Dr. Joel Seedman, Ph.D.
Loaded carries are some of the most simple yet effective strength training exercises you can perform. Not only are they great conditioning tools, they’re also incredibly effective for targeting just about every muscle in the body while simultaneously addressing motor control, stability, and posture in a joint friendly manner.
Here are my top 30 favorite variations.
1. Dumbbell Farmer’s Walk
It doesn’t get any more simple than this dumbbell farmer’s walk. Grab 2 heavy dumbbells ideally equal to or greater than your bodyweight, maintain full body tension and take them for a nice and controlled carry.
2. Suitcase Carry
The suitcase carry is essentially a single arm version of the farmer’s walk. While you won’t quite receive the same full body overload you typically would with the bilateral version, these absolutely crush the core as you’re resisting lateral flexion.
To maximize the effectiveness, focus on maintaining perfectly tall posture without any sway or lean to one side. Also try to keep the weight 2-3 inches away from your side rather than allowing it to rest on your body.
Additionally, think of the load as a glass of water out of which you’re trying to keep any water from spilling or splashing. This requires the lifter to maintain smooth and controlled walking mechanics with full body tension.
To ensure your walking mechanics are proper and alignment is maintained try walking on a line as I have one of my NFL athletes doing here. Most individuals perform suitcase carries, farmers walks, and other loaded carries with foot and hip aberrations where the feet and legs move out to the sides rather than staying in-line. Picking a line on the floor helps to ensure proper stride mechanics and gait technique are employed rather than movement aberrations that are so common with loaded carries.
3. Farmer’s Walk with Chains or Weighted Vest
The farmer’s walk with chains or weighted vest is a great way to provide additional overload to the traps, upper back, core, and legs without further taxing the grip which is often times the limiting factor. Here are a few of my NFL athletes performing it with 100 lb dumbbells (or more) and an additional 60 lbs of chains.
The chains also force the lifter to stay tight and rigid to ensure they don't bounce around excessively. Having the chains loaded across the neck and shoulders also acts as a form of palpation thereby providing greater sensory feedback to the lifter about shoulder positioning and posture (helps promote a tall and packed head). As a result I've seen the chains actually enhance technique and spinal rigidity during loaded carries even though the load is substantially heavier.
4. Trap Bar Farmer’s Walk
Even if you’re lucky enough to train at a gym that has inordinately heavy dumbbells, chances are your grip won’t be able to hold much more than your total bodyweight at least for long distances. It’s for this reason the trap bar is one of the most effective farmer’s walk variations as grip strength and maximal loading are rarely problematic.
Ultimately this allows the lifter to overload the daylights out of his or her body by using heavier total loads than they would be able to use under other circumstances. As a result the trap bar farmer’s walk is a great full body mass and strength builder.
Try to make it a goal to handle at least double bodyweight. If you’re really looking to showcase your iron game abilities try hitting 3x or triple your bodyweight at least for a few yards as my incredible client and national level figure competitor Leslie Petch shows here with 365 lbs.
5. Reeves Trap Bar Farmer’s Walk
The Reeves trap bar farmer’s walk blasts the traps, upper back, lats, shoulders and grip more so than just about any other loaded carry in existence. That’s because the heavy loads combined with the wide grip used to hold the weight plates places enormous tension and stretch on the upper body musculature resulting in significant hypertrophy to the targeted musculature. Don’t be surprised if you have to drop the weight by 25-30% compared to traditional trap bar farmer’s walks.
If you really want to amp up the functional strength and hypertrophy stimulus try performing this brutal superset as NFL athlete Brandon Chub shows here as he hits a few eccentric isometric Reeves trap bar deadlifts then finishes the set with a farmer’s walk. Read more about the Reeves Trap Bar Deadlift here.
6. Longitudinal Trap Bar Farmer’s Walk
The longitudinal trap bar farmer’s walk may look a bit odd but it’s one of the more deceptively challenging loaded carry variations. That’s because even the slightest loss of full body tension, misalignment, or asymmetrical pressure will cause the bar to oscillate from side to side or tip from front to back.
Here I have 2 MLB pro baseball athletes Austin Meadows and Parker Meadows performing a very effective circuit using the longitudinal trap bar method. Austin is performing an eccentric isometric deadlift squat superset with a farmers walk combo and Parker is performing a bent over row and RDL combo. Read more about the longitudinal trap bar method here.
