Exercise library

How to do the Cable Shrugs

A beginner isolation exercise using cable, working the traps.

Primary musclesTraps
Secondary musclesNone recorded
EquipmentCable
LevelBeginner
TypeIsolation
ForcePull

Steps

  1. Grasp a cable bar attachment that is attached to a low pulley with a shoulder width or slightly wider overhand (palms facing down) grip.
  2. Stand erect close to the pulley with your arms extended in front of you holding the bar. This will be your starting position.
  3. Lift the bar by elevating the shoulders as high as possible as you exhale. Hold the contraction at the top for a second. Tip: The arms should remain extended at all times. Refrain from using the biceps to help lift the bar. Only the shoulders should be moving up and down.
  4. Lower the bar back to the original position.
  5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Tracking it in OneRep

Add the cable shrugs to a routine and your previous weight and reps sit beside every set, so the decision to add load is made by what is already on the screen rather than by memory. Exercise history and volume trends are one tap away, and logging works offline for the gyms where signal does not reach.

Because OneRep tracks food on the same timeline, a stall on this lift can be read against what you were actually eating that month — which is the difference between a programming problem and an eating one. More on that in tracking progressive overload without a spreadsheet.

Where the instructions come from

The steps above come from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. They are general guidance, not coaching for your body: if a movement hurts, stop and get someone qualified to look at it.