Prone Trap Raise: How to, Mistakes, benefits & alternatives

The trapezius takes up a large space along the middle of the back to your neck, giving the back a kind of bulkiness and a decent appearance.

The Prone Trap Raise exercise helps target the traps effectively, as it is one of the isolation exercises for these muscles, focusing on them 100%.

In this post, we will delve into the details of this exercise, learning how to do it in a professional way, the mistakes you must avoid, and the benefits you will gain.

Additionally, we’ll explore the best alternatives that you can rely on to build strong traps and protect your spine.

Let’s continue together.

What is prone trap raise?

t is an exercise that is done on an inclined bench using dumbbells, targeting the lower traps mainly so that you extend your hands away to the sides in a semi-circular manner.

This is what achieves the maximum stretching of the traps muscles, and pushing the shoulders back with each repetition adds more challenge to the traps muscles, increasing pressure on them and keeping them active.

Also, the Prone Trap Raise exercise is an isolated exercise for the traps muscles and works to strengthen them well, putting pressure on them throughout the exercise.

It also improves the function of the shoulders and corrects posture. Sometimes, it helps reduce spinal injuries.

The degrees of exercise intensity vary according to weight, repetitions, and the extent of tension in the traps muscles.

Prone trap raise muscles worked

The Prone Trap Raise exercise targets the muscles of the lower traps, so that they are the muscles that respond the most to this exercise.

This does not mean that the middle and upper traps muscles are not targeted, but rather they are targeted, but secondary.

Anatomy of the traps muscles:

It is a large superficial back muscle that extends from the external protuberance of the occipital bone to the inferior pectoralis and laterally to the spine of the shoulder.

Its location and connection with other important muscles, such as the shoulder is what makes it contribute to several functions of the body, such as fixing and moving the scapula, rotating it up and extending the neck. (source)

How to master prone trap raise like a pro

Before we begin, it is necessary to understand a few things because the Prone Trap Raise exercise requires precision in its performance.

It’s easy to engage other muscles unintentionally if the body position and shoulder movements allow it.

It is better to follow exactly what’s in this guide for training the lower traps effectively.

It is also necessary to do some warm-up before starting the exercise. This is to prepare the shoulder muscles and traps, raising their temperature to prevent cramps and other issues.

Dynamic warm up to prepare your traps

• Stretch on your stomach on the ground.

• Keep your feet straight, close together.

• Raise your shoulder blades slightly off the ground, as well as your head, and keep your eyes on the ground.

• The important thing is to keep your shoulders pushed up a bit and squeeze the traps muscles.

• Raise your hands straight with your shoulders to the sides.

• Start by raising your shoulders and hands a little higher, try to extend your shoulders and push you up well.

• Do several repetitions until you feel your muscles tense and your body temperature rises.

How to perform a prone trap raise correctly

• Adjust the bench to a height that suits you and allows your feet to contact the ground, the higher the bench the more difficult it is, but start at a slightly lower height if you are a beginner.

• Choose dumbbells that weigh no more than a kilogram at first.

• Place the front of the upper body on the bench, place the upper chest muscles on the edge of the bench.

• Keeping your hands straight down, try to rotate your fists out slightly, about 10 to 15 degrees.

• Remember, at each start of the repetition push the shoulder blades back until you feel the tension of the muscles in the middle of the back.

• Ok, you are in a good position now, push your shoulder up, feel the tension of the muscles in the middle of the back, then raise your hands straight and tilt outward a little, for more clarification (open your arms in the V form).

Pro tip:

The whole movement revolves around the movement of the shoulders at the beginning of the repetition, so you must press the muscles of the lower traps well, and this means that you must raise your shoulders well up and push them back at the beginning of each rep because this is what makes the muscles of the traps targeted, also focus on opening your hands outward In a V shape, extend your arms back as much as possible.

Common mistakes people make during prone trap raise exercise

Not getting good results despite the efforts made may make you get frustrated, and one of the main reasons that prevent many from getting satisfactory results is making mistakes and not targeting the muscles well.

