Everyone wants to get yoked. Being yoked makes you look powerful, strong, and functional.
From various pro-athletes, to strongmen, to even casual lifters, it is a look that exudes pre-eminence.
You will be the undisputed king of the jungle with the yoked look.
But by pursuing a bro split or even trying to reach sub-10% bodyfat may preclude you from reaching this goal.
It comes with the sacrifice of balanced aesthetics — but aesthetics isn’t on everyone’s agenda. Some people simply want to look like a serious lifter — and these muscles will make them a behemoth gym specimen in addition to their fearsome appearance.
The Yoke: What Muscles to Train for Getting Yoked
The yoke, quite simply, are the collection of muscles around the shoulders.
These include the deltoids, trapezius, neck; and less directly, triceps, teres major/minor, rhomboids, and upper pecs.
Getting this look will help you appear more handsome, while offering injury prevention from concussions, whiplish, and spinal problems when exposed to high impact from contact or combat sports.
In the articles showcased below, we will try to be as balanced as possible in our selection so that their inclusion will bring you closest to being yoked AF.
If done to their progressive overload conclusion, the exercises below will have you struggling to find off-the-rack clothes that fit you.
Wanna get yoked? Try our program designed to get you strong!
Can You Get Yoked Naturally?
You can indeed get yoked naturally. Of course, there will be certain physiological limitations over your enhanced peers, but you can get the yoked look — especially at slightly higher body fat percentages (15-25%).
Your bone structure will also determine whether you look yoked. Naturally taller and lanky guys will struggle to get this look due to the sheer surface area their muscles will need to cover, making it impossible for some guys to cop this look.
The Best Exercises for Getting Yoked
Again, our selection is balanced and accessible to most.
All you will need to complete these exercises is full gym access.
Getting yoked on calisthenics or no gym access will be exceptionally difficult.
1. Deadlifts
Deadlifts, the king of exercises. What better way to get yoked than to pick heavy things off the ground.
This exercise will work your entire yolk.
There are no world class deadlifters with small necks and traps.
While shoulders may be a little harder to bring up to speed for lankier lifters, deadlift specialists like Pete Rubish and Cailer Woolam, in spite of their lankier levers, had massive necks and traps.
Both guys could deadlift well into the 900s.
Watch yourself deadlift your max and see how stressed your traps and neck become. Your neck will become stimulated simply by stabilizing your head throughout the movement.
2. Push Press
This is one of my favorite exercises — it develops raw athleticism, speed, power; but it is also an incredible way to train your entire yolk.
Your shoulders and neck will get one heck of a workout.
Plus the push press boasts immense carryover to a lot of movements from the bench press to the vertical leap.
It can be programmed for strength athletes, regular athletes and even bodybuilders as it’s an exceedingly versatile movement.
Wanna get yoked? Try our program designed to get you strong!
3. Hang Power Snatch
Again, this is one of my favorite exercises.
Your traps and forearms will be on fire when you execute this movement.
Like the Push Press, the Hang Power Snatch will stimulate your entire yolk while making you an explosive freak.
And, just like the Push Press, this exercise has great carryover to a host of activities from strength sports such as strongman to any sport that requires sprinting.
It is also a lot less technical than its traditional, fuller range of motion Olympic cousin, The Snatch.
Sprinkle the Hang Power Snatch into your shoulder days or lower body days as a secondary movement.
The rewards will be great.
4. Farmer’s Walks
Another one belonging to the royal family of yoke training.
If you want to get yoked, you have to do Deadlifts and Farmer’s Walks.
Your traps and forearms will be on fire from doing this exercise.
This exercise is also the king of loaded carries.
It can be done anywhere you have both space and weights.
Plus its functionality can be transferred to all other areas of life.
Anybody looking to take their strength to the next level should consider adding Farmer’s Walks into their program.
Wanna get yoked? Try our program designed to get you strong!
5. Direct Neck Training
Now, this one is a little trickier.
Some gyms might not keep the requisite equipment.
As long as you do the above exercises, your neck will grow, but direct neck training should serve as the cherry on top of the cake when it comes to yolk training.
There are various exercises you can do in order to facilitate your neck training.
Read this article to learn more about direct neck training.
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