Stop, take a moment, and think about all of the landowners that you’ve come to know as a gamekeeper and outdoorsperson. Now, more specifically, think about the farmers that you’ve cultivated friendships with when you hunted their farms, enlisted their help for gamekeeper management projects, or simply shared similar interests. As you reflect on a close farmer friend or two, you can probably identify a handful of admirable and respectable characteristics that these farmers carry with them. One characteristic commonly held by many farmers is a humble, yet profound level of physical strength.
Mossy Oak
Some of the strongest people I’ve ever met have been farmers because they use their strength every day for real-world applications. What can we learn from them? Although most of us will never be fulltime farmers, we can mimic the work they do to develop a similar type of strength. Let’s set our sights on an exercise that us “wanna-be” farmers can use to develop a healthier, stronger, longer-lasting, and more resilient body – the “farmers carry.”
The farmers carry is one of the simplest, most effective ways to build full body strength that can then be applied in the field as a gamekeeper, in the timber as a hunter, or in our homes as caretakers. Just like a farmer who carries feed or water buckets to their livestock, the farmers carry is performed by carrying two weights, of any kind, at our sides, for distance.
In physics terms, what makes the farmers carry so effective is work = force x distance. From head to toe, our muscles must work to produce force that allows us to carry the heavy weights across distance. The positive outcomes produced by this exercise create a lengthy list, including: improved grip strength, stronger shoulder girdle, stable hips and core, fortified back, healthier heart and lungs, and enhanced knee and ankle support.
Now, let’s describe a few simple ways to apply this exercise so that you can reap what you sow. I recommend that you start with the beginner or intermediate option, then build from there. Perform one of these options once or twice per week while adding a few pounds each week.
Christian Williams
Option 1 – Beginner:
Hold approximately 10% of your total bodyweight in each hand.
Perform 4 to 8-rounds of the following, depending on how much work you want:
30 second carry, 30 second rest
Option 2 – Intermediate:
Hold approximately 20% of your total bodyweight in each hand.
Perform 4 total rounds of the following:
Carry 75-100 yards, rest 1 minute
Option 3 – Advanced:
Hold approximately 30% of your total bodyweight in each hand.
Taking breaks as needed, carry a total distance of 1/4 mile.
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