7. Double Javelin Barbell Farmer’s Walk
If your gym doesn’t have heavy enough dumbbells and also lacks a trap bar, the double javelin barbell farmers walk as shown by bodybuilder and athlete Ben Lai is a great option.
Besides allowing the lifter to use heavier loads than most traditional dumbbells, the unstable variation forces the individual to balance and control the highly volatile load by recruiting their shoulder stabilizers, upper back, and trapezius muscles to a greater extent.
In fact, if you’re lacking motor control and stability during your loaded carries these are tough to beat. Furthermore, they force the lifter to brace the core and stabilize the spine more so than most traditional farmers walk variations. Lastly, these pummel the grips and forearms. Read more about double javelin barbell training here.
8. Barbell Javelin Suitcase Carry
You can also perform Javelin carries in a single arm suitcase fashion.
This further emphasizes the core particularly muscles that are responsible for rotary stability, anti-lateral flexion, anti-rotation, and overall spinal rigidity.
9 &10. Hanging Band Loaded Carry Variations
Although loaded carries are some of the most effective full body strength builders and core stabilization drills you can perform, many individuals, unfortunately, fail to create maximal full body tension and spinal rigidity when performing these, oftentimes allowing the weights to drift, bounce, flail, and shift in a very chaotic fashion.
By implementing oscillating kinetic energy via the hanging band method (weights can be hung from barbells or trap bar) and applying it to loaded carries as demonstrated by my clients Todd Weiland and Ben Lai, not only is the lifter required to maximize their full body stability and motor control, the targeted muscles throughout the entire body get hammered quite intensely. Any postural deviations, gait aberrations, shoulder instability, core weakness, lapse in mental focus, or dysfunctional activation patterns will be met with almost immediate and uncontrollable oscillations to the barbell. Oh yes, the forearms and grip also get crushed quite brutally. Read more about the isolateral hanging band technique here.
TRAINING TEMPLATES
Want to program loaded carries into your workouts? Then this is the program for you! Simply, this is the BEST DEAL in the fitness industry - no joke! You’ll get 26 awesome workout templates that Dr. Seedman has used for 15+ years with his clients. This will last you for 2+ years and best of all will unlock CRAZY RESULTS!
11. Offset Loaded Carries
Offset loading can also be applied to loaded carries. Additionally they can be combined with the hanging band technique. Here’s a great offset hanging band farmer’s walk with the trap bar shown by my awesome client & NPC physique champion Eric McIntyre.
It’s pretty simple, just hang a weight from one side of the trap bar & walk as strict, as upright, & as symmetrically as possible. This is one of the most challenging loaded carries you’ll ever perform as the level of full body tension, core activation, & spinal stabilization required to dial this in is off the charts. Additionally, if you have any significant imbalance in your body, particularly a gait issue/misalignment, this one will both help to expose & address it.
As you perform this the bar will have a tendency to want to drift laterally towards the lighter side to help compensate for the extreme offset effect. To keep it perfectly centered & aligned you’ll need to feel like your driving the weight aggressively towards the side that’s loaded which inevitably blasts the daylights out the core similar to a Pallof press. Read more about offset training here.
12. Agility Loaded Carries with Trap Bar
If you’re looking for a way to spice up your loaded carries and farmer’s walks, try performing them using a variety of agility drill setups using cones, ladders, hurdles, backpedals, side shuffles, and more as I have NFL athlete Jonathan Woodard demonstrating here.
This has 5 benefits.
1. The degree of anti-rotation and core strength needed to keep the load/trap bar and your body from twisting and turning is incredibly high as the momentum wants to pull your body out of alignment. Essentially each time you stop and turn you’re firing muscles similar to those used during single arm planks and Pallof presses.
2. This has great carryover for athletes looking to work on acceleration and deceleration. The hardest portion of any farmer’s walk is starting and stopping the movement. Once you get into a groove and find your rhythm, it’s much easier to keep the loaded carry moving. Repeatedly starting and stopping not only requires enormous levels of strength and conditioning, it also addresses acceleration, deceleration, and change of direction similar to speed and agility drills.
3. Few exercises require such intramuscular tension and full body tightness to keep your body and load in control. Lack of these features for even a split second will cause significant and noticeable deviations to your positioning.
4. If you have a small facility or are limited in space, farmers walk agility carries are very convenient as even a 5 yard area of space could be strategically used with cones.
5. You won’t need nearly the same weight as traditional loaded carries to create the same intensity levels. As a result these are easier on the joints but just as brutal on the targeted musculature.
