Train your upper traps
Often people are scared to exercise their upper traps when training or doing rehab
Here are 3 Reasons to train your upper traps
I feel like a lot of people have a misconception that your upper traps are too tight because your lower traps are too weak.
Upper trap training has been demonized in the past and I think it’s really gotten a bad rap.
When I treat any individual with shoulder/neck pain (in fact any area) I look for balance. Are the pulls from each direction overpowering another, or are they balanced equally?
Yes upper traps (the antagonist) can be a problem if they are RELATIVELY stronger compared to the muscles that work against it (the agonist muscle). So what I mean by that is if you are doing a movement such as a pull up where your lats are the dominant muscle group to do this action (we call these the agonist muscles) if your upper traps (the antagonist muscles) that work against these are too dominant and directly working against your lats in this task it can be an issue.
But this is relative to each individual and their dysfunction- however what I often here everyone saying is that they should never train the upper traps, and to only train their lower traps and Lats.
We need all these muscles to be strong to function well!
So here are 3 reasons you should not only add upper trap work into your rehab/prehab but also to your strength training:
1. Train upward rotation for overhead movement:
If you’re doing any sort of sport that requires you to have your hands above your head (in fact life requires you to do this so this is relevant for everyone) then think about this: 1/3 of elevation from your arm comes from the upward rotation of your shoulder blade. 
3 muscles help rotate your shoulder blade upwards – upper traps, lower traps, and serrates anterior. That’s right not only do upper and lower traps work together they assist with important tasks – this means by training upward rotation of your shoulder blade – you’re targeting all 3 of these muscles!
2. Depressed shoulder? No need for a psychologist just Elevate it!
If your shoulder blade/whole shoulder girdle is sitting lower on one side – there are some definite imbalances around that area. Upper traps help keep the shoulder blade and girdle centres against the muscles that may be trying to pull it down.
3. Strength is never a weakness
This is probably one of the most important points. From experience what I’ve found is over time if you’re strengthening an area that is in pain or dysfunction, by getting that whole area stronger you’re probably increasing the capacity of that area to handle load! Which means that you can do more of the things you love!
So why not add some upper trap work into your program – it may not be as bad as you think, and it may even help with your pain or performance issues.
Please note that this advise might not be for every individual and that your muscle imbalances may in fact mean we have to start with a slightly different approach first – if you struggle with this feel free to make a booking with us!
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