I love farmers carries. They are simple and effective. And they are great for fatloss and conditioning.
Farmers carries are pretty awesome for a number of reasons, you pick up 2 pieces of heavy and walk with them, either for distance or for time, and you put them down. Repeat as needed.
Go as heavy as you can but maintain good posture for as long as you can, you’re gonna fail on these, it’s inevitable, but try to maintain a good shoulders back and down position, tight abs, head up and eyes front position throughout, when this goes, stop.
Done properly these are gonna torch your abs, glutes, shoulders, and build a solid grip, not to mention pump your heart rate up through the roof!
Heres a couple of pointers for you and 2 variations for building your own finishers.
1. Go as heavy as you can with good posture
2. Yes your hands and forearms will feel as though they are on fire, suck it up, you’ll get stronger!
3. If you are going for distance, don’t go all the way to failure on the first attempt, you’ll regret it the rest of the way.
Option 1:
Farmers carry circuit 1
Exercise 1 Exercise 2
Goblet squat Med ball slam
Reverse lunge Bentover row (DBs or bar)
Push up Glute bridge
DB overhead press Push up plank
DB RDL Mountain Climber
Pick one exercise from column 1 and one from column 2, and use dumbbells or kbs that will challenge you for the farmers carry. Then you are gonna do 8-12 reps of ex 1, farmers carry for 20-30m, then 10-15 reps of ex 2. Rest 30-45 secs and repeat. Aim for 4-6 rounds.
Option 2:
Farmers carry circuit 2
Pick 3 successively harder exercises, and perform
20m farmers carry,
Ex1
20m farmers carry
Ex2
20m farmers carry
Ex3
20m farmers carry
Rest 60s, repeat for 2-4 rounds
Combinations i find that work well are:
1. DB overhead press (if you can press overhead well) – Goblet squat – Plank
2. KB swing – DB RDL – Bentover row ( this one is heavy on the hamstrings)
3. Goblet squat – pushup – reverse cuunch
As you can see, the exercises get progressively easier as you get further into the circuit allowing for fatigue to limit your strength and not limit your ability to complete the circuit. Aim to do 8 to 12 reps on each exercise with your 12 rep max for each.
And if your heart rate isn’t through the roof at the end, you’re doing it wrong 😉
Have fun
Dave