So there are some mistakes that you should avoid:

Roll the shoulders forward.

Many beginners start with this exercise incorrectly, so that they do not focus on keeping their shoulders in a natural movement and leave their arms down naturally, so focus on keeping your shoulders natural and do not raise them to your ears or roll them forward.

Going with heavy weights.

This exercise is accurate in terms of performance, so you must carefully choose the weight that will suit you to perform this exercise correctly, because a heavy weight will lead you to unbalance, and also it may be very difficult to press on the traps muscles at the beginning of the rep, so it is recommended if you are a complete beginner to start Without weights, you must adjust the movement first, and then gradually increase the weights.

not rise enough.

Many beginners focus on raising their arms only, and forget that the important thing is to raise the shoulder plates and squeeze the traps before raising the arms, because this mistake makes the muscles of the traps in the comfort zone and may not benefit from the exercise well. 

Benefits of prone trap raise

Like all other exercises, there are benefits that you can get with the Prone Trap Raise workout.

The benefits that you get when you have strong traps:

Reduce neck pain.

• Strong traps may protect your neck from some injuries during contact with a strong object or a sudden blow, and so on.

Correct the posture.

• According to NCBI, if there is a weakness in the traps, muscle imbalance may occur and this can lead to a disorder of the posture, so it is recommended for people with posture disorder to shrug the shoulders passively and this is exactly what this exercise helps you in.

Shoulder function improves.

• The traps muscles have a strong attachment of the shoulder blades so that they can help to stabilize them well, and this is a good thing because this will improve your performance in the fitness hall because the shoulder muscles are needed in almost all pressing exercises.

Reduce back pain.

• People who are accustomed to doing the Prone Trap Raise exercise say that it is a treatment for the back, as it works to stretch and contract the muscles well, and this type of exercise makes the back muscles gain flexibility and strength to face some cramps that may occur with you while working or sitting for long periods in front of the desk.

Best 2 alternatives for prone trap raise

It is good to target specific muscles by doing some different alternatives because this may be beneficial to the muscles and may increase their ability to adapt, and alternatives can sometimes outperform isolation exercises or some exercises that target specific muscles in particular.

1- Rear Delt Rope Pull

This exercise is a good alternative to targeting the traps muscles, as it mainly targets the deltoid muscles and also the biceps muscles, but when you push your shoulders back well, it puts more pressure on the lower traps and this is exactly what we want to get.

How to do it correctly:

• Adjust the cable machine to or slightly above your head.

• Stand two steps away from the cable machine.

• Grasp the rope grips, stretch your hands straight forward.

• Pull to your face and push your shoulders and elbows back well, try to keep the elbows in a horizontal position when fully pulling.

• Keep your chest pushed forward and press the back muscles constantly.

Pro tip:

We’re not trying to target the posterior deltoids, so try to push your shoulders and elbows back well and feel the traps muscles tense and squeeze throughout the exercise.

2- T Bar Row

This is a compound exercise that targets all the muscles of the back, including the muscles of the lower traps, many bodybuilders rely on it to target the muscles of the back and it is effective in strengthening and building them, and you can press well on the lower and middle traps if you contract your muscles and push your shoulder blades back well.

Know about the ultimate compound exercises list for the whole body

How to do it correctly:

Since many gyms do not have a T-Bar Row machine, you can count on the Olympic bar being loaded with weight on one side only.

• Put the weight that suits you on one of the sides of the Olympic bar. You will also need a close grip attachment that you will find on most cable machines, so it can be used in this exercise.

• Place the Olympic bar between your feet so that the plate is half a step in front of you.

• Attach the other end of the bar without weights to a wall or other stable object to prevent it from sliding backwards.

• Bend your knees at an angle of 20 or 40 degrees, pass the two close grips under the bar to allow you to hold the bar with a close grip.

• Bend your back straight, keeping your chest pushed forward, then begin to pull the plate to your chest and press your shoulders back with each repetition.

Pro tip:

When pulling, push your shoulders back and feel the tension of your back muscles. Keep your focus on the traps muscles constantly and squeeze them with each repetition.

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