright, grasp a barbell with your hands about shoulder width apart.

Let the bar hang straight down in front of you.

Keep your body and wrists straight.

Pull the bar straight up towards your chin, keeping it close to your body.

Concentrate on either pulling with your traps or the front of your shoulders, depending on what you want to work most.

Finishing Position:

Lower slowly to the starting position.

Don’t cheat by leaning forward or backward.

Don’t swing!

Watch Upright Barbell Row  Exercise On Video:

Windows Media

Real Player

Media Courtesy of Bodybuilding.com

Rep Pauses

It is a matter of choice as to how you do your reps, they can be done continuously or with a pause after each rep. However, the continuous style will restrict the size of the poundage that can be used, but will also shorten the duration of the sets and heighten the aching in the muscles. If however, you use the short pause between reps this will enable greater poundage to be used.

Taken to the extreme for example of taking 30-60 seconds between reps, a single set will almost become a series of single-rep sets. This exaggerated rest-pause training will usually necessitate putting the bar down (or racking it) between the reps. It is true that some exercises are more suited to one style than the other. Calf raises are best suited to the continuous style, but are definitely more effective with a brief pause at the top. By the same token squats and bent legged dead lifts provide an almost overwhelming urge to take a brief pause between reps, certainly towards the end of a set.

In general, continuous reps are not as productive as those reps carried out with a brief pause before each. Continuous reps will result in quicker muscle fatigue and a feeling of strong stimulation, but this may not be as effective in terms of growth stimulation.

Rep Form and Rep Speed

Rep form is related to rep speed and between rep pauses, however slow rep speed does not necessarily mean good form, just like fast performance does not necessarily mean the use of poor technique. In the same vein slow does not always mean strict, just as fast does not always mean cheating.

If you perform a slow rep it can still involve terrible exercise form and some exercises, for example snatches, clean and jerks, and other explosive movements must be done quickly. As important, if not more so, than rep speed is that of rep smoothness. If you perform your reps in a smooth motion then you are using the control that is necessary for safety and you will be applying great stress on the involved musculature.

Smoothness and a slow tempo are not necessarily the same thing, as it is possible, for example, to perform a 3 second bench press ascent which involves an explosive start. In this movement the first few inches might take a split second to perform, but the rest could take almost 3 seconds. That initial thrust could greatly exaggerate the stress on the involved musculature and connective tissue, and would be an unnecessary risk to take. You probably could have performed a smooth 2 second ascent with the same weight and if that was the case, the 2 second rep would have been much safer then the 3 second one.

When performing any type of lift you should be able to stop at any point, hold the weight briefly, and then continue. This is known as the pause test. In an intensive set you will most likely not be able to pause and get your target reps, depending on which of the reps you paused. The idea would be that you could pause any of them as a demonstration of control. If you can pass the pause test then you could say that you have control over the bar and can therefore focus your attention on intensity of effort and poundage progression.

If you do not have control you will need to remedy that as sloppy reps done with intensity will hurt you. You should let rep smoothness and the pause test be your guides for rep performance, a smooth rep will take about 3 seconds for the positive – or longer for the final rep or 2 of a set – and at least 3 seconds for the negative.

How To Perform The Perfect Rep

Here are some pointers to help you achieve the perfect rep:

• You should aim to take about 3 seconds for the positive stroke and at least another 3 for the negative stroke, and performing every stroke of every rep smoothly. If you do move quicker than about 3/3 you will not be able to exercise the correct control. When it comes to the positive phase of the very final rep of a set, when you feel you have almost ground to a halt, you may find that you need 5 seconds. It may be necessary to have an assistant count the seconds as you perform each rep, and let you know how you are doing in the process. This will ensure that you are not moving faster than the 3/3 speed. Once you have succeeded in getting the feel for a smooth speed you will be able to exercise it without feeling the need to count the seconds. If you have any doubts, go slower rather than faster. You will find that some exercises have a longer stroke than others to show a comparable control. For example, the pull down and overhead press need more time per rep than do the calf raise and the bench press.

• Don’t try to count the seconds and the reps at the same time. It is possible to count or the other, but not both at the same time. If you feel that you do need to count both, get a helper to count the reps while you count the seconds, or the other way round it that feels better. While a 3/3 or so speed is recommended, do not become a slave to time. The emphasis should be on control, form and progression.

• Try to perform each rep as an individual unit which ends with a short pause prior to performing the next rep. It is important that you are ready to perform the next rep so take the time to prepare yourself to do it. As you continue with the set of reps, your pauses will tend to become longer, but try not to overdo the pause or this will cause you to fail the set prematurely. The more of these exercises that you perform taking pauses between the reps, the more experience will teach you what is an excessive pause for you in each exercise.

• When you are performing exercises which involve a sustained contraction in the flexed position, i.e. the calf raise, pull down, curl, and supported row, try to hold the resistance for a second or two in the position of full contraction. This will help to tighten your form and intensify the contraction. In summary, briefly squeeze in the contracted position.

• Where it is possible for you to carry out this squeezing in a single-joint exercise, it is not possible for you to do it in all multi-joint exercises. For example, in the calf raise, which is a single-joint exercise, there is no easing of stress on the muscle when you are in the extended position. However, in the squat, which is a multi-joint exercise, the stress is taken off the muscles in the extended position – where the knees are straight.

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