13 Best Loaded Carries and Workouts To Build Strength, Stamina and Practical Power
When it comes to cardio, you're not alone if the idea of clocking endless miles on the treadmill, bike, or rower doesn’t excite you. Most of us would rather spend our gym time chasing the satisfying, sleeve-stretching gains of weightlifting than slogging through a monotonous run.
Good news: there’s more than one way to get in that all-important heart-protecting, health-boosting cardio. One of our favourite methods? Strongman-style loaded carries. And the news just keeps getting better. You might not build the same type of endurance as you would with airbike sprints or running 10ks, but what you will build is practical, raw strength and fitness that transfers perfectly into everyday life.
Loaded carries perfectly combine weightlifting and cardio, offering a powerful hybrid workout. By moving heavy loads quickly over medium to long distances, you gain the benefits of both strength training and cardiovascular conditioning in one efficient session. Go heavy and push yourself, and you’ll build full-body strength, core stability, size, and athleticism. Plus, studies suggest that this type of training can also enhance your resistance to injury.
Benefits of Loaded Carries
Build Muscle
Although you're not going to get the same hypertrophy bang-for-your-buck you'd expect from traditional lifts such as bench press and squats, loaded carries enable you to lift heavy, like really heavy. This type of mechanical tension is heavily associated with muscle building. Even if carries alone don't directly result in huge muscle growth, the type of strength and endurance they'll build will carry over into your other lifts, helping you to push harder and build more size.
Build Real-World Functional Strength
Carrying awkward, heavy loads mimics everyday activities like lifting and moving objects, in ways that the sterile, ergonomic environment of the gym can't quite mimic, enhancing real-world strength. 'Functional' strength exercises like carries are linked to better performance in daily tasks and sports .
Boost Cardiovascular Fitness
Loaded carries elevate your heart rate, providing a cardiovascular workout while building strength. Research has shown that this dual benefit makes them an efficient exercise for improving both aerobic capacity and muscular endurance while also saving time in the gym.
Support Postural Alignment
Loaded carries encourage proper alignment of the spine and shoulders, promoting better posture, whilst also building the muscle groups responsible for maintain strong posture in a variety of positions. Good posture has been associated with reduced back pain and improved overall musculoskeletal health .
Enhance Grip Strength
Holding heavy weights during carries challenges your grip, which is crucial for various strength training exercises. Studies show that grip strength is a strong predictor of overall muscular endurance and health, and while this may be nothing more than a strong correlation- one of the best ways to lean into and take advantage of this link, is by training loaded carries.
Improves Core Stability
Loaded carries require maintaining a stable posture while moving, which strengthens the core muscles. Research indicates that exercises demanding core stability, like carries, enhance functional fitness and reduce injury risk .
Build Stability in Other Joints
The same benefits the core or trunk experience from loaded carries can also be extrapolated out to other joints in the body. For instance, overhead carries can help to build more secure shoulder joints through via the same mechanism of forcing the shoulder joint to stabilise and maintain a strong position whilst moving under load.
Go Heavy or Go Long
Some trainers have labelled loaded carries as ineffective for building strength, but their criticisms are often built around inefficient and underloaded carry variations. To really get the most out of loaded carries you should aim to do one of two things: go heavy, or go far. If you're performing shorts sets of farmer's walks or bear hug carries, you should be using weights that push you right to the edge of your capabilities towards the end of each set, just the same as you would with any other movement. Alternatively, if you want to build serious strength endurance: go long. A one-mile carry, packing a load around the same weight as your own body is a humbling experience that builds strength, endurance and mental grit.
Pottering up and down the gym with a light pair of kettlebells just isn't going to cut it when it comes to building strength, power and durability.
13 Best Loaded Carries
These are 13 of our favourite loaded carry variations, for you to include in your training.
Bear Hug Carry
Using a sandbag or d-ball, squat down and wrap your arms around it, ‘hug’ the bag as tightly as possible before standing upright (A), the bag should be covering your entire torso. Stride forward with intention, focussing on your breathing and moving at a pace appropriate for the weight and target distance.
Dumbbell/ Kettlebell Farmer's Carry
Stand tall with your weights (A) Let your arms hang freely at your sides, take a deep breath into your trunk, create tension and begin a fast, deliberate march (B) Try not to drop the weights, but if you do, pick up from where you left off as quickly as possible.
