What Is A Prone Trap Raise
The prone trap raise is a laying lower trap exercise designed to enhance scapular control and, as a result, make your posture better. It’s also an excellent strategy to prevent upper-body injuries. Sometimes the upper trap is too active, lifting your scapula and leaving the low trap inert. This workout is helping to correct the discrepancy. It’s a complicated motion to master, so read the instructions carefully.
What Muscles Does Prone Trap Raise Work
The movement primarily targets the trapezius muscle. If you’re doing this exercise correctly, you’ll feel most of the contraction in your lower trap. The trapezius muscle greatly facilitates your ability to move your head, neck, arms, shoulders, and torso. It also influences a stable spine and allows you to stand tall and confidently. Prone trap raise helps to improve all these crucial functions of the human body.
How to Perform Prone Trap Raise
You will need an inclined bench and dumbbells to perform this movement. Are you a beginner? Start practicing the move with no weight to ensure you master the technique correctly.
Step 1. Get into the beginning position
Lie on the inclined bench to support your chest, and let your arms hang on the sides. Keep the shoulders in a neutral position. Don’t let them roll forward or towards your ears. Have your hands at about 10 and 2 o’clock. Such an angle will be perfect for loading lower traps.
Step 2. Go up
Grab the dumbbells, rotate your hands outward, and ensure your shoulder blades are down to isolate lower traps. Bring the weights straight up. Stop when you feel your shoulders are about to roll forward.
Step 3. Return to the start
Lower the dumbbells in a slow controlled motion.
Advantages of Prone Trap Raise
Posture improvement
Pain and an unattractive appearance are two side effects of having poor posture. The prone trap raise targets the portion of the trap that draws the shoulder blades in closer to the spine and brings them downward. The problem of hyperactive upper traps and bad posture is resolved due to the regular prone trap raise workouts.
Reduces the risk of injury
Shoulders that are rounded forward put the shoulder joint in an unhealthy posture that increases the risk of injury. Since people widen the shoulder socket when bringing the blades back and down, more freedom of movement appears. The exercise lessens shoulder impingements and the likelihood of injury by putting the shoulders in the correct position.
5 Prone Trap Raise Alternatives
1. Cable Y Raise
Performing cable Y raises is an easy and efficient way to build stronger shoulders. Athletes do the technique by positioning their arms in a “Y” shape. It works all three heads of delts.
How to do a cable Y raise:
- To make resistance, grab the handles and take a few steps back. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your hands at shoulder height.
- Start the lift, keeping your body still and straight. Shoulders should also remain in the same place. Your body will look like the letter “Y” at the top of the move.
- Go back to the starting position. As you lower the weight, keep it under control.
2. Cable Reverse Fly
The cable reverse fly is a strength workout that mainly targets the muscles that are located at the back of your shoulders. The technique is simple, but you need access to a cable machine to practice the workout.
How to do a cable reverse fly:
- The first step is to make sure the cable is set up correctly. The right place for the pulleys is above the level of the chest.
- Put the handle on the right in your left hand and the one on the left in your right. Find the middle between two ropes. Hold your hands close together.
- Make a fly move. Put your arms out to the sides and bend your elbows just a little.
- Go back to the start.
3. Cable Front Raise
As the title says, cable front raise primarily targets front delts. Those who desire to improve their shoulder strength and function greatly benefit from this exercise.
How to do a cable front raise:
- Stand in front of the cable machine. Take a neutral grip on the handle and let the cable run between your legs.
- Exhale and lift the bar to your shoulders. Stop at the top of the move for a moment to make the tension stronger.
- Take a deep breath and move the bar back to where it started.
4. Reverse Peck Deck
The movement targets rear delts, rhomboids, and trapezius. To practice reverse peck deck, you need a peck deck machine.
How to do a reverse peck deck:
- Put the grips as far back as they can go and lean against the padding.
- Keep both hands on the grips. You should sit high enough, so your shoulders and hands align with the handles.
- To get the full range of motion, push the handles back while your hands are facing up.
- Reduce the tension and come back to the beginning position.
5. Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly
One of the most effective ways to develop strong, defined deltoids is to do the dumbbell rear delt fly, also known as the dumbbell reverse fly. It also keeps your shoulders safe and improves your posture.
How to do a dumbbell rear delt fly:
- Stand up straight with your feet about shoulder-width apart. When you push your hips back, your upper body should be almost parallel to the ground.
- Bend your elbows just a little bit. Then lift the weights until they are level with your shoulders.
- Slowly move your hands back to where they were at the beginning.
FAQs
What does prone trap raise work?
The prone trap raise targets the muscle group responsible for bringing the shoulder blades back close to the spine. This addresses the underlying cause of hunched shoulders and bad posture.
What is the best trap exercise?
Prone trap raise is among the best workouts since it isolates the mentioned muscles and loads them to the maximum.
Do traps make you look bigger?
The “traps” are a group of muscles located at the back and sides of the neck. You can see how much they stick out in bodybuilders. You may get a more imposing physique by working on these muscles.
Conclusion
Prone trap raise is geared towards giving you optimal posture. Also, it lowers the chances of getting injured and makes your figure look aesthetically pleasing. Give this workout a try if you want stronger traps and a sportive, sleek look. Another good news is that you can always use exercise alternatives if you need to diversify your workout routine.