Barbell Shrug Behind The Back

Execution

1. Lift the bar off the hooks, stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms straight, and let your shoulders settle before you start.
2. Brace lightly and keep your ribs stacked over your hips, without leaning forward to compensate for the bar being behind you.
3. Exhale and shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears, arms staying locked straight through the whole movement, no elbow bend.
4. Hold one beat at the top, squeeze the upper traps hard, without rolling the shoulders forward or back.
5. Inhale and lower the shoulders slowly over 2 seconds, letting the arms return to the starting hang.
6. At the end of the set, or as soon as your wrists start to ache or the bar feels like it is rolling toward your fingertips, back up to the rack and set the bar on the hooks right away rather than trying to hold on.

Quick cues

• Shrug straight up, not in a circle.
• Arms locked, don't row with them.
• Squeeze the traps at the top.
• Firm grip, wrists straight.
• Wrist aches, rack it immediately.

Common faults

• Fault: Rolling the shoulders in a circle instead of moving straight up and down

  Fix: Picture two strings pulling your shoulders straight up to the ceiling, and drop the load if the roll keeps happening.

• Fault: Bending the elbows to help hoist the bar higher

  Fix: Lock the elbows before you shrug and lower the weight if they keep bending on their own.

• Fault: Leaning the torso forward to counterbalance the bar sitting behind the hips

  Fix: Brace the core and stand with your back near the rack before the set to check that you are staying upright.

• Fault: Loading so heavy that the wrists get forced into extension at the end range

  Fix: Drop the load until the wrists can stay in line with the forearms, or use wrist wraps if you need them.