Core strength is always a popular topic in the world of strength and conditioning as well as rehab scenarios as it helps with functional movement, sport performance, and injury prevention. There are many ways to train for a strong core (the muscles of the back, abdominals, and around the pelvis) but one of the most effective methods may just be one of the most simple. I’m talking about loaded carries, and these may just be what takes your core strength to the next level!
Loaded carries are a fundamental yet highly overlooked component of strength training. If you have never heard of them, “loaded carries” are simply the act of picking up something heavy and walking with it. And for something so seemingly simple it offers many benefits for general fitness, everyday living and even sports performance. Loaded carries mimic real life activities and are highly effective for building practical strength that will translate over to real life scenarios and athletics. Let’s dive into more of the benefits and at the end we’ll talk about a few different variations anyone can perform today.
Why you should implement
The benefits of loaded carries has a list that goes on and on. The main benefit is dynamic trunk control. Dynamic trunk control is the ability of the core muscles to stabilize and control the trunk during movement. It involves engagement of the abdominals, obliques, back muscles, and pelvic floor to maintain spine and pelvis stability while allowing motion. Improving dynamic trunk control can’t help but improve overall balance and coordination. This then leads to less falls—which benefits regular people with balance issues to professional athletes trying to keep their feet under them in competition!
Injury prevention
Like I just stated, preventing a fall will prevent injuries. But with contact athletes or any athlete falling to the ground, being able to brace your trunk can prevent a lot of injuries. This also helps in everyday life. Bracing in a car accident, or falling to the ground, will help your body absorb most of the contact, therefore decreasing the chance of more serious injury.
Grip strength
Grip strength has consistently been a biomarker measurement for assessing someone’s overall quality of life. According to UCLA Health, research has consistently linked a decline in grip strength with a range of adverse health issues. These include heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancers. To be clear, loss of grip strength is not necessarily a cause of these conditions but it IS a marker of the kind of lifestyle that promotes their appearance. After completing a set of loaded carries, you will see the obvious strain on your grip. Practicing such activities over time will significantly improve your grip strength and potentially reduce your risk of the diseases listed above.
Let’s now take a look at three of the best loaded carries and how to do each one:
Farmer’s carry
The farmer’s carry is where most should start. The instructions are pretty straightforward. Standing with good posture, chest up, and a braced torso, squat down between two matched dumbbells and pick them up. Now walk forward across a space of about 30-50 feet and return. That’s one rep. You can count reps or seek to build up to 30-60 seconds of continuous walking with the weights. When you can do 60 seconds continuously, seek to hold heavier weights. You are getting stronger! A few pointers while doing this is to stay tall and maintain a strong upright torso. As you’re walking, avoid any lateral bending. This tip will come in handy with the next exercise.
Single arm farmer carry
This exercise is exactly like the last, but with one arm. Implementing the single arm variation amplifies this exercise tremendously as your body is going to want to fold over to the loaded side. The key here is to not let that happen. Don’t let the weight control you—you control the weight! Your obliques (on the side of your waist) will be on fire after this one! You should feel a burn on the opposite side of the arm holding the weight.
Front rack carry
The front rack carry is unlike the first two as you now are holding the weight right under your chin. You can do this with a single arm or both arms as it’s just a more advanced version of the farmer’s carry. The benefits of this type of carry involves your shoulder stability. Keeping your shoulder girdle tight, you will build stability in your upper back and shoulders. Since the weight is now held up close to your chin, you will also feel more activation in your erector spinae (low back) creating strength and stability there as well.
Conclusion
Keeping things simple in your training routine can be a game changer. I don’t think it gets any simpler than picking up something heavy and walking with it. Carrying is a basic human movement that benefits from being trained consistently. If you’d like to go more in depth with loaded carries, come on down to Bradley Wellness Center and we would be glad to show you more!
Tucker Gregg is a fitness consultant at the Bradley Wellness Center.