Written by Ron Harris
30 October 2018

Johnnie-Jackson-SLIDER

8 Ways to Train Your Traps like Johnnie Jackson

 

 

Best Traps of all Time? Yeah, I Said It!

You can debate who has the best legs in the sport today, the best arms, chest, shoulders or back in general. But one man’s are— forgive the pun— head and shoulders above the rest. I’m talking about Johnnie Jackson— known both as the world’s strongest bodybuilder who competes successfully at the highest levels of powerlifting, and as the training partner of Branch. Johnnie’s traps seem almost unreal, stack so high atop his clavicles that they nearly touch his ears.

Johnnie’s Current Trap Routine

Johnnie stopped training traps roughly six years ago once he came to the conclusion that their extreme development was hurting the overall shape and balance of his physique. That’s not to say Johnnie doesn’t know a thing or two about how to build immense traps. “I get asked for advice on this body part all the time, and I’m happy to help,” he tells us. Here is the routine he strongly suggests you follow if titanic traps are what you crave:

1) Barbell Shrugs

The first concept to understand off the bat is that a couple of low-rep sets won’t do much for the traps. “They respond much better to slightly higher reps and volume,” Jackson tells us. The rep range he advocates is 15-20, and you should still be able to handle substantial weights with that. “The range of motion for any shrugging movement is short as it is, so it’s not that hard to get 15-20 good reps with a lot of weight.” Johnnie recommends keeping your chins down rather than looking straight ahead or up. “This elevates the shoulders so you are able to get a full range of motion,” he says. You have the option of using a barbell or a shrug machine such as the one made by Hammer Strength.

2) Seated Dumbbell Shrugs        

One of Jackson’s favorite ways to do this is with seated shrugs using dumbbells. “Use a bit less weight than you normally would and lean forward,” Johnnie begins. “You want the dumbbells to be in front of you, just past your knees. Think of your hands as being hooks transferring the resistance to your traps, and envision pulling with your elbows instead of your hands. Once you can really get your elbows up and back, you’ll be nailing the middle and lower traps.”

3) Behind-back Shrugs

The rep starts with the bar touching the hamstrings. As you shrug it up, it clears your butt and finishes at the very bottom of your lower back. “Don’t even think about using the same weight on these as you do regular shrugs in front,” notes Johnnie.

4) Close-grip Upright Rows

Johnnie still does these with a wide grip for side delts when he trains with Branch, but for many years he did them with a close grip to whack the traps— using as much as 315 pounds if you can believe it. “Close grip is going to be a little different for everybody,” he recognizes. “What I did was to spread my thumbs out so they touched in the middle, and that was my hand spacing.” Not only do you again want to think of pulling with the elbows, you also want to lead with them so you end up with your elbows higher than your shoulders at the end of each rep.

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5) Train Traps With Shoulders

“It just makes sense,” he explains. “After working shoulders, that whole area is already warmed up and ready to go.” Another reason not to work traps with back is that a thorough back workout is taxing enough. “If you really do a good job hitting your back, you won’t have the energy for anything else afterward like traps or biceps,” he maintains.

6) Rep Tempo Recommendations

Fast or slow? Johnnie does both, or did, when he performed shrugs. “With the lighter weights, I kept a piston-like motion with no pause at the top or bottom of the rep,” he relates. “Once I had a good amount of weight, I would slow the reps down and really try to get a good squeeze at the top of every rep.”

7) Slow Your Roll, Son

One common practice that probably dates back to the turn of the century— the 20th Century— is rolling the shoulders during shrugs rather than shrugging up and down in a straight line. “Not only will that do nothing more for building your traps, but you will destroy your rotator cuffs,” Jackson warns. “Just shrug straight up and down!”

8) Deadlifts Alone Don’t Cut it for Traps

Many experts online, and typically those are of the self-proclaimed variety, insist that if you perform heavy deadlifts on a regular basis, there is no need for direct trap work. Oddly enough, Johnnie, a man with a competition deadlift of 832 pounds, begs to differ. “No doubt the traps get some work from deadlifts, but it’s not enough stimulation to make them grow to their full potential,” he asserts. “For that you have to work them directly and isolate them, and if they don’t grow easily you will need to really hammer them— not just do a couple of sets of shrugs and hope for the best.”

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Johnnie’s Prescription for Monster Traps

Barbell Shrugs                                3 x 15-20

Seated Dumbbell Shrugs              3 x 15

Behind-back Shrugs                      3 x 15

Close-grip Upright Rows               3 x 15

Johnnie’s Training Split

Monday:             Chest

Tuesday:            Back

Wednesday:      Arms

Thursday:           Legs

Friday:                Shoulders and calves

Saturday:            OFF

Sunday:               OFF

 

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