+ 2 Strongmen: farmer’s carry advice needed!
Alright, so I treated myself to a pair of Pain Factory farmer’s carry handles (American made ftw!). Here’s the sitch: trap development is the last thing on my mind; they’re already overpowering. What I’d like to hammer is my grip, my core, my conditioning, and my GPP.
My setup is a 2 car garage that I can comfortably turn around in with loaded handles in and do “laps” (turning around with weight on the handles is hard as fuck; found that out very quickly). I’d train outdoors for distance but it’s basically a tundra where I live.
Any suggestions on how a novice to farmer’s walks should program his conditioning regimen? I figure I can either do timed walks, count my steps to a certain number, or simply do a pretermined amount of laps. Should I periodize session to session? E.g., heavy weight for short times and long rests one day, light weight for long times and short rests another? Any tips are appreciated.
- Bookmark
- 2
- 0
Another easy way to increase grip strength is use whats called fat gripz. I guarantee you you will struggle with low weights like if you just started training. They build grip strength because they go over the standard bar and increase the size by about 3 inches. They really force you to use your forearms and your wrists. If you also want to look up thick bar deadlifts and thick bar bench
http://main.poliquingroup.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/737/Wh...
I’m familiar. Sometimes it’s not the equipment you use that leads to a strong grip but the equipment you don’t use (being straps, of course).
My issue with fat gripz is that they’d shift the focus away from whatever exercise I’m performing away from the primary mover. For example, with a fat gripz barbell curl, since I would be limited in the weight I can handle, I would be cheating my biceps out of maximal stimulation. That’s my rationale for using a static hold movement for working grip (at least the arms are static while walking) with farmer’s walks. Plus the conditioning benefits.
Youre missing the point of them, its supposed to shift the focus away.
My grip isn’t that much of an issue where I have to shift focus away to correct it. I put a lot of work into my grip over the years by not using straps and mixed grips so I wouldn’t have to rely on products like fat gripz. My grip isn’t a weakness that needs specific attention like that.
Ok let’s start here... first if you own a pair of lifting straps throw them away they kill your grip strength. Second thing is start with a weight say 100 pounds each hand grip it with your finger tips the first pad on your finger and curl your fingers up to a fist and repeat 3x a week. Then on your farmers walk prob start with 250-300 pounds each hand and just walk brother . Walk as far as you can with out setting them down keep doing that til the weight becomes light and increase the weight at that point. Biggest thing people do that makes them fail is not breathing correct or holding there breath, your toast if you do. Breath in through your nose out through your mouth keep calm . Also work on wrist curls you will need hands of stone and forearms like a ham hock lol. No gloves just use some chalk in your hands as well
Ok let’s start here... first if you own a pair of lifting straps throw them away they kill your grip strength
yep.....
Was hoping you’d reply. I don’t use straps in my training with the one exception of snatch grip shrugs. Even my deadlifts are double over hook grip. It seems like grip will always be the limiting factor in the walks. Turning around with the handles is the hardest part, when your forearms have to provide resistance to being twisted as the weight wants to keep turning. It’s gonna take some strong brachioradiales to resist pronation in one hand and supination in the other as the weight increases. Do you recommend training the extensors directly as well as the flexors with reverse wrist curls, too? Always felt that was one of the more awkward exercises out there.
Pssh, “gloves.”
Thanks!
Turning will get easier just watch your knees I suggest wrapping them.. and yes do reverse grip curls and work on finger strength extremely important . At first this event will seem like it’s to hard but the heavier you train the easier it will get
It seems like the latest strength training trend is using eagle loops to do vertical pull variations to work on finger strength specifically. I’m hoping the carries alone will condition my grip and forearm strength without any more specialist equipment.
If I’m weight training 4 times a week, is strictly working on carries the other 3 days excessive? Or would you suggest limiting it to twice or even once a week for recovery? Obviously I’m new at this and won’t be quite able to kill myself with the weight I use until I get more used to it, but I’d like to establish a limit from the get go. I appreciate your time.
Well first thing you don’t need special equipment of fancy crap for this lol barbel or dumbbells only. Hands and forearms can be worked out a lot they recover fast and are used to it so 3 days on grip stentgh is fine hell I would do hand exercises every time I worked out . Trust me when I tell you forget about over thinking this .. finger curls.. wrist curls .. and just grab the weight and start walking , no other way to approach it . The guys that keep this simple with training are beast. Strongman training is different than other body building sports , this is just raw strength man v/s the weight there’s nothing pretty about it lift heavy keep good form so you don’t get injured and keep pushing yourself everytime you lift.
That’s what I like to hear! Thank you again for your time
Always willing to help on things like this
Great info! My grip strength is not as good as I would like. I've gotten away from farmers carries since I switched gyms. Time to bring them back.
Lifting straps have ruined a lot of guys grip strength as well hands are so thing you have to train as well
I think a lot of bodybuilders and physique oriented guys just don’t care about their grips. I can see where they’re coming from. Myself, I can’t get down with the attitude of “I’d rather look like I,” whatever, “bench 4 plates than actually be able to do it.” I don’t get it. Why not look like you can do it and be able to back it up with performance?
