Dumbbell Shrug

Start

Finish

How to do it

Hold a dumbbell at each side with arms straight, stand tall with the chin tucked, and lift the shoulders as high as they will go before lowering to a full stretch.

Muscles worked

Primary: traps · Also works: forearms

Equipment

Dumbbells

Common mistakes

• Jutting the chin forward on each rep, which loads the neck instead of the traps
• Stopping halfway up rather than reaching the highest point the shoulders can travel
• Skipping the bottom stretch by never letting the shoulders fully drop

Variations

• Seated dumbbell shrug to remove leg drive
• Single-arm dumbbell shrug

Can't do this one? Swap it for

• Barbell Shrug
• Resistance Band Shrug
• Cable Shrug

Related exercises

• Barbell Shrugtraps
• Cable Shrugtraps
• Resistance Band Shrugtraps
• Band Pull-Aparttraps
• Prone Y Raisetraps
• Dumbbell Rear Delt Flytraps