Farmers carry
Learn the farmers carry with kettlebells or dumbbells: how to pick up, walk tall, build grip and scale load and distance as a beginner in a CrossFit class.
What the farmers carry is
A farmers carry is walking a set distance while holding a heavy kettlebell or dumbbell in each hand at your sides. It trains grip, shoulders, upper back, trunk and legs, and teaches you to stay tall under load. Beginners start with moderate weights over short distances, focusing on a careful pickup and steady posture.
Why it is in class
The farmers carry is in CrossFit because it may be the most directly useful movement in the gym: pick up heavy things and walk with them. It builds a stronger grip, sturdy shoulders and a trunk that stays upright while your legs move. Carries also challenge your conditioning without complex technique, so a beginner can work hard on day one. In daily life, it is carrying every grocery bag from the car in one trip, hauling water jugs, moving bags of soil around the yard, toting luggage through an airport, or lifting a toddler and a diaper bag together. Strong carries make those jobs feel ordinary rather than exhausting.
Points of performance
What a good rep looks like, from setup to finish.
Pick up like a deadlift
Stand between the two weights, hinge at the hips with a flat back, grip the handles and stand by driving through your legs. The pickup is a deadlift: chest up, weights close. Never round over and yank the bells off the floor.
Grip in the middle
Hold each handle in its center so the weight balances and does not tip forward or back. Squeeze hard, as if wringing water out of the handle. With kettlebells, let the bell hang below the hand or rest against the forearm, whichever stays steadier.
Stand tall
Shoulders back and down, chest proud, eyes forward, ribs stacked over hips. Let the weights hang straight down at your sides without touching your legs. Imagine a string pulling the top of your head toward the ceiling.
Walk with short steps
Take short, quick, controlled steps, heel to toe, with your feet about hip width apart. Long strides make the weights swing. Breathe steadily while bracing lightly through your midsection. Turn around with small steps instead of a sharp pivot.
Set down with control
When you finish, or your grip starts to fail, stop and hinge back down the same way you picked up. Do not drop the weights from your hips. A controlled set down protects your back and the floor and lets you pick up again quickly.
Common beginner faults, and the fix
Shoulders shrugged or rounded
What it looks likeThe shoulders creep up to the ears or roll forward, and the upper back rounds as the walk goes on.
The fixPull your shoulders down and back before the first step. Lighten the load or shorten the distance until posture holds.
Leaning to one side
What it looks likeThe torso tilts toward one weight, often because the loads differ or one side is weaker.
The fixUse matching weights and stay stacked. Single-arm carries, practiced on both sides, build the side strength you need.
Rounded pickup
What it looks likeThe athlete bends over with a rounded back and jerks the weights off the floor.
The fixHinge with a flat back and drive with the legs, exactly like a deadlift setup. Your coach will check this first.
Weights banging the legs
What it looks likeThe bells swing and hit the thighs with every step, slowing the walk.
The fixShorten your stride, squeeze harder and keep your arms tight to your sides with the weights just off your legs.
Where you start, and where it goes
Every movement in class has a version that fits you today.
Start here
Moderate kettlebells or dumbbells walked for a short distance with rest, focusing on the pickup, posture and set down.
Next step when: You finish each walk standing tall with a firm grip, and the pickup and set down look clean.
Building
Heavier weights for the same distance, longer distances at the starting weight, and single-arm carries on each side.
Next step when: You can complete the distance without resting and without your shoulders rounding.
Full movement
Farmers carries as written in a class workout, with load and distance chosen with your coach, often mixed with other movements.
Next step when: You hold the planned load for the full distance in a workout and recover quickly for the next movement.
Beyond
Heavier carries, mixed carries such as one weight at the shoulder and one at the side, and longer timed carries.
Next step when: This rung keeps going: grip and posture stay steady as load and distance climb.
Learning it in your first classes
In your first coached classes, farmers carries are often one of the easiest movements to start, which makes them a confidence builder. The coach will check your pickup first, then your posture and step length as you walk. Expect your grip to tire before your legs; that is normal and improves quickly. Tell the coach about any back, shoulder, elbow, wrist or hand history, and check with a doctor or physical therapist when a past injury is involved. Let the coach know if your grip opens without warning so they can adjust the load. Setting the weights down partway through and picking them up again is allowed.
What your first class at O-SEA CrossFit is like · How On-Ramp teaches the movements
Questions beginners ask
How heavy should a beginner farmers carry be?
A beginner farmers carry should be heavy enough to challenge your grip and posture but light enough to walk the full distance standing tall. Many people start with a moderate kettlebell or dumbbell in each hand. In a CrossFit class, your coach will help pick the load. Increase it gradually as your grip and shoulders get stronger.
Do farmers carries improve grip strength?
Yes, farmers carries are one of the most straightforward ways to build grip strength, since your hands must hold the weight for the whole distance. A stronger grip helps with deadlifts, pull-ups, kettlebell work and everyday jobs like carrying bags. Squeeze the handles hard, and progress by adding distance or load in small steps.
Should I use kettlebells or dumbbells for farmers carries?
Both work for farmers carries. Dumbbells usually sit at your sides and balance easily, while kettlebells hang lower and may rest against the forearm, which some people find steadier. A class workout will name the implement. A beginner can learn on whichever the coach provides, since the pickup, the posture and the short steps stay the same.
Are farmers carries good for your back?
Farmers carries train the muscles around the trunk to hold you upright while you walk under load, which is why coaches value them. They are not a treatment for back pain. If you have a back history, tell your coach before carrying, and check with a doctor or physical therapist about whether it suits you. A careful pickup matters most.
Related movements
Learn the farmers carry with a coach beside you
Every class at O-SEA CrossFit is coached and every movement scales. Your first one is free.