Behind the Back Barbell Shrug

Muscles worked by the Behind the Back Barbell Shrug

Primary

TrapsTrapezius

Secondary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor MusclesRhomboidsRhomboid Muscles

Also called: trap, traps, trapezius, upper traps, lower traps, mid traps.

Equipment

Barbell

Also called: bar, olympic barbell, straight bar, olympic bar, power bar.

How to do the Behind the Back Barbell Shrug

1. Stand holding a barbell behind your back with an overhand grip.
2. Keep your arms straight and chest up.
3. Shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears.
4. Pause and squeeze at the top.
5. Lower under control and repeat.

Form tips

• Lift straight up and down without rolling the shoulders.
• Avoid bending your elbows to heave the weight higher.
• Stand tall with a neutral neck and look straight ahead.

At a glance

Behind the Back Barbell Shrug in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Barbell Shrug
• Chest Supported Dumbbell Shrug
• Dumbbell Shrug
• EZ-Bar Shrug
• Inverted Row
• Barbell Back Squat
• Barbell Bench Press
• Barbell Calf Raise

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "behind-the-back-barbell-shrug",
  "name_en": "Behind the Back Barbell Shrug",
  "name_de": "Langhantel-Shrug hinter dem Rücken",
  "name_es": "Encogimiento de Hombros con Barra Detrás de la Espalda",
  "description_en": "A shrug variation with the barbell held behind the body, targeting the trapezius.",
  "description_de": "Eine Shrug-Variante, bei der die Langhantel hinter dem Körper gehalten wird, um den Trapezmuskel gezielt zu trainieren.",
  "description_es": "Un encogimiento de hombros con la barra sujeta por detrás del cuerpo, una variante que concentra el trabajo en el trapecio.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "barbell",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors",
    "rhomboids"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "no_axial_load"
  ],
  "variation_group": "shrug",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Stand holding a barbell behind your back with an overhand grip.",
    "Keep your arms straight and chest up.",
    "Shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears.",
    "Pause and squeeze at the top.",
    "Lower under control and repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stehe und halte eine Langhantel hinter dem Rücken mit Obergriff.",
    "Halte die Arme gestreckt und die Brust aufgerichtet.",
    "Ziehe die Schultern senkrecht zu den Ohren hoch.",
    "Halte kurz inne und spanne oben an.",
    "Senke kontrolliert und wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Párate sosteniendo una barra detrás de la espalda con agarre prono.",
    "Mantén los brazos extendidos y el pecho hacia arriba.",
    "Encoge los hombros directamente hacia las orejas.",
    "Haz una pausa y aprieta en la parte superior.",
    "Baja de forma controlada y repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Lift straight up and down without rolling the shoulders.",
    "Avoid bending your elbows to heave the weight higher.",
    "Stand tall with a neutral neck and look straight ahead."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Vermeide kreisende Schulterbewegungen; führe die Schultern senkrecht auf und ab.",
    "Wähle eine Griffbreite, bei der die Hantel das Gesäß nicht streift.",
    "Verzichte auf Schwung aus den Beinen, wenn das Gewicht schwer wird."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Evita hacer círculos con los hombros al subir.",
    "Mantén la cabeza neutra, sin adelantar la barbilla.",
    "Elige un peso que permita un recorrido completo hacia arriba."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/behind-the-back-barbell-shrug-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/behind-the-back-barbell-shrug-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "behind-the-back-barbell-shrug");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.