ExRx.net

I never said you couldn't or shouldn't do a farmer's walk.

The question is -why- are you looking to add it? What is the purpose - what are you working on? Ie, if you need more core stability work, then you should do them one-armed.

I don't have a good reason to add it. Just trying to add more volume into leg day to just hit more things and get tired and not hurt my knee. Maybe I will just be disciplined and not do the FW for now. To be honest my reason kinda boils down to looks cool and feels fun.

Hmm...maybe I could try those hip thrusts. I actually have a jutifiable reason for adding them (can't squat, maxing glute machine, want to hit glutes more)

I do farmer's walks because they make me strong all over. That alone is good training economy. That they are grip-limited makes them a good grip exercise, too, but if all you want to do is work hands just stand there with the weights. Walking makes it a much more full-body exercise. I usually fail on farmer's walks because my grip can't hack the weight anymore, and my upper back can't stay locked in place anymore, or my legs are too rubbery to keep walking. That tells me it's pretty much full body.

Plus it's terribly practical. When I actually use my strength outside the gym, it's generally carrying stuff from one place to another.

Pete: looking in your log, this is what I see:



Do you think I should do it like that (one side at a time, start with 50?). Also when you say 4 trips per side, is that: LRLRLRLRLR or LLLLRRRR?

The first. I'd walk out and back, then swap the weight around, walk out and back, etc. with no rest. Of course, each hand and arm and shoulder got a short rest. My legs didn't, and IIRC since it was post-Prowler there was a limit to how much I could manage.

I may do that again this week, depending on how I feel/how much time I've got.

have you done it both arms at same time? how do you think it compares?

Yeah, but not with the kettlebell. I've done them with the EliteFTS torpedoes, heavy dumbbells, dumbbells held by the hex end (for extra grip nastiness), and other assorted stuff. The unilateral ones suck because you're trying not to tilt over to the other side too much but you still want to support this unbalanced weight. More core activation, to use the trendy terms.

The bilateral ones are more work - it's twice the load if you load them evenly. If not, you get a hybrid of the two - say, grab a 60-pound kettlebell in one hand, and a 75-pound dumbbell in the other. Walk around for a trip then switch them. It's a nice variation - you trade a little load in one hand for the thick handled grip work, and for a little off-centered core stabilization work. ANY variation with a long implement (the torpedoes are a good example) is miserable when you try to turn, because the intertia says they don't want to just stop and let you turn them. :)

I'm going to skip the long implements since we don't have a good space for that sort of thing. I would use dumbells. We lack KBs.

I would kind of being doing them for $h1t and giggles. I'm thinking 30R/60both/30L. (take it a little easier on the R side, hit it first). Probaly not time it, but a circuit is about 30 seconds, so 1R, 2B, 1L.

Do your legs get anything from it or is it all traps and grip and wind?

$h1t is a mushroom?

we have a curse editor. hmm.

Cliff

I don't get it?

It works all your muscles from your neck to your feet. That's "Whole body".

I'm probably going to do these for my backoffs next deadlift day - as mentioned in that other thread I could use the extra grip work. Pdellorto's slight offset thing sounds intriguing - I've never done that one.

Question about farmer's walks - I'm going to piggyback off this topic if it's okay with the OP.

I was thinking about doing an extended farmer's walk (around my neighborhood, probably 1 mile) with a 60lb wide-grip dumbbell in each hand. I'd stop when my grip craps out, then pick them back up, and just keep going until I am done.

Is this one of those things that is going to screw me up for my next lifting day if I sandwich it between lifting days? Does it belong on a legitimate lifting day?