Why Everyone Should Carry Heavy Shit

In this day and age of training and fitness, there are so many fads, trends and gimmicks that we get excited about that we tend to start jumping ship on our current training programs and try the latest and greatest methods that will get us the best results as fast as possible. But there is just one problem: none of them work! That's why they are fads, trends and gimmicks.

By now, I would've hoped that we all know that the big, compound (multi-joint) lifts are the best to use to gain raw strength, size and athleticism. Things like squats, deadlifts and bench presses utilise the most muscle mass and elicit the greatest hormonal response to grow or strengthen our muscles. There is one type of lift, however, that doesn't get anywhere near the love it deserves: the loaded carry. There are a ton of variations to the loaded carry, and they're all awesome. And if I do say myself, I think they work even BETTER than some of the key lifts for strength.

The Loaded Carry: Why are you so awesome!?

The loaded carry is such a simple concept, it almost annoys me that I've only been implementing them into my own and my clients programs over the last couple of years. Pick up something heavy and walk with it by your sides, over your head, at your shoulders, wherever. But why is this simple, ancient concept so incredibly underused? Surely if carrying heavy objects was so effective, everyone would be doing them, right? Well, in some respects, this kind of reflects on the way we've developed as a society; always looking for the easy way out, the "sexiest" movements, the latest and greatest! That's for another day...

There is a plethora of loaded carry variations that we can implement into our training that can be targeted for different training outcomes and goals such as:

1. Maximum Strength

2. Grip Strength

3. Shoulder Stability

4. Core Symmetry

5. Conditioning

This is what makes loaded carries so versatile. They not only make us brutally strong and resilient, but they can also improve our conditioning and endurance. Plus, as an added bonus, because you're having to engage every muscle in the body to effectively move the weight from point A to point B, you're going to burn plenty of calories making them a great tool for fat loss and muscle gain, too! Win!

I want to go over the above numbered points and explain why loaded carries achieve these goals for the trainee, and different variations of carries that can be used to work on them.

MAXIMUM STRENGTH

Maximum strength is (or at least, it should be) a goal for everyone who trains. Being able to train the body to generate more force in functional positions and situations will have the greatest carry over into day-to-day life and into sporting situations. The loaded carry ticks ALL of these boxes. One of the best variations to use to build max strength is the good old fashioned Farmers Carry (pictured above). You grab something heavy in both hands (kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, kegs, farmers carry handles, hay bales, whatever!) and walk with it. The Farmers Carry offers the lifter a chance to lift a high load relative to their bodyweight for a much longer time under tension than say a deadlift or a squat does. This will challenge the posture and the grip like nothing else, as well as your ability to maintain a steady gait. Lifting something heavy and putting it back down again is great, but carrying it for an appreciable distance is just plain awesome. If you can carry double your bodyweight for more than 20m, you are a strong individual in my eyes.

GRIP STRENGTH

The grip is strenuously challenged while completing loaded carries. You'll notice that one side will most likely always give out before the other. This can be traced back to shoulder stability and neck stability. If the neck isn't strong or stable, the shoulder cannot be strong or stable, and the grip will magnify this point. Think of it as a neurological chain of events.

Loaded carries just so happen to challenge all of the above at once. By loading something heavy into your hands, your nervous system automatically fires the rotator cuff in the shoulder to provide stability (this is why your shoulder doesn't slip right out of the socket when you hold a heavy weight in your hands) which will allow more strength to be transmitted down the chain into your grip. When you think about a heavy deadlift, what usually fails first? Is it your leg/hip strength? Back strength? Neither. The answer is your grip (then everything else after that).

SHOULDER STABILITY

Following on from the above, using different loaded carry variations to directly challenge shoulder stability in different positions is one of the best ways to develop a well rounded and resilient shoulder girdle. In my experience, using kettlebells provides the best stimulus due to the weight hanging behind the arm, which will challenge the shoulder to be reactive to an off-set load. A couple of my favourite variations are the kettlebell bottoms-up carry, and the overhead carry (otherwise known as a waiters carry, and can also be performed bottoms-up). These variations challenge the shoulder to be resilient and hold integrity while the kettlebells off-set load provides and unstable challenge which will force the stabilisers of the shoulder to lock in and be reactive.

CORE SYMMETRY

I love corrective exercises and what they aim to achieve, and I think loaded carries fit right into that category. They achieve strength, stability, and symmetry, so to me, that makes them highly corrective in nature. With that being said, the loaded carry can actually be loaded asymmetrically, causing one side of the body to work harder and differently to the other. One of the best examples of this type of carry is the unilaterally loaded Suitcase Carry. Grabbing a heavy object in one hand and walking with it offers so many unique benefits. This variation still offers the lifter an opportunity to load the body with a heavy weight, whilst forcing the core to contract forcefully to keep postural alignment. By the way, when I say core I'm referring to abdominals, lower back and the glutes as a functional unit.

By holding a heavy weight in one hand by your side, you will feel the obliques on the opposite side of the body fire up big time as they attempt to keep your posture centred and not leaning to one side or the other. If we look even further down the chain, the ankle and foot on the opposite side to the weight is forced to maintain correct alignment as you walk. If it caves in towards the weighted side, you will lose balance or drift off midline as you walk. To me, this exercise becomes highly corrective due to these points.

CONDITIONING

I don't feel like I need to spend too much time on this, other than to say that carrying heavy loads for appreciable distances for multiple sets will have your heart rate pumping as your body tries to clear lactate from your muscles as you fatigue. If you're looking for an awesome finisher to your strength sessions, give loaded carries a try to tie up your strength work and get your heart rate up and build some truly functional fitness.

If after reading this article you still don't think loaded carries are a truly great addition to your strength and conditioning program, fat loss program, or muscle building program, then I'm not sure you can be helped.

Pick up something heavy, walk with it, get strong!