Farmer's Carry: How to Do It, Muscles Worked and Tips

By Alex Lawrence · Updated 4 November 2026

Primary muscles: Forearms, Traps
Secondary muscles: Abs, Obliques, Glutes, Upper back
Equipment: Dumbbell

The farmer’s carry (or farmer’s walk) is picking up a heavy weight in each hand and walking with it, standing tall. It trains your grip, traps and the whole trunk at once, and it’s one of the simplest exercises in the gym to learn.

What muscles does the farmer’s carry work?

The farmer’s carry mainly works your grip (the forearm muscles) and your upper traps, with your abs, obliques, glutes and upper back working to keep you upright. The forearm flexors close your hand around the handles, and the upper traps stop your shoulders being pulled down by the load.

A study of strongman events by McGill and colleagues compared carrying events, including the farmer’s walk, with lifting events and concluded that carries challenge the body differently, so they can complement a lifting programme. It’s like the difference between lifting the sofa and carrying it up the stairs: same sofa, a very different job for the rest of you.

How to do a farmer’s carry

Pick up a heavy dumbbell, kettlebell or farmer’s handle in each hand, stand tall, and walk a set distance with short, steady steps.

Set up between the weights. Stand with a weight beside each foot, handles parallel to your feet.
Pick them up like a deadlift. Hips back, flat back, grip the middle of each handle, and stand up. Don’t bend over sideways to grab one at a time.
Stand tall. Shoulders back and slightly braced, chest up, eyes forward.
Walk. Short, quick steps, heel to toe. Keep the weights still at your sides rather than swinging.
Put them down with care. Stop, hinge, and lower both weights to the floor together.

One-arm (suitcase) carry: carry a single weight on one side. Your obliques have to stop you leaning, so it trains the side of your trunk harder.

Form cues that help

The best farmer’s carry cue is “walk like you’re proud of it”: tall posture, steady steps, no shuffling.

Crush the handles. A hard grip keeps the weights still and trains your forearms more.
Ribs down, no leaning back. Lean back and your lower back takes the load.
Shoulders braced, not shrugged to your ears. Hold them slightly up and back.
Short steps. Long strides make the weights swing into your legs.

Think of the walk from the car to the front door with the whole weekly shop in one trip. Now do it with good posture, on purpose, and without dropping the eggs.

Common farmer’s carry mistakes

The most common mistake is going so heavy that you hunch over and shuffle.

Mistake	What it looks like	Fix
Too heavy	Hunched shoulders, tiny shuffling steps	Drop the weight until you can walk tall
Leaning back	Hips pushed forward, back arched	Ribs down, squeeze your glutes
Weights swinging	Handles bash your legs	Grip harder, take shorter steps
Bad pick-up	Bending sideways to grab each weight	Hinge down and lift both together
Looking down	Head drops, back rounds	Eyes on a point ahead of you

Distance, time and weight

Do 3–5 carries of about 20–40 metres (or 20–40 seconds), resting 1–2 minutes between them. Start with a weight in each hand you can hold for the whole distance with good posture.

To progress, add distance before weight. When you can complete every carry at the top of your range, go up to the next dumbbell. Log your carries in Get Gains so you can see the weight creep up.

Farmer’s carry alternatives

Any exercise where you hold heavy weight and stay upright trains much the same muscles.

Suitcase carry: one weight on one side. Harder on the obliques.
Trap bar carry: step inside a trap bar and walk with it. Easy to load heavy.
Front rack or goblet carry: hold the weight at chest height. More trunk, less grip.
Shrug: if you can’t walk with weights in your gym, heavy shrugs train the traps and grip.
Dead hang: hang from a pull-up bar for time to build grip.

The farmer’s carry features in our trap workout guide, alongside face pulls and rack pulls.