Farmers Walk

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Farmer's walks, also called farmer's carries, are about as simple of an exercise as they come. Just hold some weights in your hands and walk. Don't let their simplicity fool you though, farmer's walks are one of the most effective and functional exercises out there. They can be used to build full body strength, coordination, and core stability. They're even pretty good for building bigger traps and forearms.

The Basics

Farmer's walks are the most basic version of all the carries. Variations on the farmer's walk will change how the weight is held, but will all involve holding some weight and walking with it.

The Basics

The farmers walk is primarily used as a strength exercise. It is classified as a carry movement. Since it involves significant activation of multiple muscle groups, it is considered a compound exercise.

Form

Set Up

• Pick up the weights while keeping a neutral core
• Stand up tall, with your shoulderblades pulled back
• Engage your core and squeeze your glutes
• Look ahead, not down

The Walk

• Begin by leaning your entire body forward slightly
• Take small, fast steps so that your feet stay under you
• Keep your chest up and core engaged throughout
• When finished, the weights should be set down or dropped carefully, if appropriate

Common Mistakes

Taking Big Steps

Taking big steps can cause the weight you're carrying to swing, which makes things considerably harder. Big steps also put you in a less balanced and advantageous position to carry a large amount of weight. Always try to keep your feet underneath you.

Looking Down

While it may be tempting to look down, keep your gaze ahead of you. This will help stay standing up tall with your chest up throughout the exercise.

Using the Wrong Weight

Choosing the right weight for the distance/time you're going for is important. The weight should always be challenging, but not so heavy that your form is compromised.

Additional Info

Functional

Farmer's walk are arguably the most functional exercise there is. Just think about how important walking is in your daily life and how useful it is to be able to carry things well. Farmer's walks improves your ability to do both of these things.

Effective and Efficient

Farmer's walks use pretty much every muscle in your body. They engage all of the muscles in your legs and hips to walk, require you to keep a strong, stable core, and use your back and arms to hold and steady the additional weight. Not to mention just how much they can tax your grip.

All this muscle activation can lead to great overall gains without having to do several different exercises to hit each of the muscles groups individually.

Progression

Your farmer's walk progression can be measured using three different variables: weight, distance, and time. The overall goal, of course, is to walk longer in less time with more weight. However, most people will focus on improving one variable at a time.

Most distances used are between 10 and 40 yards, and most times used are between 15 and 60 seconds. In any case, always choose a weight that's a good challenge for the distance/time you're shooting for. That means, for a lower distance/time, use a higher weight and for a higher distance/time, use less weight.

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