13. Agility Longitudinal Trap Bar Loaded Carry
Agility loaded carries can also be combined with just about any other protocol highlighted in this article. One of the most challenging combinations is shown here by NFL athlete Kevin Minter using the longitudinal trap bar method as he also begins the set with several eccentric isometric deadlifts.
The level of motor control, intramuscular tension, and full body stability required to successfully complete these is off the charts. Learn more about the longitudinal trap bar method here.
14. Agility Side to Side Lateral March
Here I have NFL athlete Ameer Abdullah performing a lateral farmer’s walk with the trap bar.
Although it’s less of a walk and more of a lateral march or controlled shuffle, the side to side carry is a great drill for working the inner and outer hips while teaching motor control in the mediolateral direction or frontal plane. This has tremendous transfer for athletes while also helping to bulletproof the joints and prepare the body to control and absorb force during side to side movements. Focus on sitting back into a slight athletic stance with moderate knee bend, bracing the daylights out of your core and maintaining full body tension.
15. Front Racked Loaded Carries
Front racked loaded carries are incredibly effective and can be used with barbells, kettlebells, and dumbbells, and can also be performed bilaterally or unilateral (with dumbbells or kettlebells). In fact they provide 7 benefits.
1. Most athletes struggle keeping their core and abs tight during loaded carries often leading to excessive lumbar extension. Loading the weights anteriorly helps remedy this as it truly locks the entire core in.
2. Shoulder rounding and forward head tilt during carries is another common problem particularly on farmers walk variations. The front rack positions facilitates good t-spine extension and tall posture in order to maintain the front rack position.
3. This not only has incredible functional strength and hypertrophy benefits, it also has great transfer to olympic lifting especially cleans as it forces the lifter to become comfortable and efficient in the front rack position.
4. Besides crushing the entire core as well as the lower body, the barbell front rack carry also blasts the upper back musculature. Don’t be surprised if you notice substantial improvements in upper back and shoulder strength from these.
5. Many lifters have a tendency to take overly long and lumbering strides during loaded carries. This feels incredibly uncomfortable when holding a barbell in a front rack position. To keep the bar stationary on the shoulders requires smooth walking mechanics with crisp and clean steps.
6. The barbell front rack carry is a great drill for improving wrist mobility particularly for those who sit at a computer all day typing on their keyboards with their wrists in flexion.
7. Many loaded carries such as farmer’s walks require heavy loads to truly produce an ample stimulus. The front rack carry on the other hand can produce an intense training stimulus even with relatively lighter loads making it very joint friendly while still crushing the targeted musculature.
16. Pinch Grip Farmer’s Walk
Although most traditional farmer’s walks already target the grip and forearms quite extensively, applying the pinch grip method to farmers walks using either bumper plates or hex dumbbells can greatly increase the stimulus to the hands, grip, and forearms.
These also help improve full stability due to the concurrent activation potentiation (increased neural drive to the working extremities) produced from gripping intensely. Read more about Grip Training.
17. Reeves Bumper Plates Farmer’s Walk
The bumper plate pinch method can be applied to the Reeves farmer’s walk for additional upper back and trap activation while simultaneously annihilating the grip, hands, and forearms. Because the grip will inevitably the limiting factor, throwing on either a weighted vest or a few chains around the upper torso can help add additional overload to the body.
Try using these or any of the grip-dominant variations on days where you’re either looking to crush your grip, work on body mechanics (with lighter loads), or deload the larger muscles of your body.
18. Bicep Curl Carries
Performing loaded carries in a 90 degree bicep curl position is one of the best ways to simultaneously crush your biceps while reaping the full body and core benefits of loaded carries.
Here’s one of many drills I use with MLB athlete Austin Meadows to improve his forearm, wrist, bicep, grip, and arm strength as well as core stabilization, postural alignment, motor control, and shoulder stability. Simply hold kettlebells with a neutral hammer grip in the 90-deg position & walk in a smooth and controlled manner while simultaneously trying to keep perfect body alignment & gait mechanics.
This one is exponentially more demanding than it looks as you’ll literally feel every muscle from head to toe engaged and is a means of teaching the lifter to eliminate energy leaks & stay tight with max full body tension. Lack of these will make it nearly impossible to keep the kettlebells from slipping. Besides blasting the grip, forearms, & core (due to the biomechanically disadvantageous leverage), this drill also does wonders for cleaning up posture, elbow/bicep injuries, & gait mechanics as it reinforces a neutral spine & near perfect alignment throughout the feet, ankles, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, & neck. Read more about forearm and grip training here.
