Back · Smith Machine
Smith Wide Shrug
How to do the smith wide shrug, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Smith Machine
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Set the Smith bar at thigh height and grip it well outside shoulder width with an overhand grip. Unrack and shrug your shoulders straight up toward your ears, squeezing the traps at the top, then lower under control. The fixed bar path lets you focus purely on the shrug.
- 1Feel your upper traps and inner traps squeeze as you lift the shoulders
- 2Let the wide grip drive the contraction across the top of your back
- 3Hold the peak for a beat before lowering slowly
Common mistakes
- Avoid rolling the shoulders; shrug straight up and down
- Do not bend the elbows or use a leg drive to cheat the weight
- Avoid jutting your head forward; keep the neck neutral
Muscles worked
The smith wide shrug mainly works the upper traps, with the mid traps assisting.
- Upper TrapsPrimary
- Mid TrapsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Side DeltsMinor
Kovo programs the smith wide shrug for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More back exercises
- How to do the archer pull-up
- How to do the resistance band assisted pull-up
- How to do the machine assisted pull-up
- How to do the back extension bench back extension
- How to do the machine back extension
- How to do the back lever
Last reviewed June 2026.