Banded Shrug

The banded shrug is an upper-trap exercise: you hold a resistance band at your sides with the arms straight, then lift the shoulders as high as they will go and lower them under control. Because band tension climbs as the band stretches, the hardest point of the rep lands exactly where the traps are shortest, at the top of the shrug. Why train shrugs with a band instead of dumbbells? Load and access. A band gives usable trap tension without a rack or heavy weights, so the movement travels well to a hotel room or a garage gym, and the elastic resistance is kinder on the wrists and elbows than a loaded bar. The five-step sequence also builds the neck and upper-back strength that keeps the shoulders from rolling forward at a desk, which is why coaches program it for posture work and shoulder-injury prevention as much as for size.