19. Overhead Barbell Carry
Few loaded carry variations crush the shoulders, arms, upper back, traps, and core to the extent that overhead loaded carries do. You’ll be required to maintain full body tension with perfect alignment to ensure optimal control of the load.
Start off with a load that’s less than half of what you typically perform for a strict overhead press then eventually progress to a load that you can push press for a few reps. Ideally you should be able to reach at least bodyweight for this movement.
20. Overhead Dumbbell Carry
Here's a brutal overhead superset combo as performed by my awesome client Ben Lai.
Simply perform a dumbbell or barbell push press or strict overhead press for several strict reps then immediately follow this with an overhead carry. Just be prepared for a serious burn in your shoulders, upper back, triceps, and core.
TRAINING TEMPLATES
Want to program loaded carries into your workouts? Then this is the program for you! Simply, this is the BEST DEAL in the fitness industry - no joke! You’ll get 26 awesome workout templates that Dr. Seedman has used for 15+ years with his clients. This will last you for 2+ years and best of all will unlock CRAZY RESULTS!
21. Bottoms Up Kettlebells Overhead Carry
Bottoms-up exercises are some of the most difficult strength training movements there are.
When combined with a loaded carry you'll be required to activate every muscle in your body from head to toe. Be sure to keep your abs tight and walk quickly but controlled. Read more about Bottoms Up Kettlebell Training here.
22. Double Javelin Barbell Overhead Carry
The Javelin press is one of my all-time favorite overhead pressing exercises. The benefits it has on vertical pressing mechanics, shoulder health, upper body stability, posture, and overall motor control is tough to match. In addition, you’ll build some freaky levels of upper body strength and musculature in the deltoids as you learn to master this very intense exercise. If you really want to test your overhead efficiency and increase the functional strength and hypertrophy stimulus of the exercise, try performing an overhead loaded carry (i.e. waiter walk) with the double barbell protocol as demonstrated by my awesome client Leslie Petch.
Besides blasting all three heads of the deltoids and pulverizing the upper back and traps, your core and spinal stabilizers will also get a nice run for their money. In fact, the level of full body tension, intramuscular tightness, and overall structural rigidity you’ll need to produce in order to maintain control of the two highly volatile barbells is unprecedented. Just be prepared to focus your mind like a ninja as these are equally brutal both mentally and physically.
The double barbell overhead loaded carry waiter walk is not only an incredibly effective exercise for crushing your shoulders, upper back, traps, forearms, and triceps, it's also incredibly useful for improving shoulder stability and functional strength. Read more about the double barbell method.
23. Cross Loaded Overhead Carry
Here's one of my NFL athletes Fernando Velasco performing a unique loaded carry variation that's excellent for core stability, shoulder mobility, rotary stability, postural alignment, shoulder stability, motor control, and full body strength.
I recommend selecting a load in the bottom suitcase carry arm that’s approximately double the weight of the opposite overhead carry arm.
24. Walking Overhead Barbell Press
Want to improve your overhead pressing mechanics while simultaneously building ridiculous levels of core stabilization and full body motor control? Try this simple yet incredibly effective walking overhead press as demonstrated by my awesome athlete Ben Lai.
Essentially you’re combining a strict overhead press with a loaded carry (waiter walk) turning this into a true 2-in-1 ultimate bang for your buck exercise.
The ability to transmit force and coordinate neuromuscular recruitment between the hips, core, and upper torso is vital not only for any overhead press (whether it’s a push press or strict press) but also for many functional tasks. Because you’re literally pressing a semi-unstable barbell overhead while taking controlled and rhythmic steps, this requires the upper torso, core, and hip muscles to work together synergistically as any energy leaks and areas of weakness will make it difficult to control the barbell as well as your body. Essentially the walking overhead press is effective for both exposing and correcting neuromuscular deficiencies throughout the kinetic chain.
Many lifters will also notice that this exercise forces them to correct their walking pattern and gait mechanics as faulty foot, hip, knee, and ankle alignment will cause the barbell to shift and rotate. And yes, correcting your walking gait is actually an important element of mastering your body mechanics that very few individuals ever truly master. Because of the strict and controlled overhead pressing mechanics required to control the movement, this combination also makes it highly effective for building significant levels of functional strength and hypertrophy throughout the deltoids, upper back, shoulders, and more.
25. Walking Overhead Bottoms Up Press
The ability to transmit force and coordinate neuromuscular recruitment between the hips, core, and upper torso is vital for any overhead press whether it’s a push press or strict press.