In the olden days bodybuilding required feats of strength to be performed on stage, like a performance art. They had to “back their muscles up” with their athleticism. Now it’s more pageant-oriented, which has unfortunately destroyed the athletic impetus on bodybuilding for the most part. Now it’s mainly cosmetic. It’s still a cool endeavor or hobby and I respect it, but it’s a shame that modern bodybuilders are missing out on being more well-rounded athletes because of the grotesque proportions—a lot of it via site enhancements on the pro level—that are being pushed today as the new norm.
I will never be able to look like a pro body builder I accept that lol I don’t have the discipline they have but I can lift a truck lmao
I wouldn’t want to look like a modern pro. I have neither the genetics nor the desire to undergo that level of abuse. Not saying I’ll ever get there because I honestly don’t know, but prime Mike Mentzer level is about how far I’d take it in terms of “freakiness” before saying no more. No mas mass!
I could complain all day about having just average muscle building genetics and insertions, but I’d rather be thankful that my connective tissues seem to be indestructible; either that or a whole lot of people just don’t know how to train properly. It means a lot to me seeing so many guys my age who are already wearing knee sleeves, elbow sleeves, wrist wraps just to work with machines, can’t do free weight pressing, can’t squat without pain, can’t even pour a pitcher of water without hurting their shoulder. Yet here I am lifting heavy week in week out and nothing hurts at all so far. I know it won’t last forever like this but it lets me know I’m doing something right.
All I can say is protect your knees .. mine feel like I have gravel in them proper form and lots of knee support I’m over 40 now and walk like a 70 year old in the mornings lol
Do you think it’s from all that jarring from heavy farmer’s walks and yoke walks, events like that? I noticed you said to wrap the knees for carries. I’ll heed that advice for sure.
I think it’s a little both ... but more than anything improper form. When I was younger and hard headed I wouldn’t listen to older guys telling me to protect my joints and lift with good form but there’s also the rep after rep of heavy lifting
American maid ftw? What does that mean im curious we have crazy laws here about crap products from here I know a lot of poor country's put made in America on them to boost sales. I'm not some hardcore American starting beef I'm really interested in this. I must not be understanding this bro farmer carries to me is walking with hay and where I'm from is picking them up and hurtling them up on to the flat bed while your bro stacks them
American made for the win. The handles are handmade in Kentucky and very high quality.
Farmer’s walks!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lTdVH_HbcVk
Lol for the win ftw means fuck the world that I have always known
For the win is gamer slang. I know this from my 10 hours of WoW back in the day Hahaha shit was worse than drugs
Lmao i was into Diablo 2 and would play baal runs for 24 hours strait and them wow came out and I couldn't get into it but my father in law was obsessed with wow
We are opposites, I couldn’t get into diablo haha
Lol Diablo 3 for game console is ok I would try wow again of they moved it to console I'll tell you what that wow movie was made so cheap I was disappointed
I’m a Diablo II guy myself. Game is a masterpiece. Best western RPG of all time before Skyrim came out. Only Eastern RPG messing with D2 or ES is the Souls series. Diablo 3 was okay like you said. Not a terrible game, but I was extremely disappointed with the leveling system. Hated that they picked the skills and attributes for you and there was no skill tree like in D2. Took all the strategy out of it. I remember always playing as the necromancer in D2 and leveling the shit out of my skeletons and golems and basically just conducting the destruction of my enemies from afar. Loved it.
Oh and not to toot my own horn but I had a lvl 98 hardcore barb. And I died in baal hahaha I about took a hammer to my computer back then
I liked the palidan with the hammer swing shit it's been years since I played so not sure the names anymore but I had that crazy shield with the 3 perfect runes in it and would whoop ass. The cow level was awesome best side thing ever I believe it was a ear a town portal and a warts leg in the cube. D3 tried with the unicorn level but that sucked but also on d3 they have a secret hidden level where you take a eye a horn and something else to open up a battle between all the d2 bosses that was cool.
I have to admit the nemesis system from D3 was badass. It legit scared me when I heard those drums and war horns. Always at the worst times too.
cow level lol
“Moo”
“MOO!”
“moo”
The designers had a sense of humor in D2. I found a unique “dirk” that was called “The Diggler.” That’s funny.
What a orange Dirk leg I've never heard of that
Dirk leg that's right wow man bringing me back to the good old days. I don't read books but they made books for all 3 I might read them cause tristrum and new tristrum I loved the ice blizzard for sorceress in the purple suit all pieces where she glowed purple on those cows.
Wirt’s leg. A dirk is a type of dagger.
It coulda been wayyy better but it wasn’t too bad. A friend was telling me blizzard made wow so much easier to level now and U can buy gear/gold and shit. Puts my 300+ days played to waste ahhh. A friend of mine owned one of those Internet cafes, he would set up a few computers on diablo, and you know that duping glitch? This guy would have starbursts candy stacked on the keys and would be doing that duping for hours and hours, too funny
Duping on 3 or 2 cause on 3 I had the craziest weapons i could tap one button and smash through a boss in one click lol it was fun
It was 2. Starcraft was pretty fun too
Lol my brother was really into starcraft