The farmer’s carry seems simple, at least watching someone else do it, but when you pick up a heavyweight and start walking, you quickly realize how hard it is. Your shoulders ache, your grip starts slipping, and you begin to realize that you maybe making, what be one of many, farmer carry mistakes.
You may feel like letting out a few choice words and dropping the weight, but you realize other people are around, including a grandma who is warming up with your max.
So, it’s better not to embarrass yourself and suck it up.
Legendary strength coach Dan John has said on numerous occasions that carries are the missing link in many people’s programs because of the biggest mistake of all. They don’t do them. If there is one exercise that lifters go out of their way NOT to do (besides warming up and side planks), it is carries.
So, if you do them, the other mistakes are fixable. If you don’t do them, that’s on you to fix.
Here we will reacquaint you with the carry, what’s needed for it, and three common farmer carry mistakes to watch out for so you can get the best out of this functional exercise.
How to Do The Dumbbell Farmers Carry
Select a dumbbell with 25% to 50% of your body weight in each hand.
Pick them up and hold the dumbbells tight by your sides and at arm’s length.
Get your chest up and shoulders down for good walking posture.
Walk slowly and carefully, paying attention to your gait for 40-100 yards.
Place the dumbbells back in the rack or carefully on the floor when you’re done.
What’s Needed For Good Form
First, you must do them because if you don’t, you miss out on all the life-saving benefits of grip strength. And don’t you like pickles on your hamburger because almost all hamburgers are made better by adding pickles. Anyhow here is what’s needed for good farmers’ carry form.
Willingness to do them.
Some degree of mental toughness.
Good walking posture.
A clear path where you can walk.
The ability to grip using your thumb.
Seems simple, correct? Yet mistakes can be made. Here will go over some common errors with easy fixes to get the best out of this awesome exercise.
The best place to start with carries, no matter the variation, is to think of it as a loaded standing on your two feet plank. And you do planks. Right?
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Per Bernal
Posture Matters
Posture varies throughout the day, and good posture varies from person to person but with the carry, there is no variation in posture. You need your chest up, shoulders down, and your upper back locked in. The biggest mistake (besides not doing them) you can make with carries is doing them with shoulders rounded or shoulders shrugged when you get tired. Both take away from the benefits of doing them.
Fix It: Set your upper back position after your pick up the weight and do it in a mirror if necessary. When you feel this position slipping, it’s time to discontinue the set and reset and repeat.
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Westend61 / Getty
Going Too Light
The farmer’s carry is one of those exercises where you want discomfort. You want to feel your forearms, hands, and shoulders burning. Then you know you’re challenging yourself, and you’re getting stronger. It is not heavy enough if you’re not feeling it near the end of your rep.
Fix it: Start with 25 % of your body weight in each hand and walk for 40 yards. If it is too easy, go up; if it is too hard, lessen the distance you walk and work up to 40 yards. Do not be afraid to challenge yourself.
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Klaus Vedfelt / Getty
Pay Attention To Your Gait
Gait is a fancy term for the way you walk. Some walk too fast to get the set over and done quicker, and some take larger strides for the same reason. The thing with both, particularly with load, is that you’re more likely to stumble and lose your balance, which you don’t want to do. Unless you like being in workout fail videos on YouTube.
Fix it: It’s best to use short quick strides, placing the heel of the forward foot just in front of the back foot’s big toe. Please take a few unloaded strides using this heel-to-toe stride to get a feel for it before you go.
