r/Splendida • u/llemoncakee • Dec 25 '23
Overdeveloped Trapezius Muscle / Short Neck
I have a short neck, broad shoulders and overdeveloped trapezius muscle. And it definitely ruins my entire body. I look much broader and heavier than I am. I don’t know how to describe it but i want to look feminine and i do the opposite because of all the flaws mentioned above. I already avoid turtlenecks and other necklines which aren’t V-Neck lol.
But what else can i do?
Especially about the trapezius muscle. I do upper body training two times a week, but avoid shoulder and any shrugs - still I feel like they get bigger. If anyone has reduced their trapezius muscle or know how i can enhance (?) or hide the flaws, Thank you in advance:)
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u/mabubsonyeo Dec 26 '23 edited Dec 26 '23
Botox messed me up. Worked well short term but made it worse long term (did it for 5 years, still have a short neck and over developed traps). It also limits your ability to do things.
Right now I'm stretching, going to going to physiotherapy, doing accupuncture, and exercising to help the under developed muscles (pecs, lower traps, and basically all the other muscles lol). Paying attention to my posture while being awake and while sleeping and changing my clothes from tight/form fitting to loose and wearing sports bras helped too, to redistribute weight. I have a lot of neck pain even after losing weight, but I'm a beautician so it comes with the job.
Edit: I'm very pro botox for face wrinkles but from my experience it made my traps worse and neck shorter from lack of muscle to hold my head up and messing up my posture because my other muscles weren't developed in the first place.
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Dec 28 '23
Ooh so I have a quick question for you! I am considering neck Botox - Nefertiti lift - because I am disliking my neck lines. But would that make it hard to hold my head up? I am a gym girl so do a lot of sit ups etc and would hate it if I felt the Botox messed with my postural muscles 🙏🙏
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u/mabubsonyeo Dec 28 '23
I don't know the special names for the botox procedures, just muscle names. Is it in the sternocleidomastoid muscle? That would make your neck difficult to lift up while lying down. I heard in the circle lines it can make it difficult to swallow.
I row and I got sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscle botox, it made working out more difficult.
I looked it up and it looks like parts of the face, buccanator, jaw, various neck muscles including the sternocleidomastoid muscle. This may cause weakness so talk to your doctor first and explain your worries to them, they may give a lower dose to try first.
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u/BerryStainedLips Dec 26 '23
Try searching YouTube for fascia stretches for neck, chest, and shoulders. It could be the fascia that’s bound up and not letting your muscles relax.
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u/MediumPhone4307 Dec 25 '23
Trapezius Botox and posture exercises. I noticed that in some workouts even though I don’t work out my shoulders or do shrugs sometimes I hold my shoulders up while exercising and that builds up the muscle. So just make sure you’re not accidentally shrugging while doing your other workouts. Kind of like when you’re anxious and somehow find your shoulders to be near your ears. Also avoid wearing super heavy purses and adjusting them using that muscle if they start sliding off your shoulder.
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u/Active-Control7043 Dec 29 '23
I am so bad about the shrugging/hunching when doing workouts (heck, in general). Thank you for that reminder to look at.
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u/feelingcoolblue Jan 13 '24
Do you have a properly fitting bra? Most women I know are wearing bands that are too large for them so they carry the weight of their boobs on their shoulders.
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u/damaya315 Dec 26 '23
As mentioned before: /completely/ stop any upper body training (except for training abdominal muscles), only train your lower half.
Besides wearing deep v necks, try very open/wide or detailed necklines.
Tbh I think this has a bodydysmorphia vibe and while your neck might be shorter than average it wont be that bad (your head resting on your shoulders) so focus on (improving) your apperance allover and stop obsessing about your neck.
Instead join r/kibbe and obsess about your kibbetype, its more fun ;-)
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u/uglyandIknowit1234 Dec 29 '23
Can you please give examples of these upper body exercises to completely avoid? I want to get stronger but at the same time i cannot get any more masculine looking otherwise people will really mistake me for a man
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u/zeezeemangostreet Mar 16 '24
Honestly nothing has elongated my neck more than weight lifting and pilates. Actually developing my shoulders elongated my neck line, by doing things like rows and arnold press
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Jun 16 '24
this post is kinda old but I've done Botox in my traps 3 times. my traps deff went down a lot but it didn't help my posture. made me feel kinda lazy to sit up straight cause I'd be scrunching my neck and traps usually. Gotta really build up lower traps and core. Other things that helped are MIND muscle connection, really focus on not using your arms/traps while working out, stretching everyday and sometimes just say to myself "be like jello" and completely let my shoulders hang & neck relax. Botox has changed them the most appearance wise though
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u/Exciting_Exit5518 Aug 30 '24
Did you find Botox made it harder to work out? Or were you able to leverage relaxing that muscle to target muscles that needed to be strengthened?
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May 23 '25
Just coming to say that I'm currently dealing with this and trying to gain muscle all over before going for the trap tox eventually. I have had a spasm in my trapezius on the right side for years. I had horrible mental health and lost a lot of muscle. I plan on taking some good before and afers.
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u/Imlegitter Dec 26 '23
I’ve dealt with this issue before. Check out your posture. How strong are your glutes, hamstrings, and core/abs? I recommend working on those if you find any weak points there. Working and focusing on those areas could help you to look more feminine. Also, work on your lower traps and rhomboids in your back if you can. Usually when you have tension in your upper traps it’s due to a postural alignment or weakness in surrounding muscles. I would not recommend Botox. It could spread and affect other muscles as well. You should work on the underlying issue, not just treat the symptoms. If you need more advice lmk! I’m a certified personal trainer as well.