Gymnastics Ring Farmer's Carry
Thread the straps from a set of gymnastics rings through a number of weight plates, fastening them at the top, through the rings themselves to give yourself a way to easily load up those carries, even if you don't have specialist handles or heavy dumbbells/ kettlebells.
Zercher Carry
Deadlift your bar up to your waist before sinking into a deep squat, your barbell resting in the crease of your hips. Take both arms and reach under the bar, squeeze your fists, and with the bar resting in the crook of your elbows, lift it away from your hips, then stand tall (A). Keeping your torso upright and core braced, take powerful strides forward (B) quickly covering the distance.
Barbell Front Rack Carry
Clean a barbell onto the top of your chest, kicking your elbows up high to secure your bar in the ‘front rack’ position (A). Walk forward with purpose: head up, ribs down, eyes forward (B). Try to ensure you walk in a straight line and avoid lateral movement as much as possible.
Trap Bar/ Frame Carry
Deadlift a loaded trap or hex bar up to waist height (A) take a deep breath into your trunk, create tension and begin a fast, deliberate march (B) Try not to drop the frame, but if you do, pick up from where you left off as quickly as possible.
Suitcase Carry
Deadlift a single kettlebell or dumbbell up to waist height and grip to at your side. Squeeze the opposite hand to create tension (A) Stride forward with purpose. Focus on your breathing and try to ensure you walk in a straight line and avoid lateral movement as much as possible. (B) If you don’t have room to walk, march on the spot with high knees. Double your ‘metre’ target for marching reps.
Front Rack Carry
Clean a pair of kettlebells or dumbbells onto the front of your shoulders, fists under your chin (A). Stride forward with purpose. Focus on your breathing and try to ensure you walk in a straight line and avoid lateral movement as much as possible. (B) If you don’t have room to walk, march on the spot with high knees. Double your ‘metre’ target for marching reps.
Overhead Carry
Clean a pair of kettlebells, dumbbells or a barbell onto your chest then press overhead (A). Take a few deep breaths before starting your walk. As you move, try to avoid flaring your ribcage; keep your core braced and your biceps almost touching your ears (B). The strength and stability you will build across your whole shoulder girdle here is ideal for keeping them injury free in the long run.
Single Arm Overhead Carry/ Waiter's Walk
Press a single kettlebell or dumbbell overhead. Squeeze the opposite fist to create tension (A) Stride forward with purpose, focussing on your breathing and actively pressing the weight away. (B) If you don’t have room to walk, march on the spot with high knees. Double your ‘metre’ target for marching reps.
Mixed Rack/ Overhead Carry
Clean a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells in to the front rack position before pressing just one of the weights overhead (A). Stride forward purposefully, keeping the weights locked in position. (B) Once you've covered the prescribed distance, lower the weight overhead, and press the opposite side up and repeat.
Barbell Suitcase Carry
Find the centre of a loaded olympic or EZ bar, stand sideways on from it and deadlift it up to waist height. Squeeze the opposite hand to create tension (A). Stride forward with purpose. Focus on your breathing and keeping the bar level. (B) Repeat distance on the opposite side. The shape of an EZ bar will make it easy to load up and keep the bar balanced.
Dumbbell Bear Crawl
Less of a 'carry' but still a powerful form of 'loaded locomotion' that will rock your core. Set up on all fours, gripping your dumbbells below your shoulders. Lift one dumbbell and reach forward with that arm, advancing with your back leg on the opposite side (A). Repeat on your other side (B). Keep alternating, edging forward as quickly as possible, under control.
Best Loaded Carry Workouts
Here's a playlist of some of our favourite carry-heavy (or should that be 'heavy carry'?) workouts.
Try the Single-Arm Loaded Carry Trinity for Cardio and Core Gains
This Lunge, Carry and Jump Workout Builds Strong Legs, Serious Stamina and a Solid Core
Carry Your Way to a Rock-Hard Upper Body with Our Barbell Carry Triad
Try The 'Zercher Carry' for a Solid Core and a Stronger Posture
Add Muscle, Build Stamina and Fire up Your Metabolism with Our Three-Move Strongman Circuit
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