Because you’re literally pressing an unstable weight overhead while taking controlled and rhythmic steps, this requires the upper torso, core, and hip muscles to work together synergistically as any energy leak will result in dumping the load. Although it can be performed with any free weight apparatus, bottoms up kettlebells are the most eye-opening in terms of exposing and correcting neuromuscular deficiencies.
26. Barbell Yoke Carry
The yoke carry is an old-school strongman classic that has been used in a number of cultures as the ultimate test of strength. This classic Herculean move is very simple yet incredibly taxing. Pick up either a heavy loaded barbell or a an actual yoke rack and walk with it for a specific distance while maintaining control of your body.
Although the yoke rack device is much safer and practical as you simply place the load back down to the floor like you see the strongman competitors do, few gyms have these squat rack look-a-likes. With that said the traditional barbell is the obvious substitute. However caution should be used as you won’t be able to set the bar down on the floor if you fatigue.
You either finish the walk and return back to your starting position or you simply dump the weight off your back. With that said, I recommend starting light to build up confidence and strength with this movement as it’s surprisingly brutal. I also do not recommend these for beginners or even intermediate lifters due to obvious safety issues. Eventually you should be able to work up to well over double your bodyweight as I show here with 455 lbs.
Lastly it’s important to note that the type of barbell can make a substantial difference in terms of the intensity and difficulty of this movement. A powerlifting barbell will typically be much easier and allow heavier loads as the bar is stiffer and won’t bounce or oscillate. An actual Olympic weightlifting barbell as I use here, tends to be much more challenging due to the flexibility of the bars as they’re designed to bounce and give. While this is very conducive for olympic lifts particularly the clean, this makes the yoke carry exponentially more challenging especially with heavy loads as you can feel the bar bounce and oscillate with every single step requiring incredibly stabilization and full body tension to maintain control.
27. Incline-Decline Walk
Although not everyone will have access to a small hill or ramp near their fitness center or gym, for those who do, incline and decline loaded carries as shown here by Leslie are insanely challenging.
The downhill or decline portion exponentially magnifies the force absorption and eccentric impact components while the uphill or incline portion requires greater force production and acceleration to propel your body to the top. Besides blasting just about every muscle in the body these are quite demanding cardiovascularly.
28. Rough Terrain Farmer’s Walk
The concept behind the rough terrain loaded carry is simple. Place a few small aerobics boxes, bumper plates, or lifting platforms that are elevated 2-6 inches on floor and perform a loaded carry while walking onto and off of the elevated surfaces. Besides requiring greater motor control and full body stability, there are additional elements of acceleration and deceleration involved.
For instance, each time you step onto the elevated object it will feel like a mini step up where the lifter will have to produce greater concentric force to propel them onto the platform. Additionally, stepping off of platform requires eccentric force absorption and impact essentially mimicking deceleration training. This is one of those drills that feels much more challenging than it looks as even just a few small steps greatly magnify the intensity of a traditional loaded carry.
29. Makeshift Trap Bar Farmer’s Walk Handles
Here I have Austin Meadows and Parker Meadows performing a brutal loaded carry superset as Austin is using roughly 400 lbs (200 lbs in each hand) for a makeshift isolateral farmer’s walk while Parker is performing a bottoms up walking press.
The true farmer’s walk was originally performed with isolateral loading or two separate objects in each hand. Although this method can easily be replicated with dumbbells, most gyms rarely have dumbbells that go beyond 120 lbs. Even if they do, loaded carries can feel quite unnatural with larger dumbbells due to their size and tendency to run into the thighs. The isolateral trap bar method allows the lifter to load as much weight on the bars as is needed to amply overload the larger muscles without worrying about the bars running into their body. That’s because the narrow width of the trap bar allows it to fit very naturally to the sides of the body.
Additionally, one of the most common issues that limits isolateral loading is grip and forearm strength. For instance, most of my athletes including myself have difficulty gripping anything significantly past 120 pounds. However, due to the hanging nature of the isolateral trap bar method, grip strength is rarely an issue and in fact most of my athletes are able to handle well in excess of 50% more loading than they would with dumbbells. This feature allows the athlete to overload the larger muscles of the body during the loaded carry without the grip giving out with light loads.
