Incorporating a farmer’s carry into your workout is one of the best ways you can build full-body muscle and develop functional strength. With plenty of ways you can adjust the workout to make it easier or harder, you can add it to your routine regardless of your fitness level.
If you’re looking for a full-body exercise that delivers functional benefits, take a moment to review our guide to farmer’s carries.
What Is a Farmer’s Carry?
Also called a farmer’s walk, a farmer’s carry is a strength and conditioning exercise where you hold dumbbells or kettlebells at your sides and walk for a targeted time or distance
During a farmer’s walk, you’ll work your whole body, with your grip, forearms, shoulders, upper back, hips, legs, and core all engaged by the exercise. Its full body engagement and focus on walking with heavy weights while maintaining a tight core and straight back also makes it a very practical exercise that builds everyday strength.
As a fairly simple and comprehensive exercise, it’s a good fit for warm-ups, strength days, or circuits. You can also easily adjust the load, distance, pace, or rest periods of this exercise, making it a great exercise for people of varying fitness levels.
How to Do a Farmer’s Carry
A farmer’s walk is a fairly simple exercise that just requires a little bit of space for you to walk unobstructed. Review the following seven easy steps to perform a farmer’s carry correctly:
Find an Open Space
Look for an open space where you can walk for at least 10 to 20 feet without anyone getting in your way.
Pick Out Your Weights
Once you’ve found an open area, choose two dumbbells or kettlebells that provide enough of a challenge to engage the target muscles. Dumbbells tend to be best for beginners, as the kettlebell’s larger handle makes the movement a little bit harder. Once you choose your weights, set them on each side of your feet.
Begin the Movement
Begin your kettlebell or dumbbell farmer’s carry by hinging at the hips and bending your knees. Next, grab both handles and drive through the floor to stand. Keep your spine neutral from start to finish. This movement is essentially a deadlift with dumbbells or kettlebells.
Ensure Your Walking Form Is Correct
Let the weights hang by your sides with a strong grip. Stand tall, brace your core, and pack your shoulders.
Start Walking
Begin walking at a steady pace. Keep your gaze forward, your ribs down, and your steps smooth. The goal of the exercise isn’t to walk as fast as possible, so prioritize walking at a steady pace while keeping your spine straight.
Put the Weights Down
After hitting the planned distance or steps, come to a full stop. Hinge again, lower the weights to the floor with control, and maintain a neutral spine.
Rest
Rest 1 to 3 minutes, then repeat the dumbbell or kettlebell farmer’s walk for the remaining sets.
How Much Weight Should You Carry for Farmer’s Walks?
The right amount of weight to carry on a farmer’s walk will vary based on your fitness level, but beginners tend to start by carrying a fourth of their bodyweight per hand before working up to half their bodyweight in each hand.
If you’ve been doing strength training for a while, you may want to lift your full bodyweight in each hand for the extra challenge. For those who are more focused on building endurance rather than strength, stick to lighter weights in the 25% to 50% of your bodyweight range.
Remember, the weight you choose should challenge you, but it shouldn’t stop you from maintaining your form. If you can’t maintain a straight spine while you walk, it’s a good sign you need to lower the amount of weight you’re carrying.
How Far or Long Should You Walk for Farmer’s Walks?
While there isn’t a set distance or time you have to walk for a farmer’s walk, most people recommend walking for 30 to 60 seconds each set.
If you’re working on endurance with lighter weights, you’ll likely want to stick closer to the minute mark.
What Muscles Does a Farmer’s Carry Work?
A farmer’s walk works muscles throughout your whole body, ranging from your upper back all the way down to your calves. Learn more about the muscles worked by the farmer’s carry below:
Quadriceps
From the initial pick-up to each step, the quads extend the knees, help start forward motion, and steady the knee joint under load.
Hamstrings
As hips and knees work together, the hamstrings extend the hips, flex the knees, assist the deadlift off the floor, and support joint stability while you walk.
Glutes (Maximus, Medius, Minimus)
With every stride, the glutes drive hip extension and keep the hips level, contributing power on the lift and control throughout the carry.
Calves
Calves stabilize each foot strike and help maintain a steady gait under weight.
Latissimus Dorsi
To keep an upright posture, the lats anchor the torso and support a neutral spine as the weights pull downward.
Erector Spinae
Along the back, these muscles extend the spine and provide ongoing trunk stiffness, protecting alignment during the walk.
Upper Back & Trapezius
Through scapular setting and retraction, the upper back and traps hold the shoulders in a packed position and reinforce tall posture.
