What is the carry movement pattern? 

The carry movement pattern is easily the most self-explanatory; it involves movements where we are carrying external load. The most common carry movement by far is a Farmer’s Carry. Simply hold a weight in each hand and walk! You may have seen someone carrying weight overhead, in only one hand, or even carrying a sandbag. Carrying is simple to do. It requires minimal equipment, has significant benefits, and can be done in many ways. A thoughtful carry exercise progression can have a major impact on your health, longevity, and athletic performance.

What role does carrying play in overall health and daily living? 

Why you need a smart carry exercise progression

Carrying may be the most under-utilized and under-valued primal movement pattern. Carrying first and foremost, challenges our overall stability. Depending on the carry being performed, we can target shoulder stability or hip stability. In all cases carrying will challenge core strength and stability. 

Building core stability from heavy carries improves performance in everything that you do, athletically or otherwise. Throwers create rotational stability to throw harder. Runners create stability throughout that series of single leg plyometrics that you love so much. More stability means less energy leaks, more efficiency, improved performance. And again, since the core is active during everything that we do, there really isn’t an activity that wouldn’t benefit from adding carries into your exercise program. 

What is a smart carry exercise progression? 

How to get to that overhead carry

Start with basic movements to build strength and stability then progress to more complex movements. With carrying, movements get more difficult both as you move the load upward and as you move load from both sides to one side. A one-handed suitcase carry is more challenging than a two-handed farmer’s carry because the weight is not distributed evenly. A bottoms up kettlebell carry even more challenging because the weight is high above the body. These exercises carry (get it?) less risk of injury than other movement patterns. Still, we want to use proper form and stabilize around all involved joints in order to avoid injury. 

Reference the carry exercise progression below to see the increasing complexity from the simple farmer’s carry to the much more challenging overhead carry. Notice the supplemental work in this series is about bracing and stability in various positions. Use these as a warm up to cue the right muscles you’ll need for your carry. This list is not exhaustive, but progressing through these movements will safely get you to carrying external load over your head. 

Any other tips for carrying? 

Carrying is all about stability. Particularly stability about the spine, but really stability around all involved joints. As we move load through space using our legs and postural muscles, we keep everything above the waist as immobile as possible.  

Another important thing to remember is the value of progressing the load we carry at each “stair step”. Research has shown that there is a correlation between increased grip strength and decreased all-cause mortality. The overhead carry may involve more muscles and look cooler, but there is still enormous benefit to doing heavy farmer’s carries. 

And as always, the movement experts here at Wolfe PT are here to help! If you feel like you need help at any stage, whether it’s getting started or progressing from step 3 to step 4, we would love to walk with you in your wellness journey.