traps with other equipment
15 exercises for traps you can do with other equipment.
The trapezius is a muscle that's visible but rarely prioritized. Yet it's crucial for shoulder stability, posture, and a well-built upper body. What's often missing is variation – and that's exactly what specialty equipment provides.
The 15 exercises here cover a broad spectrum: heavy single lifts like atlas stones and rickshaw deadlifts, loaded carries like farmer's carries and barrel holds, and explosive movements like muscle ups and kipping muscle ups. Together they hit the traps from more angles than barbells and dumbbells alone can achieve.
None of these exercises require a fully equipped gym – several work outdoors or in functional training spaces. What's needed is choosing the right level and maintaining form as fatigue sets in.
Heavy lifts that build the traps for real
Atlas stones and shoulder deadlifts are two exercises that immediately force the traps to work under heavy load. Atlas stones are irregular and heavy – the body can't fall back on habitual grip positions, which activates stabilizers more than standard lifts. Shoulder deadlifts resemble conventional deadlifts but with a narrower grip and different load center, placing extra demands on the upper back and trapezius.
Rickshaw deadlifts and yoke carries fit into the same category of large, heavy movements. The rickshaw frame lets you load more than you otherwise could, and the vertical pulling force is directed straight at the upper and middle traps. Yoke carries – a static movement with a yoke or fixed frame – are simple in execution but brutal in effect. Bilaterally loaded carries round out this group with a lifting pattern that demands maximal core tension and shoulder stability from start to finish.
What these exercises share is clear progression: more weight, more reps, longer time under tension. Keep your back neutral and avoid shrugging your shoulders at the top.
Loaded carries – easy to pick up, hard to finish
Farmer's carries and rickshaw carries are standard exercises in strongman training for a reason: they're effective and easy to progress. You carry heavy, you walk far, the traps work throughout. Rickshaw carries let you use more weight than farmer's carries, but both provide isometric loading that's hard to replicate with other tools.
Barrel holds and sandbag carries aren't as common, but they hit the traps differently. The barrel and sandbag are unstable and require constant grip and balance adjustments – meaning the trap muscles never get a rest during the movement. Tire flips round out the carries with an explosive, horizontal force requiring power transfer from the legs through the back up to the shoulders.
Specialty exercises and functional strength
Conan's wheel and circus bell are exercises you rarely see in a regular gym, but they're invaluable for anyone wanting to challenge the traps in new ways. Conan's wheel – a rotating bar you carry around a central pivot – requires the trapezius to work laterally and rotationally, not just vertically. The circus bell is a single-arm lift with a large, bell-shaped weight that demands shoulder stability and balance all the way up in the press.
Power stairs are a step-by-step movement where you carry a heavy implement up platforms. It combines explosive power with static loaded carries and is one of those exercises where the traps are truly forced to keep the shoulders up and back under maximal load.
Explosive movements – demand more, deliver more
Muscle ups and kipping muscle ups might not look like trap exercises on the surface, but the transition phase – that moment you drive yourself over the bar or rings – requires active trap activation to keep the shoulders stable. A weak trap shows immediately as instability at the top of the movement.
These exercises work best as complements to the heavy lifts, not as a foundation. Place them late in your session after the traps are already activated, or separate them to their own day if you want to train them with full power.