The Hise Shrug...........

[Sareen]

The Hise Shrug

The Hise shrug, invented by Joseph Curtis Hise, who was often referred to as the "Father of American weight training" was a staple movement for strength athletes in the past. Today, it is seldom, if ever performed. In my 23 years of training, I have never seen anyone other than myself perform this movement which is unfortunate because it's an incredible exercise for upper back and even overall strength and development. To perform the Hise shrug, get into the exact position that you would for performing a back squat, with the bar high up on your traps. Stand erect and simply shrug your shoulders as high as possible to your ears. Pause as the top for a least a full second, lower and repeat. Coordinate your breathing so that you inhale as you shrug upwards and exhale as you let the shoulders back down. Start with moderate weights to get the form down, but eventually the goal is to use very heavy weights for very repetitions in the 20-25 range. This exercise will hurt-I can promise you that-but you will be rewarded with increased growth in your upper back and traps. I have also found that it also helps to establish a solid base for positioning the bar when doing squats.

Another version of this movement is to get into a standing calf machine with a solid foot placement and do shrugs with the yoke of the machine across the top of the shoulders. Use the same formula as the traditional Hise Shrugs-one heavy set of 20- 25 reps. I would perform the Hise Shrug at the end of the back workout as it can be quite taxing. As is true with life and in the gym-if you are willing to pay the price that others will not-you will reap the benefits that others will not"

Keith Wassung

............From cyberpump

[Sareen]

Short Topic
Hise Breathing Shrugs
by the Editors



Move over abs; traps are in style this season. Oh sure, a nice chiseled midsection is always cool, but how often do you have your shirt off in public anyway? If you want to really turn heads, then don't neglect the manta-ray shaped muscles that form part of your shoulders, upper back and neck. Even in a sweatshirt, muscular traps are what separate you from the rest of the couch monkeys. Picture WCW wrestler Bill Goldberg. Now you're getting the proper mental image.

There are several movements you can usae to train the traps. Upright rows, the various explosive pulling movements like cleans and snatches, as well as compound exercises like deadlifts all zap the traps pretty well. Most people, though, use simple shrugs, either with a barbell or a pair of dumbbells. They just hold some weight and shrug their shoulders up and down like one of those lamebrains on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? who misses one of the first questions. (Just don't rotate your shoulders or everyone in the gym will automatically know the extent of your dweebiness.)

Oddly enough, one of the first and most effective trap movements has been all but forgotten by modern gym goers. It's called the Hise breathing shrug, named after its creator and a man who some call the "Father of American Weight Training," JC Hise. (Who'd you think it was, Joe Weider?) Hise is credited by many as the man who started the whole "deep knee bend craze." Yep, he popularized the flat-footed squat back in the 1930's. Joe Hise is also the same sadistic bast*rd who came up with those deadly 20-rep breathing squats.

The traditional Hise breathing shrug is performed like this: Get your trapless torso into a squat rack or power rack and put the bar across your shoulders like you're about to squat. Instead of squatting, position the bar so that you can shrug the shoulders up and down. The "breathing" part comes in here. Much like heavy, high rep breathing squats, you should focus on a specific breathing pattern during the movement. As you shrug the bar up, visualize touching your shoulders to your ears, and inhale deeply. Pause at the top, and then exhale as you lower your shoulders.

Traditionally, Hise and his modern day equivalents over at the Westside Barbell Club use high reps and heavy weight. In other words, load the bar up with a weight you'd normally use for around ten reps. Using the breathing protocol outlined above, you'll now attempt 20 to 25 reps with this weight. No one paid much attention to tempo back in the 1930s, but a 211* speed of movement would be a good place to start. Yes, it's going to hurt real bad, it's uncomfortable even if you're doing it right, and you'll experience some intense soreness if you've never done this movement before. Suck it up, tough guy. You ain't readin' Men's Fitness.

A modern day variation of the Hise breathing shrug is done on the standing calf machine. Simply position yourself as you normally would in the pads and begin shrugging.



Where in your workout plan do you put Hise shrugs? Some train their traps on shoulder day and others hit them on back day. Ian King often suggests training the traps on hip dominant leg day, or after you perform deadlifts or power cleans. You're a big boy, train them wherever you feel is most appropriate for you. Note that if you choose to use the heavy, high-rep method, you'll only need one good set, especially if you perform them after deadlifts. If you use a normal approach, say, two or three sets of 8 to 12 reps, then you can do them on back or shoulder day. It's up to you.

Give Hise shrugs a shot. Then try to resist the urge to cut the necks out of all your T-shirts.

..........From T-nation

[Sareen]

Taken verbatim from pages 39-40 of the Rader Master Bodybuilding and Weight Gaining System by Peary Rader.

The Hise Breathing Shoulder Shrug

This is a rather recent discovery made and developed by J.C. Hise and has had amazing success in the development of a high arched chest, good posture, stronger diaphragm (termed the LIFE muscle by Mr. Hise) and weight gaining in cases where nothing else seemed to help. Doubtless many new improvements will be made in the future, but we present you the best methods to date.

Originally, rather light weights were thought to be best, but recently very heavy weights have proven to be better. You will, therefore, have to have loading standards for your bar as you may reach 600 or 700 pounds or even more in this exercise. You will start out with rather light weights however, and gradually work up, as there is the possibility of strain if you start out with very heavy weights. Most fellows will do well to start with about 100 pounds until they have learned the correct movements and positions.

You take the weight on the shoulders as if you were doing the regular squat. Then, standing with the feet in solid position you take a deep breath-always striving to breathe into the upper part of the chest, as high as possible while shrugging the shoulders upward as high as you can. You will also tense the front of the neck muscles as this greatly aids in lifting the chest higher, causing you to make quite a face. You will make every effort to breathe as deeply as possible. Then breathe out and sag down, then go through the same procedure again, and so on until you complete 20 repetitions. You will probably, at times, find it helpful to work up to 30 and even 40 repetitions. Most men perform about 3 sets of this exercise. However this will be governed by the amount of energy you have to expend. Some men find that (page 40)
they like to rock slightly forward on the toes when performing this exercise, however it is not necessary.

When you reach heavy weights you will find that you are not able to shrug the bar very high. Mr. Hise says that this varies in different people and is not too important as long as you are shrugging it as high as you can. Sometimes it may raise 2 inches, but with others possibly only about a half inch or so.

It is not necessary to use any other exercises with this shrug but we recommend that you use at least the two arm pullover. Most fellows using it will add other exercises for all-round development. You will probably need to use a pad under the bar at first until the shoulders get toughened up to stand the weight on the trapezius muscle.

To most people this will not seem like an exercise and they are likely to dismiss it without a fair trial. This is a mistake, as its virtues have been proven. You will soon see your chest becoming higher and larger and it will take on a better taper. You will have better posture and your waist will become smaller.

This exercise has also been used as a reducing exercise with success, though this use has not been widespread enough to prove its value or make any definite schedules for its use for this purpose other than a note that heavy weights must be worked into.


That is the complete text - complete with run on sentences, typos and poor punctuation. But it is original, first written in 1946 and updated in 1956.

..........From Dave Draper board