Farmer’s Walk Guide: How to Master the Farmer’s Walk Exercise

The farmer’s walk, also known as the farmer’s carry, is a loaded carry workout characterized by holding free weights at your sides while walking. The farmer’s walk activates muscle groups in both your upper body and lower body. With proper form, the farmer’s walk can help you build core strength, burn calories, and raise your heart rate. Although the traditional farmer’s walk uses a pair of dumbbells, some variations use other heavy weights like kettlebells, trap bars, or barbells with farmer’s walk handles attached.

Although the farmer’s walk and suitcase walk are similar, they differ in a few ways.

1. 1. The suitcase walk is a unilateral exercise. A variation of the farmer’s walk, the suitcase walk involves carrying one free weight with one arm. When performing this unilateral movement, you must balance your bodyweight against the free weight. Suitcase walks are functional exercises that build strength for carrying heavy objects in everyday life.
2. 2. The farmer’s walk and suitcase walk activate different muscle groups. While both exercises work muscles across your entire body—including the glutes, hamstrings, delts, biceps, triceps, and lower-back muscles—they prioritize different areas. By putting extra weight on one side of your body, suitcase walks activate your oblique muscles more than farmer’s walks. However, the farmer’s walk is a more comprehensive exercise that builds overall strength. Both exercises increase your grip strength by activating your forearms, which is essential for other strength-training exercises like deadlifts and bench presses.
3. 3. The farmer’s walk allows you to carry heavier weights. By balancing a free weight on either side of your body, the farmer’s walk allows you to carry heavier weights for longer distances than the suitcase walk. When learning the farmer’s walk, start with lighter weights, and master the form before moving on to heavy dumbbells or barbells.

For the farmer’s walk, begin by performing 2–3 sets of 30–60 seconds. Choose your sets and duration based on your ability to maintain good technique throughout each set.

1. Stand between two dumbbells with the handles of the dumbbells in line with the middle of your feet. Your posture should be tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and your back straight.
2. Bend your knees slightly. Your shoulders should be directly over your hips with a neutral head and neck position. Your chin should remain tucked throughout the movement, as if you were holding an egg under your chin.
3. Evenly distribute your weight, and grip the floor with your feet to create a stable position.
4. Keep your arms long by your sides with a slight bend in your elbows. Pre-tension your shoulders, hips, and core.
5. Inhale and exhale before lowering toward the dumbbells. Hinge your hips back, and bend your hips, knees, and ankles in order to lower your body toward the dumbbells.
6. Grab the dumbbells with a neutral grip and your palms facing inward. Stand by straightening your hips, knees, and ankles.
7. Rotate your shoulders outward to engage your lats. Maintain a tight upper back and strong grip on the dumbbells. All repetitions should begin from this position.
8. Initiate the exercise by walking forward in a straight line. Take normal strides while maintaining your postural alignment and grip. Your steps should use a normal heel-to-toe walking pattern.
9. After walking for 30–60 seconds, stop and lower the dumbbells to the ground by hinging your hips back and bending your hips, knees, and ankles.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program, but you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have full control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

In order to see continual progress and build body strength, incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program. Your results will ultimately be based on your ability to adequately recover from your workouts. Rest for 24 to 48 hours before training the same muscle groups to allow sufficient recovery.

Throw on some athleisure, fire up a MasterClass Annual Membership, and get ready to sweat it out with exclusive instructional videos from Nike Master Trainer and GQ fitness specialist Joe Holder. Want to improve your cardiovascular endurance? Give Joe’s HIIT workout a go. Trying to get a little swole? He’s got a strength training workout for that. From fitness tips to nutrition hacks, Joe will have you feeling healthier in no time.