Prone Trap Raise

The prone trap raise is performed lying face down on a bench, raising a dumbbell out to the side one arm at a time. Depending on the angle of the arm relative to the torso, it targets the middle or lower trapezius, the parts of the muscle responsible for pulling the shoulder blade down and back. Those fibres are chronically underused in people who spend their days at a desk and who train pressing more than pulling, and weakness there changes how the shoulder blade moves during any overhead action. Lying on the bench makes cheating impossible, since there is no hip drive or torso swing available. The load is deliberately light, and that is not a compromise: a small dumbbell moved through a clean range does more here than a heavier one lifted with a shrug.