Farmer's WalkMuscles Worked
The farmer's walk works your forearms and grip first, since they have to hold heavy weights the whole time, while your traps, abs and lower back keep you upright. Your glutes, quads and hamstrings handle the lift off the floor and every step of the carry.
PrimaryForearms
- Equipment
- Other
- Level
- Intermediate
- Type
- Compound
How to do it
- Stand between two heavy dumbbells, kettlebells or farmer's walk handles, with your feet about hip width apart.
- Hinge at the hips with a flat back, grip the handles in the middle, and stand up by pushing through your feet.
- Stand tall with your shoulders pulled down, chest up and abs braced, letting the weights hang at your sides.
- Walk forward with short, controlled steps, keeping the weights from swinging and breathing steadily.
- At the end of your distance, stop, then hinge back down with a flat back to set the weights on the floor.
Form tips
- Squeeze the handles as hard as you can; a crushing grip keeps the weights from slipping and works the forearms more.
- Keep your shoulders back and your torso upright instead of leaning or letting the weights pull you forward.
- Set the weights down under control as soon as your grip starts to slip, instead of letting them drop near your feet.
Why it made the list
No. 3 of 10
Best Forearm Exercises
Compound grip strength builder. Hits forearms under heavy isometric load. Also trains traps, core, and conditioning. Popular in functional and CrossFit settings.
More forearm exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Farmer's Walk sets in KasMaker and watch your forearms, abs, glutes, hamstrings, lower back, quads, and traps fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
