Farmer's Walk: Strongman technique, drills and fixes

Pick up a heavy handle in each hand and walk a set distance as fast as you can control. It is a grip test as much as a strength test, and it makes your trunk and hips work hard to keep you stable on every step. Research on strongman athletes found the farmer's walk loads the spine mostly through the trunk muscles bracing around it, so the pickup, the brace and the set-down matter as much as the walk.

Pick it up like a deadlift

Stand between the handles, feet about hip-width, with the handle centres just in front of your shins. Clear the floor ahead of you so you have room to walk and to slow down at the end.

set up like a deadlift, with a handle at each side instead of a bar in front.

Hinge down and grip each handle at the middle or a finger's width behind it, deep in your palm, not on your fingertips. Close your hand pinky first and finish with the thumb. Gripping too far forward tips the front of the handle up; too far back lets the front dip and catch the floor.

the handle sits level and balanced in your hand.

Breathe into your belly, tighten your lats by pulling your shoulders toward your hips, then drop your hips until you feel tension and the slack is out of the handles. Keep your spine neutral.

tight from hands to hips before the weight moves.

Push through your feet and drive your hips forward to stand all the way up, exactly as you would finish a deadlift. Don't start walking until you are fully upright. Stepping off early strains the lower back and sets the handles swinging.

a full, tall stand before the first step.

Lock in your carry posture

Stay tall with a slight forward lean, chest and head just ahead of your hips, eyes far down the course. Strongman athletes measured in a study leaned about 11-12° further forward than in normal walking. A small lean helps drive the weight forward. Folding over at the waist is a different thing.

tall and braced, leaning into the walk like a slow sprint.

Keep your lats tight and your shoulders pulled down, not shrugged up to your ears. Let the handles hang still at your sides. Keep your trunk braced the whole way. That brace is what holds your pelvis level each time a foot leaves the ground.

the handles ride beside you without swinging.

Walk braced

Start with short, quick steps, about one foot-length, landing heel to toe. Under load, strides are shorter and quicker than in normal walking. Short, rapid steps let your braced trunk help your hips lift the pelvis for each step.

quick feet, quiet handles.

As you pick up speed, let your stride lengthen a little while keeping the rate high. In a study of strongman athletes, the faster ones had longer strides, a higher stride rate and shorter ground contact at top speed. Lengthen only as far as you can without the handles starting to swing.

building speed without losing control.

If the course has a turn, slow down a little going in, turn the handles into a slight V to stop them twisting, and take several small steps around it. Straighten the handles and speed back up once you face down the course.

a controlled arc, not a pivot on one foot.

Walk all the way past the line, slow down, then set the handles down under control: hips back, knees bend, back neutral, both handles together. Never throw or drop them from standing. The handles can slide with momentum, so don't finish near a wall.

the pickup in reverse.

Feel it

Your hands, forearms, upper back and trunk all work to keep you tall and steady. Your feet move quickly under you while the handles stay quiet at your sides. Grip is usually what fails first. If you start folding at the waist, your shoulders creep up, or the handles swing and pull you sideways, the load is beyond what you can control today. Set it down under control and go lighter.

Fix-its

You start walking before you've stood up Finish the pickup completely, hips through and standing tall, then take the first step. Walking early pulls on your lower back and starts the handles swinging.
You fold forward at the waist A slight lean is normal; folding over is not. Brace again, keep your chest and eyes up the course, and reduce the weight if you can't hold it.
The handles tip, swing or drag Re-check your hand position: grip the middle or just behind it, deep in the palm. Keep your lats tight so the handles hang still. Shorten your steps until they stop swinging.
You lurch side to side Brace harder and take shorter, quicker steps. Your trunk has to help your hips hold the pelvis level on every stride. If you keep lurching, the weight is too heavy.
Your grip opens before the finish Use chalk and set your grip pinky first, deep in the palm. Train grip separately with holds. Use open-loop or lasso straps for heavy training if needed, never closed-loop or figure-8 straps. Most contests allow chalk only, so check the rules.

Drill

Pickup and hold: practise the deadlift-style pickup, stand fully, hold for a few seconds, and set down under control. Use this as the regression when grip limits you, and raise the handles on blocks if the floor pickup is too hard.
Short carries: 2-4 rounds of 10-20 seconds with a challenging but controlled weight, a starting format the NSCA cites. One NSCA-cited benchmark for a 30-second carry runs from about half your bodyweight (rehab level) to bodyweight (general fitness) to twice bodyweight (elite).
Distance sets: 4-6 sets of about 100 ft (30 m), resting 60-90 seconds, with a weight you can finish every set with. Then shorten the distance and add load over the weeks.
Turns and contest work: once straight carries are solid, add a turn, then sets at contest distance at a percentage of contest weight, building toward full weight.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-26.