Exercise details
- Target muscle: Upper Trapezius
- Synergists: Middle Trapezius, Levator Scapulae
- Mechanics: Isolation
- Force: Pull
Starting position
- Stand inside the standing calf raise machine with your shoulders under the pads.
- Grasp the handles for stability, although this isn’t necessary.
Execution
- Exhale as you slowly elevate your shoulders as high as you can.
- Hold for a count of two.
- Inhale as you slowly lower your shoulders to the starting position.
- Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.
Comments and tips
- Keep your back straight.
- To protect your lower back, keep your core tight (squeeze your abs and glutes).
- To protect your knees, keep them slightly bent.
- Unlike the barbell and dumbbell shrugs, the gripless shrug obviously doesn’t strengthen your hand grip.
- Since you use the same machine for both the standing calf raise and the gripless shrug, you can combine the exercises. At the top of each calf raise, just perform a shrug. To get the best results, keep the movements isolated. In other words, don’t merge the calf raise and the gripless shrug into a single, fluid movement.
- Also known as the standing calf raise machine shrug or simply the machine shrug.
