Loaded carries are simple: pick up a weight, hold it securely and walk. In one exercise, your hands have to maintain their grip, your trunk has to control the load and your legs have to keep you moving.
This makes loaded carries a practical addition to a strength program. They do not replace squats, hinges, presses or rows. Instead, they add a different challenge: staying controlled while moving under load.
What is a loaded carry?
A loaded carry is any exercise where you walk for a set distance or time while holding an external load. Dumbbells, kettlebells, trap bars, sandbags and purpose-built farmer's handles can all be used.
The most common variations include:
- Farmer's carry: an equal load held in each hand.
- Suitcase carry: one load held on one side.
- Front-rack carry: one or two weights held near the shoulders.
- Goblet or bear-hug carry: a weight or sandbag held in front of the torso.
- Overhead carry: one or two weights held overhead.
Each variation changes the position of the weight and the way you have to control it. A farmer's carry is balanced between both sides. A suitcase carry is deliberately uneven. Front-rack and overhead variations place more responsibility on your ability to maintain the chosen position as you walk.
Why loaded carries suit everyday strength
Strength outside the gym is rarely limited to lifting something once. Carrying groceries, moving a box, handling tools or walking with luggage requires you to maintain force while your body is moving.
A loaded carry does not perfectly recreate every real-world task. It does, however, bring several relevant demands together in a controlled gym exercise.
Grip that has to last for the full set
During a farmer's or suitcase carry, your hands and forearms must stop the handles from slipping for the entire walk. The load should be heavy enough to challenge your grip without making it impossible to keep your shoulders level and your steps controlled.
This is one reason carries can be useful alongside deadlifts, rows and pull-ups. Those exercises also require grip, but the carry lets you train holding strength while walking for a chosen time or distance.
Trunk control while moving
The weight is not supported by a bench or machine. Your torso has to remain organised while each step creates movement beneath it. With a suitcase carry, the uneven load also tries to pull the body towards one side.
A biomechanical analysis by McGill and colleagues examined several strongman events, including the farmer's walk and suitcase carry. The researchers measured muscle activity and movement, then estimated spinal loading and trunk stiffness. They found that strongman events placed distinct demands on the body's linked and stabilising systems. Carrying events also challenged different abilities from lifting events, leading the authors to suggest that loaded carrying could complement a traditional lifting program.[2]
This does not mean loaded carries are automatically the best core exercise or that heavier is always better. The study examined experienced strongman competitors using demanding event loads. It helps explain how the torso contributes during loaded movement, but it does not provide a beginner training prescription.
For a broader explanation of trunk control, read our guide to core stability and spinal control.
Whole-body strength expressed through movement
Your legs still have to move you forward while your upper body supports the weight. Your posture, grip and walking pace therefore have to work together. If one part starts to fail, the quality of the whole set changes.
That is the practical appeal of loaded carries. They let you train strength as a coordinated task rather than isolating one muscle or joint at a time.
What do the two studies actually show?
The research used in the original newsletter supports loaded carries as a useful training option, but it does not prove that they are superior to conventional resistance training.
Winwood et al. compared strongman and traditional training
Winwood and colleagues randomly assigned 30 resistance-trained rugby players to either a strongman-style program or a traditional resistance-training program. Both groups trained twice per week for seven weeks, with exercises matched as closely as possible for loading and movement demands.
Both groups improved across the measured performance outcomes. The researchers found no significant difference between the groups in functional performance after the seven-week program. Their overall conclusion was that short-term strongman training could be as effective as traditional resistance training for improving aspects of body composition, muscular function and performance.[1]
This finding supports strongman-style exercises as a legitimate way to add variety to a program. It does not show that loaded carries alone caused the improvements. The strongman group performed a complete program containing several exercises, so the effects of the carries cannot be separated from the rest of the training.
McGill et al. examined how strongman events load the body
McGill and colleagues took a different approach. Instead of running a training program over several weeks, they analysed what happened during individual strongman events. The events included the farmer's walk, suitcase carry, super yoke, Atlas stone lift, keg walk, tyre flip and log lift.