Abdominals
By bracing the midline, the abdominal muscles resist sway and rotation, safeguarding the spine while you move.
Biceps
At the elbow, the biceps assist with arm flexion forces and help sustain a solid grip, adding stability to the joint.
Triceps
As the bells hang at your sides, the triceps maintain elbow extension and work with the biceps to steady the arms.
Forearms & Hand Muscles
For the entire set, these smaller muscles generate and maintain gripping force so the handles stay secure.
8 Benefits of the Dumbbell and Kettlebell Farmer’s Walks
Want some extra motivation to add a kettlebell or dumbbell farmer’s walk to your routine? Check out the top benefits of farmer’s carries below:
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Builds Serious Grip Strength
Because you carry heavy weights for distance, your finger flexors and forearm muscles work nonstop to keep the handles secure. Over time, that sustained tension boosts grip strength and makes pulling lifts and everyday carries feel easier.
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Trains the Entire Core
From the first step to the last, your abs and obliques brace to resist sway and rotation. Better trunk stiffness supports a neutral spine, which can improve posture, balance, and comfort during other lifts and daily movement.
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Delivers Full-Body Strength
Farmer’s carries employ the upper back, lats, traps, hips, and legs while your arms stabilize the load. That wide involvement turns a short walk into a compound strength builder.
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Elevates Heart Rate and Conditioning
Walking under load pushes your breathing and challenges the cardiovascular system. Consistent carries can raise work capacity, helping you handle longer sessions and recover faster between sets.
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Supports Muscle Power That Transfers
Since large muscle groups work together under heavy tension, carries can improve your force production, helping improve your performance in sprints, jumps, and many field and court sports.
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Burns Calories Efficiently
Moving substantial weight increases energy demand. Adding loaded carries to circuits or finishers can help with weight-management goals while reinforcing strong movement patterns.
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Builds Real-World Strength
The pattern mirrors normal everyday movements, from hauling groceries to moving boxes. Practicing controlled, upright carries in the gym teaches you to manage awkward loads safely outside of it.
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Simple, Scalable, and Low Equipment
A pair of dumbbells or kettlebells is all you need. Adjust load, distance, or pace to meet any fitness level, slotting carries into warm-ups, strength days, or conditioning work without complicating your setup.
4 Farmer’s Walk Variations
If you’re looking for more of a challenge, you have more options than kettlebell or dumbbell farmer’s carries. These more challenging farmer walk variations include:
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Farmer’s Trap Bar Carry
A trap (hex) bar, often used for deadlifts, is loaded and carried during this variation. With the lifter standing inside the bar, the weight’s center sits closer to midline, so the carry feels more balanced.
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Farmer’s Walk Handles
This classic strongman setup uses dedicated carry handles that load with plates and are bulkier than dumbbells. Because the handles swing and tip as you move, it demands tighter technique and more dynamic control—but it also lets you load the heaviest weights.
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Farmer’s Rickshaw Carry
Built for strongman-style training, a rickshaw resembles a trap bar mounted on a rectangular base that contacts the floor. The base adds stability when breaking the weight off the ground. Once walking, the rickshaw can be harder to control than a trap bar and requires steady footwork.
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Farmer’s Suitcase Carry
A single-handed variation where you carry one dumbbell, kettlebell, or handle at your side. Since the load pulls you laterally, your core works overtime to keep your body upright and avoid bending toward the weighted side.
Safety and Precautions for Farmer’s Walks
Farmer’s carries are generally safe for most people because you can tailor the load, distance, and pace to your level. However, if you have a condition that limits cardio exercise, check in with your clinician before adding carries.
Anyone dealing with neck, shoulder, or lower-back pain should also ask a physical therapist whether this movement is appropriate and how to modify it.
If discomfort shows up mid-set, stop and give yourself a brief reset, about two to five minutes, before trying again.
To reduce injury risk, begin with a lighter load and a shorter walk time (e.g., 25% of your bodyweight or less in each hand with a walk lasting 15 to 30 seconds).
As your endurance, strength, and control improve, increase the weight first, then extend distance or time.
Practice Your Farmer’s Carries at Defined Fitness
If you want to add farmer’s carries to your workout routine and are looking for a gym in Farmington, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, or Santa Fe, New Mexico, Defined Fitness is happy to help. Alongside offering pristine free weights, our gyms include functional training areas that give you the space to perform your farmer’s walks. Our gyms also come outfitted with multiple amenities and group fitness classes to ensure you have an exceptional experience.
Learn more about our gym memberships and locations today.
