Barbell shrugs are good for when you want to feel strong and more powerful in your muscles. Here is how to do them safely and effectively:

Starting Position:

Stand up tall and straight with your feet at shoulder width apart. Hold a barbell with your palms facing you, and more than shoulder width apart. To have a better grip, use wrist wraps.

Exercise:

Bring your shoulders up as far as possible and breathe out at the same time. Hold for one second, and carefully return to the starting position. Don’t lift the barbell using your biceps.

Doing this exercise behind your back is also possible. The starting position is the same but hold the barbell behind your back with your palms facing backwards. Lift your shoulders again whilst you breathe out and hold for one second, before lowering them. Again, don’t lift using your biceps. Your arms must be stretched out the whole time.

You can even circle your shoulders; rotate them from the front to the back as you lift. However, don’t attempt this if you have problems with your shoulders. Instead, you can do this exercise with the barbell behind your back or with dumbbells in each hand.

Superset Your Shrugs:

You can do both front and backwards shrugs in one session. Either you can do shrugs in the front first so you can build up strength to do them backwards, or challenge yourself to them backwards first and then in the front. Try this super-session out when you next hit the gym:

Barbell Shrug: 4-5 sets of 15-20 reps each. Then 90 seconds rest.

Backwards Barbell Shrug: 4-5 sets of 15-20 reps each. Then 90 seconds rest.

Bodybuilders swear by this exercise in their training regime to give them those ripped muscles and shoulders. If you want muscles like these, then this exercise is for you.