And for those worried about height being an issue in terms of the bars hitting the floor, I’ve had my 5’3” female client Leslie performing these (125 pounds in each hand) without the bars ever touching the floor. So for most lifters, height will not be an issue unless you have arms that resemble those of a baboon. Read more about the isolateral hanging trap bar method here
On a side note, big shout out to T-Nation’s very own, Chris Shugart and TC Luoma as they first highlighted this farmer’s walk variation over 15 years ago.
30. Farmer’s Walk Sled Pull
Here’s a great way to emphasize the lower body to a greater extent during loaded carries by simply combining your favorite carry such as a farmer’s walk with a sled pull. Here’s my awesome client Leslie Petch demonstrating it with a combined load of over 400 total pounds.
In most loaded carries, particularly farmer’s walks, the upper body, grip, and core tend to fatigue faster than the legs. Adding a stronger horizontal force vector, however, increases quad, glute, hamstring, and calf activation while still reaping the upper body, core, and grip benefits of a traditional farmer’s walk carry.
These are also incredibly brutal both from a musculoskeletal fatigue standpoint as well as cardio and conditioning. Just be prepared to experience a full body burn while also feeling like your heart is about to beat out of your chest.
On a side note, you shouldn’t have to decrease the load of the farmer’s walk more than 20% if that. Also shoutout to Ben Bruno and Nick Nilsson who I stole these from.
TRAINING TEMPLATES
Want to program loaded carries into your workouts? Then this is the program for you! Simply, this is the BEST DEAL in the fitness industry - no joke! You’ll get 26 awesome workout templates that Dr. Seedman has used for 15+ years with his clients. This will last you for 2+ years and best of all will unlock CRAZY RESULTS!
10 Tips for Loaded Carries
1. Maintain proper gait alignment throughout by having the feet perfectly straight (or very slightly internally rotated) and semi-inline. This maximizes torque into the floor, stability, and body alignment while minimizing energy leaks. Imagine walking on a thick 6 inch line throughout. In other words there should not be a larger lateral gap between the legs or feet when walking.
2. Keep full body tension throughout the duration of the carry.
3. Maintain tall posture with the shoulders pulled down and slightly back and the head tall (not pushed forward). Read more about the importance of posture and body alignment here.
4. Brace the daylights out of the abs and core. More about core & ab training here.
5. Walk smoothly without jerky motions. Imagine you’re carrying a cup of water on your head during the loaded carry and try not to spill any.
6. Try not to take long lumbering steps. Instead focus on smaller, more compact, quicker steps.
7. Go barefoot or wear minimalist shoes to achieve maximal foot and ankle activation which will optimize recruitment up the kinetic chain. Read more about barefoot training here.
8. Don’t use wrist straps. Instead strengthen your grip by squeezing the daylights of the weights.
9. Use chalk when necessary such as during the heaviest sets where grip is obviously the limiting factor.
10. Don’t use a weightlifting belt. Instead use your core musculature to stabilize your spine.
3 Progressive Goals for Farmer’s Walks
1. Aim for intermediate status which is roughly equivalent to using a load that’s equal to your bodyweight.
2. Aim for advanced status which is roughly equivalent to using a load that’s double or 2x your bodyweight.
3. Aim for elite status which is roughly equivalent to using a load that’s triple or 3x your bodyweight.
These can be reached with any loading modality. It should be noted that the loading instrument will make a significant difference in terms of what’s feasible. In other words using the same relative load, dumbbells would be much more challenging than trap bar farmer’s walks.
Is A Loaded CarrY A Functional Movement Pattern?
I’m often asked why loaded carries did not make it into my list of foundational movement patterns alongside the Big 7 movements I discuss in my book MOVEMENT REDEFINED. Here’s why.
Loaded carries such as farmer’s walks, overhead carries, suitcase carries and other variations are all excellent full body strength, hypertrophy, and stabilization movements. In fact, they can help reinforce proper structural rigidity and full body tension and make it easier to master the “Big 7”. However, loaded carries are not included as one of the basic movement patterns as it’s simply a task and not an actual movement pattern.
That is not to say that loaded carries are not great drills. Instead, it suggests that mastering loaded carries, as great as they are for building strength, won’t do quite as much for mastering body mechanics as they simply reinforce the current level of muscle function and dysfunction that a person holds.
For instance, if an individual has a tendency to externally rotate one hip, this will inevitably occur during loaded carries. The only way to address this movement aberration is by isolating various movement patterns including squat, hinge and lunge patterns and mastering them with perfectly executed eccentric isometric variations. In other words, loaded carries can and should be routinely included in one’s training routine but they should in no way take the place of or substitute for any of the eccentric isometric “Big 7”.
