Carry the Burden

When in doubt, just get really, really strong. It tends to cure most problems in training and in life.-Jim Wendler

If you are not familiar with Jim Wendler, he is a powerlifting coach who created and popularized the 5/3/1 program for strength training as an intense way to get incredibly strong. I have done the program and it is incredibly effective at improving strength. But consistently training with heavy loads on barbells is not for everyone. For some people deadlifts, squats and upper body pressing exercises are just is not their thing. Nothing wrong with that, however, in real life there is are daily requirements and tasks that simply require some level of physical strength: carrying a child, groceries, loading up the roof rack on a vehicle. At some point, picking up a heavy object and moving it is unavoidable, whether or not a person wants be a powerlifter.

Carrying loads is a natural requirement. Parents, if you cannot pick up your young child when the kid wants to be held, the child is not too heavy; you are too weak. It is a sad display when a child loses affection because the parent to unfit to give it. Metaphorically and physically, life requires the capacity to carry burdens. Get to work and get stronger by training with loaded carries.

Loaded carry exercises have several physical benefits beyond sharing loving affection with children. When performed properly loaded carries are incredible for improving posture, total body coordination, moving under load, grip strength, and ultimately confidence. From an aesthetic standpoint loaded carries are fantastic for building the muscles of upper back and shoulders. Any skinny runt of a kid can have a six pack. People with eating disorders can make their abs show and any person willing to be ridiculously strict with their diet can achieve abs in a healthy way. But if a person wants to look like a strong, fit person; if a person wants to make it clear that fitness is important without having to say a word, it is time to focus on developing the traps, rhomboids, and shoulders to develop that linebacker look. Loaded carry exercises are one of the best and simplest ways pack on a lot of muscle while drastically improving strength.

Success in training with loaded carries begins and ends with proper posture. Just because it can be picked up and carried does not mean that the exercise was performed beneficially. If the exercise cannot be performed with proper posture than the weight is too heavy for the individual’s strength level.

There are five different carrying exercises that everyone should master. The basic set up a posture requirements remain the same. The major difference between the exercises is the position of the weight in relation to the body throughout the carry. There are two primary ways to perform a loaded carry; for time or distance. Pick a weight and carry it for a specific amount of time. This can vary from 30 seconds up to 3 minutes. With distance, minimum distance should be 20 yards and could be along as 400 yards.

1.       Farmer’s Walk is performed holding a dumb bell or kettle bell in each hand. The arms are kept straight at the sides with the hands level with the hips. The strength goal with this exercise is too be able to carry a combined weight equal to the individual’s body weight.

2.       Suitcase Carry is similar to the Farmer’s Walk in that is uses the same body positioning. The major difference is that with the suitcase carry weight is only being held in one hand. A one-handed carry is an excellent way to train core stability and strength; it forces the opposite side of the abdominals to work hard to keep the body in an upright posture. The strength goal with this exercise is to carry half of bodyweight

3.       Overhead Carry is performed using a barbell or a weight plate and extending the arms straight overhead. It is important to ensure that the elbows in line with the ears when performing an overhead loaded carry as this is the safest position for the neck and shoulders. If an individual lacks the mobility in the shoulder to align the elbows with the ears this exercise should be avoided and work should be done to improve shoulder mobility.  Assuming healthy shoulder mobility is present, the emphasis of moving the weight to an overhead position does an excellent job of strengthening the entire back and improving posture. It is impossible to do this exercise in a position of poor posture. If any pain is experienced anywhere along the spine while performing this exercise it is an indicator of an underlying posture problem that needs to be addressed. Stop doing this particular exercise and fix the posture problem before resuming.

 

4.       Waiter’s Carry is like the suit case carry in that weight is only carried in one hand. However, the position of the weight is changed so that the arm is extended overheard. Doing this adds to the core stability of the suitcase carry by strengthening the stability of the upper back and shoulder. An excellent strength goal for this exercise is one quarter of body. Due to the potential higher risk of injury to the shoulder with this exercise, it is not recommended for people who have had a history of rotator cuff problems.

5.       Trap Bar Carry is the pinnacle of super strength when it comes loaded carry exercises. The trap bar is a bar not commonly featured in most commercial gyms. However, if you happen to have one, it is unmistakable. This diamond shape bar also a person to stand in the middle of it. It is commonly used for a variation of deadlifting. What makes the Trap Bar an effective tool for carrying exercises is that it allows far more weight to be carried than the hands could hold using Dumb Bells or Kettle Bells. Basically, if you can deadlift it with this bar, you can carry it, even if for a short distance of 20 yards or less. The technique on this is simple; load up the bar and deadlift it into a standing position and start walking. The strength goal for this is 1 ½ times body weight.

Few exercises combine total body strength training, conditioning, endurance, and posture improvement into a simple process. Loaded carries do all of this while creating significant calorie burning. Sometimes life feels heavy; be prepared by training to carry burdens.