Resistance Band Shrugs

Overview

Difficulty

Easy

Required equipment

• Fitness bands

Main muscles

• Neck: Trapezius muscle
  (Musculus trapezius)

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Workout plan

Here you can find example plans for resistance band shrugs training:

4-day split

Resistance Band Shrugs: Basics and alternatives

Involved main muscle groups:
Resistance Band Shrugs

If you’re seeking a simple yet effective neck exercise to do at home, resistance band shrugs are an excellent choice. They’re similar to dumbbell shrugs, but instead of dumbbells, you hold a resistance band at your sides and lift your shoulders straight up.

The tension of the band makes these shrugs a mix of both cable shrugs and traditional shrugs.

If you’d like a different exercise to work on your neck at home, you can try upright rows with a resistance band. However, this exercise focuses more on the shoulders, making it a compound exercise rather than an isolation exercise.

Correct execution

Resistance band shrugs are generally easy to perform (check out the step-by-step instructions). If you want to make them a bit more challenging, you can try some of the variations in the video, like rolling your shoulders. This will target different parts of your trapezius muscle and engage your shoulders more.

However, if you find that rolling your shoulders with a high resistance band is uncomfortable for your joints, it’s best to skip that part and just focus on lifting your shoulders.

You can also experiment with the position of your shoulder blades. You can either consciously keep your shoulder blades contracted throughout the exercise, or they’ll automatically contract when you lift your shoulders towards your ears. Try both options and see which one provides the best muscle engagement.

Video tutorial

Step-by-step instructions

Stand up straight, with your feet shoulder-width apart.

Place the resistance band in the middle under your shoes. Stand up again with both hands on the handles, arms stretched out to the side of your body.

Squeeze your shoulder blades together. You’re now in the starting position.

Lift your shoulders. This movement pulls the handles of the band straight up. Hold the lifted position for a moment and then let your shoulders down again.

Common mistakes

Make sure your arms remain straight throughout the exercise. The lifting and lowering of the resistance band should come from your shoulders, not your elbows.