In the early days of professional bodybuilding, if the top competitors had stood behind a translucent white screen you could have told who they were by their signature poses. There was Larry Scott’s one-arm biceps, Franco Columbu’s lat spread, Frank Zane’s abdominal vacuum, Mike Katz’s side chest and Arnold’s double biceps – and pretty much any position that had Tom Platz flexing his legs could be considered a signature pose. But if there is one signature pose that defined this golden age of bodybuilding, it was Lou Ferrigno at his most muscular, the so-called “crab” pose.
Although several variations are used, the basic crab pose is where you hunch forward, one leg slightly in front of the other, with your arms together in front and your fists together – then you flex your muscles as hard as possible to emphasize your muscularity. In fact, the pose is so effective for bringing out the definition of your pecs, shoulders, delts and traps that it is also considered to be the mandatory “most muscular” pose.
Not everyone can do the crab pose well. Arnold has stated that he preferred a variation that was more aesthetic, involving him twisting his hips and laying one hand on top of the wrist of the other to bring out the arms. Likewise, Arnold’s training partner Franco Columbu preferred a most muscular shot with his hands on his hips. And although today’s bodybuilders have so much mass that they all tend to have impressive crab poses, Lou Ferrigno is the one who set the standard for this pose.
Ferrigno won the IFBB Mr. Universe title twice and placed second in the 1974 Mr. Olympia. Unlike Arnold, whose recent beach photos suggest that he probably needs to rethink his swimwear collection, Ferrigno has always been in shape. In 1993, despite being in his 40s and competing against a new standard of competitors, Ferrigno placed 10th in the Mr. Olympia – in fact, he looked as good, if not better, than he did nearly two decades earlier! Now in his 60s, Ferrigno still looks great, and he is always willing to hit a biceps pose with his fans at the many conventions he attends.
Ferrigno had several movie roles, including being featured in the 1977 documentary Pumping Iron, but he became a household name when he was cast as the Hulk in the television series The Incredible Hulk (1977-1982). In this role he often performed a most muscular pose before he would hulk-out and smash pretty much anything that got in his way. The result is that the crab became a standard pose in athletics. In fact, after tennis star Novak Djokovic’s win in the 2012 Australian Open, Djokovic did his own bit of hulking-out by ripping off his shirt and hitting several most muscular poses. Although his win over Rafael Nadal had been impressive, Djokovic’s most muscular pose was, well – not so much.
The trick to doing the crab pose is to be able to “pop” your traps, giving the neck a somewhat freaky appearance. In the early days of bodybuilding, where trainees would often do Olympic lifting movements, specialized training for these muscles was not necessary. In fact, many top weightlifters were also competitors; Sergio Oliva was one, and his upper trap development gave him an especially impressive most muscular pose.
Although most Olympic lifters now use the squat style of lifting, in the past the split style was favored by many lifters. The bottom position was more secure in the split style than in the squat style, and it took less effort to recover to the standing position – thus enabling the athlete to be fresher for the press or for performing the jerk. But to perform the split style, the athlete had to lift the bar higher to secure the weight overhead, as in the snatch or in the clean. This meant the traps would have to be involved more in lifting the weight and shrugging the bar, in contrast to the squat style, in which the traps can help a lifter move under the weight more quickly.
In addition to helping develop the traps, shrugging exercises have a good carryover effect, especially to the neck muscles involved in extension, such as the suboccipitals, splenius capitis, and semispinalis capitis. For wrestlers, football players and athletes involved in many other contact sports, these muscles play a vital role. Another little known benefit of having strong traps is that (through a physiological mechanism that is covered in PICP Level 4) it enables you to use heavier weights in standing curl exercises.
The Science of Shrugging
The shoulder shrug with a barbell is a simple exercise that will develop the upper traps. One key training tip is to slightly curl the wrists under so that the elbows point out, not back. This will help ensure that the bar travels straight up, and as such it will provide a greater range of motion for the traps. But although this exercise is a good one, there are several that are better: dumbbell, trap bar and hex bar shrugs, in particular.
The trap bar, which was invented by accomplished deadlifter Al Gerard, has a triangle shape; the hex bar is a later variation of this device and has a hexagonal shape. The hexagonal shape provides more room for the legs and also tends to be more stable.
But the key advantage to dumbbells and these two specialty bars is that they enable the exercise to be performed with the arms at the side of the body and with the hands in a neutral position, thus providing a greater range of motion and a more vertical line of resistance than a straight bar. This technique helps correct the excessively internally rotated shoulder and arm posture commonly associated with individuals who have bench pressed excessively for years. I should also mention that Atlantis makes a shrug machine that places the hands in this position; and because this machine is more stable than dumbbells or barbells, it enables athletes to work at a higher intensity level.
One of my favorite shrugs is the one-arm barbell shrug. As opposed to dumbbell shrugs, it is a much smoother motion, as there is no friction from having the weights sliding up the legs. Also, with the trap bar and the hex bar, the range of motion is greater because the arms are positioned more perpendicular to the floor, not out to the sides.
Another reason I like the one-arm barbell shrug is that the exercise requires the infraspinatus and teres minor to be recruited isometrically so as to prevent the barbell from moving medially (towards the front of the body). This additional work develops superior shoulder integrity that is valuable for athletes such as football and rugby players, athletes who experience a high degree of disruptive forces to the shoulders during their sports.
To get the most out of your one-arm barbell shrugs, perform the exercise in a power rack with the barbell set across the pins. You can then brace yourself with your free hand against one of the power rack posts, which will allow you to keep your torso in an upright position. Also, to increase time under tension – which favors the development of greater hypertrophy – pause for a predetermined time (1 to 6 seconds, for example) at the end of the concentric range of motion. This paused variation is one that I prescribe for someone recovering from shoulder surgery, as these individuals often cannot handle high loads but still need the hypertrophy to rehabilitate quickly.
Regarding the use of straps, I would only recommend them if the weight is so heavy that your grip gives out – so no straps for sets of 1-3 reps.
Unless you are a weightlifter and have slabs of muscle on your upper back, be sure to frequently include some type of shoulder shrug in your workouts. After all, everyone needs to be able to “Hulk out” every once in a while.