Exercise guide · Beginner · Compound

Farmer's Walk: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The farmer's walk carries a heavy weight in each hand for distance or time. It trains grip, the traps and the core’s ability to keep you upright, and it carries over to almost every lift that needs a strong grip.

Primary muscles
Quads
Equipment
Dumbbell
Level · type
Beginner · Compound

Written by the FitStack training team. Last reviewed .

Demonstration of the farmer's walk
Front view: muscles worked by the farmer's walk. Primary: quads. Secondary: obliques, forearms, abs and calves.
Back view: muscles worked by the farmer's walk. Primary: quads. Secondary: obliques, forearms, abs and calves.
Primary Secondary

How to do the farmer's walk

  1. Step 1: Stand up straight with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing your sides.
  2. Step 2: Keep your back straight and your shoulders back.
  3. Step 3: Take small, controlled steps forward, maintaining an upright posture.
  4. Step 4: Continue walking for the desired distance or time.
  5. Step 5: To finish, stop walking and carefully lower the dumbbells to your sides.

Form cues

  • Deadlift a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand to standing.
  • Stand tall with shoulders down and back, ribs stacked over hips.
  • Walk with short, quick steps, looking ahead.
  • Set the weights down with a hip hinge, not a rounded back.

Common farmer's walk mistakes

  • Leaning to one side or shrugging.

    Fix: Pick weights you can carry while standing tall.

  • Long, loping strides.

    Fix: Take short steps to keep the weights stable.

Sets, reps and programming

Do 3 to 5 carries of 20 to 40 metres (or 30 to 60 seconds) at the end of a session. A good long-term target is carrying your body weight split between both hands.

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the farmer's walk by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Farmer's Walk alternatives

More exercises that train the quads as their main target:

Farmer's Walk FAQs

What muscles do farmer's walks work?

The forearms and grip, the upper traps, the core and obliques, and the legs and glutes to a lesser degree. It is a whole-body exercise.

More quads exercises

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Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset; cues, mistakes, programming and FAQs are written by FitStack.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.