by Bill Starr
A clean or snatch that never “jumps” at the top almost always has the same root cause: the traps are not strong enough to finish the pull. Starr’s fix was a two-step overload plan — high pulls to teach explosive finishing, then shrugs to hammer the muscles responsible for it. This page covers both, exactly as he taught them.
The Progression Comes First
Starr did not start athletes on shrugs. The order mattered: power cleans first, then power snatches, then high pulls, and only then shrugs. Each step teaches the line of pull and builds the base the next one overloads.
High Pulls: The Overload Step
A high pull is simply a deadlift followed by a shrug, blended into one continuous motion — no hitch at the transition. The bar starts against the shins, slides up the legs, brushes the abdomen and chest, and keeps rising. Key mechanics:
- Pull every rep as high as possible. Height is the goal from the very first set — early sets may reach above the head, and that is correct.
- Traps before arms. Fully contract the traps before bending the elbows; early arm bend kills the finish.
- Elbows up and out, not back — once they turn backward you can only rely on momentum.
- Chest extends upward at the top; body finishes tall on the toes.
- Bar stays close: shins, legs, abdomen, chest — drifting forward costs leverage.
- Grips: use both clean-grip and snatch-grip versions. The wide grip works the upper traps, lats, and rear delts differently than the narrow one.
Overload rule of thumb: about 75 pounds more than your best power clean on clean-grip high pulls, and roughly 50 over your power snatch on snatch-grip pulls. While learning: three sets of three. As a standalone workout: two sets of five followed by three to four sets of three.
Shrugs: The Big Overload
Shrugs let you handle far more weight than any pull — which is why Starr called them the best exercise for building herculean traps and protecting the shoulder girdle and spine.
| Element | Starr’s standard |
|---|---|
| Setup | Bar on pins at mid-thigh inside a power rack; straps mandatory |
| Start of rep | Ease the bar off the pins — never jerk it; push your feet down through the floor |
| Sequence | Hips drive first, then traps contract fully, THEN the arms bend slightly — straight-arm school rejected because the arms play a role in the real pull |
| Height goal | Pull every rep higher; many athletes hit the rack’s top crossbar within the first sets |
| Descent | Controlled back to the pins — crashing down punishes wrists, elbows, shoulders |
| Sets and reps | Five sets of five (start with four and add a set weekly up to six) |
| Scheduling | Fridays or the week’s end; sore traps the next morning mean the work was done |
His benchmark for serious trainees: the bar plus six 45-pound plates per side — 585 pounds — for five solid clean-grip reps. Nearly every athlete he coached reached it.
Hawaiian Shrugs
At the University of Hawaii, before the team had a power rack, athletes stepped back from the rack pins and shrugged in open space. Starr kept the variation — Hawaiian shrugs — in his programs because pulling outside the rack demands far more control: drift out of line and the bar goes one direction while you go another. Use less weight, occasionally alternate rack and Hawaiian style, and expect soreness. Snatch-grip shrugs usually happen outside the rack anyway, since most racks are too narrow for the wide grip.
Common Errors
- Bending the arms before the traps contract
- Letting the bar drift away from the body
- Jerking the bar off the pins instead of squeezing it up
- Skipping the clean-and-snatch progression entirely
Frequently Asked Questions
Are straps necessary?
Yes, for heavy shrugs — grip strength fails long before the traps do, and straps keep every rep about the pull rather than the hands.
Why does Starr prefer an arm bend at the top?
Because the arms bend at the finish of real cleans and snatches; bending them in the shrug strengthens the entire finishing complex instead of isolating the traps artificially.
How heavy should shrugs be?
Far heavier than your pulls — that is their purpose. Work up honestly, chase height on every rep, and let the soreness the next morning tell you whether the load was right.
Where does this fit in the week?
After your main pulls, at the end of the training week — inside the same heavy-light-medium structure described on our HLM page and Big Three 5×5 guide.
Sources
Bill Starr’s published articles on trap training: “Strong Traps” and “A Stronger Finish” (Starting Strength); “The Case for Power Shrugs” (Iron Man, 2013); “The Shrug for Power and Development” (1986, archived); “High Pulls and Shrugs” (archived mirror). Companion reading: our pages on shrub form fundamentals, lat development, and deadlift variations.
Last updated: August 2026 · Edited presentation of Bill Starr’s published methodology — not newly written by Bill Starr.
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