Another Recommended Exercise: Farmer's Walk

[Colt McCoy]

One of my favorite exercises, and like the Turkish Get-Up, is one that seems to be largely ignored by the mainstream. It's a great grip exercise, but also taxes the traps, shoulders, lower back, hips, legs, and tax the central nervous system.

For those who aren't familiar, the Farmer's Walk is essentially just picking up something heavy (you can use dumbells, sandbags, kettlebells, trap bars, or barbells with special handles attached) in each hand and walking. It can be more of a strength exercise with heavier weights over a shorter distance (like across the gym) or more endurance with lighter weights over a longer distance. It can be in a straight line or a more agility-based exercise like zig zagging. As an example, I went around the block with a 40-lb. kettlebell in each hand the other day at the end of my workout.

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Joe DeFranco: The farmers walk is an incredible tool for improving your muscular endurance, anaerobic capacity, grip strength and your upper back, trap and oblique strength. It's also great for building hip, knee and ankle stability. You can carry any awkward object or just use the heaviest pair of dumbbells you can find.

I like to perform the "zigzag" farmers walk. Get six cones and set up one cone every ten yards. Place the first cone at the starting line and off-set each cone to the left or right from the previous cone. This creates a "zigzag" path which requires a high-level of oblique and core strength in general.

This summer we got our implements from Brutestrength.com and we loved them. They were well worth the money.

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Dan John: Farmers Walks…to death. It works every muscle in your body when you do a loaded farmers walk...

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Chris Shugart: It's a great exercise for overall conditioning and it really targets the traps as well...Pick up a pair of heavy, really heavy, dumbbells and take a walk around the gym. That's the essence of the farmer's walk. This killer old school exercise will set your lungs on fire, annihilate your grip, forearms and traps, and build a ton of mental and physical toughness.

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Link: What are the benefits of the farmer's walk, the uninitiated might ask? Well, once you try them, you will find out. For one, again, they will do great things for your grip. Even if you are not a strongman competitor or grip specialist, it will do you a lot of good. You will be able to hang on to deadlifts without using a mixed grip, and you will not have to use straps on any exercises.

When this is combined with the fact that farmer's walks work almost all of the stabilizing muscles in your body and give you iron traps, hips, obliques, and ankles, it doesn't make sense NOT to have the farmer's walk in your training program.

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[BreakfastBurrito]

What are typical distances, durations, and resistance levels for this exercise? I know you said it can vary, but there has to be some type of target range of how far I should try to go and how much weight I should try to carry around.

[Colt McCoy]

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What are typical distances, durations, and resistance levels for this exercise? I know you said it can vary, but there has to be some type of target range of how far I should try to go and how much weight I should try to carry around.

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I think you just have to play with it. Maybe start with a weight you can carry 100 yards or so. The last few yards should be really tough. Dumbells are good to start with too because they're less awkward than some other objects people use.

[goodsamaritan]

Check out these bad boys:

[Actual God]

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Check out these bad boys:



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I've been carrying my 4-year-old sister all around Rome. She's about 42 pounds. Does this count?

[Magra]

I've heard some people run while doing this. Is that a better work out, how you are suppose to do it, or not good for you?

Also, are you able to do this on say, an elliptical machine?

[Colt McCoy]

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I've heard some people run while doing this. Is that a better work out, how you are suppose to do it, or not good for you?

Also, are you able to do this on say, an elliptical machine?

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If you can really run, you're probably not using a heavy enough weight. I can't imagine running regularly with an extra 100 pounds would be very good for your joints anyway.
I can't imagine trying to do it on an elliptical machine, but if you did it would not be at all the same.

[Blarg]

Heavyhands are very good for running, though.

[StaticShock]

I don't know about "running" per say while doing these. I know when I'm doing them for a prescribed distance I definitely pick up the pace and shuffle along as quickly as possible.

[jah7_fsu1]

This is one of my favorite conditioning things for my summer athletes...although we use loaded wheelbarrows for races.