A strength coach says everyone over 40 should be doing this one exercise – here are seven variations to try
It’s time to give your Farmers Walk a shake-up
Farmer's Walks. They look and sound simple enough: pick up something heavy and walk.
Yet, according to Craig Cooper, World Championship Spartan competitor, ultra-endurance athlete, strength coach, and author of the bestselling men's health book Your New Prime, the Farmer's Walk is one of the best movements men over 40 can do to maintain strength, bone density, balance, and posture.
"What I like most about it is its simplicity," says Cooper. "Just pick up something heavy and walk. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Farmer's Walks are functional fitness in its purest form," adds Cooper.
Every step strengthens your posterior chain, improves grip strength, and challenges your core, legs and upper body while placing load through the hips and spine.
And because it forces you to resist unwanted rotation, it's an excellent anti-rotational exercise that protects the spine and improves posture.
Unlike crunches and sit-ups, which create movement, the core's primary job is often to resist movement, and few exercises train that better than loaded carries.
That's why many coaches consider the Farmer's Walk one of the best longevity exercises you can do. It builds the sort of practical strength that carries over into everyday life.
From challenging your core and improving your balance to simply making the exercise feel fresh again, these seven variations will force your body to work in new ways while delivering all the benefits of the classic carry.
Cooper recommends walking for 30-60 seconds per carry, then resting for 60 seconds and repeating for 3-5 sets.
How to do a Farmer's Walk
First things first, let's revisit the original Farmer's Walk. It’s always important to get the basics right before levelling up.
- To do the move, stand with your feet hip-width apart between two dumbbells or kettlebells.
- Hinge at the hips and knees, keeping your back flat, and grab the handles.
- Brace your core, then drive through your feet to stand tall, keeping your shoulders down and back and the weights by your sides.
- From here, walk forward using small, controlled steps while keeping the weights as stable as possible.
Seven Farmer's Walk Variations to Try
Level 1: The Farmer's Walk
How? As explained above, simply pick up a kettlebell in each hand and walk. Cooper recommends that you aim to carry a total of 35% of your bodyweight in each hand.
Why? Farmer's Walks don't just build gym strength; they build the sort of practical strength that carries over into everyday life, whether that's carrying shopping, lifting luggage, or simply staying physically strong and capable as you age.
Level 2: Suitcase carry
How? Hold a heavy kettlebell or dumbbell in one hand and walk while staying tall and resisting the urge to lean to one side. Repeat on the other side.
Why? Forces your core to resist side bending and builds real-world strength by throwing you off balance.
Unlike the Farmer's Carry, where the load is evenly distributed, the suitcase carry challenges the body asymmetrically by placing all the weight on one side.
This forces the muscles of the core, hips and spine to work harder to keep you upright and stable. Every step requires your body to resist twisting and leaning, which develops core stability and improves balance - two qualities that become increasingly important as we age.
Level 3: Front rack carry
How? Clean a pair of kettlebells to the front of your shoulders and walk while keeping your elbows high and core braced.
Why? Challenges your upper back, core and shoulder stability while teaching better posture.
Holding the weights in front of your body forces you to stay upright as they naturally want to pull you forward. It's your job to keep your chest high and back straight. The result? Improved posture, greater upper-back endurance and a stronger, more resilient core.
Level 4: Single-arm overhead carry
How? Clean a kettlebell to your right shoulder, press it overhead and walk slowly while keeping your arm locked out and your core engaged. Repeat on your left side.
Why? The single-arm overhead carry improves shoulder health, rotator cuff strength and total-body stability.
Traditional Farmer’s Walks distribute the load evenly between both sides of the body. The single-arm overhead carry does the opposite.
With the weight overhead on one side, your core has to work overtime to keep you balanced and upright.
It's an excellent exercise for improving shoulder stability, strengthening the rotator cuff and teaching the body, especially the core, to resist unwanted movement while under load.
Level 5: Offset Farmer's Walk
How? Clean one kettlebell so you're holding it directly in front of your shoulder, whilst holding the other down by your side in a suitcase position. Repeat on each side.
Why? Challenges core strength, coordination, balance, stability and grip strength all at once.
Offset carries do more than challenge your grip and core. They train your body to stay strong under uneven load, forcing you to stabilise and resist rotation with every step.
One side is heavier. One side feels awkward - and your job is to stay tall and keep moving with control. The result is a carry variation that builds full-body strength while exposing weaknesses that a standard farmer's walk might hide.
Level 6: Overhead and suitcase carry
How? Clean and press one kettlebell overhead, whilst holding one kettlebell down by your side. Engage your core and walk tall with good posture and control.
Why? Improves shoulder health, rotator cuff function and total-body stability while turning a simple carry into a full-body stability drill.
Combining an overhead carry with a suitcase carry creates a serious challenge for the shoulders, core and hips. It teaches your body to stay tall and stable, whilst resisting side-bending and rotation, strengthening the obliques, lats, traps, hips and trunk. It also strengthens the shoulder in an overhead locked-out position whilst improving balance, coordination and concentration.
Level 7: Double overhead carry
How? Clean and press both kettlebells overhead. Engage your core, keep your arms straight overhead and then walk.
Why? One of the best tests of shoulder strength, mobility and control.
Your posture is under real pressure with this one, as your traps, core, glutes, legs and shoulders all have to fire together just to keep you upright and arms straight while walking with heavy weights overhead. This is the most difficult of all carry variations and requires shoulder and thoracic mobility. That's full-body strength in action.
As you've probably gathered, each variation of these Farmer's Walks gets progressively harder as you move through the list, turning a simple carry into a full-body stability drill. Every level exposes weaknesses while challenging coordination, balance and strength in slightly different ways.
And that's the beauty of the Farmer's Walk. It's versatile, effective and doesn't require fancy machines, complicated programming or hours in the gym - just a pair of kettlebells and some space to move.
