Plate-Loaded Shrug

Muscles worked by the Plate-Loaded Shrug

Primary

TrapsTrapezius

Secondary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor Muscles

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

Equipment

Shrug Machine

Also called: trap machine, plate-loaded shrug, hammer strength shrug, seated shrug machine, standing shrug machine.

How to do the Plate-Loaded Shrug

1. Load the plate horns evenly and stand on the machine platform, facing away from the frame.
2. Take a handle in each hand with your arms hanging straight down at your sides and your shoulders relaxed.
3. Stand tall with your chest up, your chin level and your knees soft.
4. Shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears as high as they will go, and hold for a moment at the top.
5. Lower under control until your shoulders are fully down, and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form tips

• Shrug straight up. Rolling the shoulders adds travel but no extra trap work, and it takes the shoulder joint through a loaded circle for nothing.
• Keep the arms straight and passive. Bending the elbows turns the movement into a short upright row and takes the load off the traps.
• The handles hanging at your sides are what this machine is for -- there is no bar to clear your thighs, so you can stand upright and use a full range without shortening the top.

At a glance

Plate-Loaded Shrug in German & Spanish

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

Related exercises

• Barbell Shrug
• Behind the Back Barbell Shrug
• Chest Supported Dumbbell Shrug
• Dumbbell Shrug
• EZ-Bar Shrug
• Kettlebell Shrug
• Smith Machine Shrug
• Inverted Row

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": "plate-loaded-shrug",
  "name_en": "Plate-Loaded Shrug",
  "name_de": "Schulterzucken an der Scheibenmaschine",
  "name_es": "Encogimiento de Hombros en Máquina de Discos",
  "description_en": "A standing shrug on a plate-loaded machine, lifting handles that hang at your sides so the traps work without a bar in front of or behind the legs.",
  "description_de": "Ein stehendes Schulterzucken an einer scheibenbeladenen Maschine, bei dem seitlich hängende Griffe angehoben werden, sodass der Trapez ohne Stange vor oder hinter den Beinen arbeitet.",
  "description_es": "Un encogimiento de hombros de pie en una máquina de discos, levantando unas empuñaduras que cuelgan a los costados para que el trapecio trabaje sin una barra por delante o por detrás de las piernas.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "shrug_machine",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "shrug",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Load the plate horns evenly and stand on the machine platform, facing away from the frame.",
    "Take a handle in each hand with your arms hanging straight down at your sides and your shoulders relaxed.",
    "Stand tall with your chest up, your chin level and your knees soft.",
    "Shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears as high as they will go, and hold for a moment at the top.",
    "Lower under control until your shoulders are fully down, and repeat for the desired number of repetitions."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Belade die Scheibenaufnahmen gleichmäßig und stelle dich auf die Plattform der Maschine, mit dem Rücken zum Rahmen.",
    "Nimm in jede Hand einen Griff, die Arme hängen gestreckt an den Seiten und die Schultern sind locker.",
    "Stehe aufrecht mit angehobener Brust, waagerechtem Kinn und leicht gebeugten Knien.",
    "Ziehe die Schultern gerade nach oben in Richtung Ohren, so hoch es geht, und halte oben kurz.",
    "Senke kontrolliert ab, bis die Schultern vollständig unten sind, und wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Carga los soportes de discos por igual y súbete a la plataforma de la máquina, de espaldas al bastidor.",
    "Toma una empuñadura con cada mano, con los brazos colgando rectos a los costados y los hombros relajados.",
    "Ponte erguido con el pecho alto, la barbilla nivelada y las rodillas ligeramente flexionadas.",
    "Encoge los hombros en línea recta hacia las orejas todo lo que puedas y mantén un instante arriba.",
    "Baja de forma controlada hasta que los hombros queden completamente abajo y repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Shrug straight up. Rolling the shoulders adds travel but no extra trap work, and it takes the shoulder joint through a loaded circle for nothing.",
    "Keep the arms straight and passive. Bending the elbows turns the movement into a short upright row and takes the load off the traps.",
    "The handles hanging at your sides are what this machine is for -- there is no bar to clear your thighs, so you can stand upright and use a full range without shortening the top."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Zucke gerade nach oben. Kreisende Schultern erzeugen mehr Weg, aber keine zusätzliche Trapezarbeit, und führen das Schultergelenk unter Last umsonst im Kreis.",
    "Halte die Arme gestreckt und passiv. Gebeugte Ellenbogen machen daraus ein kurzes aufrechtes Rudern und nehmen die Last vom Trapez.",
    "Die seitlich hängenden Griffe sind der Sinn dieser Maschine — keine Stange muss an den Oberschenkeln vorbei, du kannst also aufrecht stehen und den vollen Bewegungsumfang nutzen, ohne oben zu verkürzen."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Encoge en línea recta hacia arriba. Rotar los hombros añade recorrido pero no trabajo extra del trapecio, y lleva la articulación del hombro a describir un círculo bajo carga para nada.",
    "Mantén los brazos rectos y pasivos. Flexionar los codos convierte el movimiento en un remo vertical corto y quita la carga del trapecio.",
    "Las empuñaduras colgando a los costados son la razón de ser de esta máquina: no hay barra que esquivar en los muslos, así que puedes estar erguido y usar todo el recorrido sin acortar la parte alta."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/plate-loaded-shrug-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/plate-loaded-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 === "plate-loaded-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.