This is the final installment of the series on long Farmer Carries.
At the time of this writing, long weekly Farmer Carries have been a Saturday morning ritual, seven weeks in a row.
Go Barefoot
This may sound bizarre to you, but earlier in the year, I resolved to do more things barefoot. In recent weeks, I’ve been doing all my farmer carry work in barefeet, and all of it is in the grass. It’s cool, refreshing and little to no impact.
I continue to mix things up. It’s a great way to continue getting in a mile of Farmer Carry, without being bored.
The loaded carry does more to expand athletic qualities than any other single thing I’ve attempted in my career as a coach and an athlete. – Dan John
Break it Up to Prevent Boredom
All my carries are done in 100 meter chunks, with a movement at each end of the field.
Since I am breaking the walks up from the original 400m carries on the track, I have been increasing the weights. I’m now using 40# dumbbells.
Example: Down and back (200m), perform 10 Kettlebell Swings. Do this ten times and you just completed more than a mile Farmer Carry and 100 KBS. Not a bad workout for basic movement and core stability.
Add Variety to Keep it Fresh
Another thing I am doing is mixing up the carries. Sometimes, I walk downfield, and then do the return trip backwards.
Other times, I’ll walk downfield with hands and wrists pronated, then back upfield with them supinated (both with lighter weight). A few cycles of this will really leave your arms feeling a bit smoked by the end of your outing.
Another twist I have added is Suitcase Carries, with a heavier Kettlebell. Downfield in the righthand, upfield in the left. Even though I am doing a mile or more of carries during every outing, the variety I use, keeps it from getting boring.
Feel free to mix up the movements at the end of each 100 meters. I vary the mix with each outing. I have included kettlebell swings, goblet squats, air squats, push-ups, dumbbell snatches, kettlebell snatches, and lunges and more. Use you imagination.
Finish with Some Speed
Lastly, I have introduced another element, after I have finished my mile of Farmer Carries. I will do a half dozen sprints, 100m downfield, barefoot in the grass. Walk back 100m as rest. Then do it again.
I do this in an attempt to learn to like running again. I was a daily runner decades ago (and 60 pounds ago), and I was trained to heel-strike. That has made running a miserable exercise for me. So I use my grass-sprints as an opportunity to learn POSE-style running.
I am enjoying bursts of running this way, I’m not beating myself, and I am not experiencing any soreness or shin pain.
In fact, one of the things that has been nice about all my Saturday morning Farmer Carry workouts is that there has not been any DOMS pain from these outings. This has been a great way to get outdoors, enjoy the summer sun, get fresh air, workout with silence. Lot’s of benefits,
This has been a fantastic, low impact way to improve my grip, forearms, neck, shoulders, back, abs and even glutes and quads!
A nice sandbag is next on my Wish List. That should add some addition interest into my carry days before the snow flies inNew England.
Leave a Reply