Band Shrug
Standing on a resistance band with an end in each hand, you lift your shoulders straight up toward your ears and lower them slowly, training the traps with no weights.
- Primary muscles
- Traps
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Band × reps
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
It's the travel and home version of the shrug: a band packs into a bag and needs no rack. The band gets harder as it stretches, so the top of the shrug, where your traps squeeze hardest, is the heaviest point, and that's the pause to focus on. It won't match heavy barbell or dumbbell shrugs for load, so use it for higher reps, a pump, or days without weights. Widen your stance or hold the band lower to add tension.
How to do it
Stand on the middle of a band with your feet hip-width apart and hold one end in each hand at your sides, arms straight.
Lift your shoulders straight up toward your ears as high as you can.
Hold the top for a moment without rolling your shoulders or bending your elbows.
Lower your shoulders slowly. Log the band you used; a stronger band counts as progress.
Common mistakes
Bouncing off the top
The band is hardest at the top, so that's where the work is. Hold each rep there for a moment instead of dropping straight back down.
Starting with a slack band
If the band goes loose at the bottom, the first part of every rep does nothing. Widen your stance or grip lower on the band so it's taut before you shrug.
Bending your elbows to pull
Pulling with your arms shares the work with your biceps. Keep your arms straight and loose; they only hold the band.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