The results showed that the events did not all challenge the body in the same way. The researchers highlighted the role of trunk stiffness and coordinated whole-body strength during the carrying tasks. They also found that some strongman events created substantial spinal loads, which reinforces the importance of exercise selection and controlled technique.[2]
The study helps explain why loaded carries can provide something different from a stationary lift. However, it was a small biomechanical analysis involving experienced strongman competitors. It cannot tell us how much strength an average gym-goer will gain, which carry variation is best for everyone or exactly how heavy a beginner should train.
What can we reasonably take from the evidence?
Together, the two studies support a measured conclusion. Loaded carries can form part of an effective strength program and challenge the body differently from traditional lifting. The evidence does not show that carries should replace conventional resistance exercises or that they guarantee better transfer to every daily task.
The clearest way to use them is as a complementary exercise. Keep your main lifts, then use a carry to train controlled movement under load.
Which loaded carry should you start with?
Start with the farmer's carry
For most people, the farmer's carry is the simplest starting point. The load is balanced between both sides, the set-up is straightforward and the exercise can be performed with a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells.
Choose a weight you can walk with while keeping your shoulders level, ribs controlled and steps steady. The set should challenge your grip without forcing you to rush or lean backwards.
Use the suitcase carry for an uneven load
The suitcase carry places the weight on one side. Your aim is to keep walking without allowing the torso to collapse towards the load.
Use the same distance on both sides. Keep the free hand relaxed rather than pressing it against your body for support. If the loaded shoulder drops or your hips shift noticeably, reduce the weight. You can learn more about one-sided exercise in our guide to unilateral training.
Progress to other variations with a reason
Front-rack, bear-hug and overhead carries are options once you can control the basic versions. They are not automatically better because they feel harder. Choose them when the load position matches a specific training goal and you can maintain it without pain or obvious compensation.
How to add loaded carries to your program
Carries usually fit well near the end of a strength session, after the main lifts. They can also be included in a conditioning circuit when the load is moderate and your technique remains controlled.
A simple starting point is:
- Choose one carry variation.
- Complete 2 to 3 sets.
- Walk for 20 to 30 metres, or about 20 to 30 seconds per set.
- Rest long enough to repeat the same posture and pace.
- Include the exercise once or twice per week.
These are practical starting ranges, not protocols taken from the two studies. Your training experience, available equipment, space and the rest of your program should guide the final amount.
Progress one variable at a time. Add a small amount of weight, a little distance or one extra set. Avoid increasing all three together. If your grip fails or your posture changes before the end, keep the load the same or reduce it.
Technique and safety points that matter
- Clear the path first. Use a flat, unobstructed surface with enough room to slow down before turning.
- Control the pick-up. Brace before lifting and stand through the hips and legs rather than snatching the weights from the floor.
- Walk at a steady pace. Keep your eyes forward and avoid turning the set into a sprint.
- Keep the load controlled. Do not keep adding weight once your shoulders, torso or steps can no longer stay organised.
- Turn carefully. Slow down and use several small steps instead of twisting sharply under load.
- Set the weights down deliberately. Finish with the same control used during the pick-up.
Stop the set if pain develops, your grip is opening or you can no longer control the weight and your walking path. If you are managing an injury, balance issue or health condition that affects exercise tolerance, seek individual guidance before attempting heavy carries.
The takeaway
Loaded carries combine strength with movement. The two studies used in the original newsletter suggest that strongman-style training can be as effective as traditional resistance training over the short term, while biomechanical analysis shows that carrying events challenge the body's stabilising and linked systems differently from lifting events.
That makes carries a useful addition, not a replacement for the rest of your program. Start with a controlled farmer's carry, use a load you can manage and progress gradually. The goal is not to carry the heaviest weight possible. It is to keep moving well while the load challenges your grip, posture and whole-body control.
Sources
- Winwood PW, Cronin JB, Posthumus LR, Finlayson SJ, Gill ND, Keogh JWL. “Strongman vs. Traditional Resistance Training Effects on Muscular Function and Performance.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2015. View source.
- McGill SM, McDermott A, Fenwick CMJ. “Comparison of Different Strongman Events: Trunk Muscle Activation and Lumbar Spine Motion, Load, and Stiffness.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2009. View source.
