Got some SPECIFIC ?s on Farmer's Walks

[AKIRA]

Throughout a search I just found people asking what these are. I know what they are, which brings me to a new set of questions.

If youre suppose to pick up some heavy dumbells in each hand and just...walk, how far does one go? Do you go until your grip is gone, drop the weights, rest, pick them back up and keep going?

Also, what weight are you guys using? My MAX squat and Dead are in my sig, so what weight would I start off with just to get used to this movement?

If this is a total body workout, what muscles are being used? I want to know all of them.

 

[PreMier]

Its a grip strength workout.. and your squat and bench have nothing to do with it. Yes, walk untill you cant carry them anymore. Find a part of the gym where you can walk up and down an aisle or something. After grip failure I usually have an RI of 120. I use 100lbs

 

[AKIRA]

Its a grip strength workout.. and your squat and bench have nothing to do with it. Yes, walk untill you cant carry them anymore. Find a part of the gym where you can walk up and down an aisle or something. After grip failure I usually have an RI of 120. I use 100lbs

A grip workout eh? Specifically....?

 

[petrainer]

It's not a grip work out. Its a core exercise. If you have access to farmers implements great, because for you DB's are really going to be too light to do much of anything. With the dead you have you should easily be able to do 150 in each hand for a good distance. Try to incorporate a turn in there as well. You will see weaknesses in you hips, low back, and wrists if you do that.

I train strongman right now and a challengeing weight is 235-250. I train with guys that can handle 300.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

I disagree with each poster in some respects. It is definitely not a grip-specific exercise. Do the exercise with a challenging weight and you'll know what I mean. Personally I use a little over 100 pounds for each hand (and you can find DBs heavy enough if you use the kind you load yourself; I do this so I can progressively add more weight). Do the exercise however you want. Go to failure or go for a set distance and increase the weight when the distance becomes too easy. If you want endurance, fail; if you want strength, add weight. With your deadlift, you may even want to start with as little as 75s just in case your idea of a long distance is different from others'. This exercise is a supreme challenge and one of my all-time favorites, hands down. It works the abs, obliques, traps, back, legs, grip (basically everything important). For an even better challenge, try carrying just one DB in one hand at a time. Keep your torso upright the whole time and you'll get an even better core workout than the ordinary farmers walk. Just thought I'd share. Oh, and I'm also a functional freak in case you were wondering about the validity of this (check my signature for my journal).

 

[petrainer]

Dude:

By using your definition you can turn any exercise that works aginst gravity and no restrinas on the weight as a grip exercise. Pull ups, Pull downs, shrugs, Dead lifts, side raises, front raises, etc all have a limit factor that includes grip power.

You said you disagreed with me, but then basically said what I did in your post. I was just saying grip is involved but is not the primary point of the exercise.

For a guy like him with a dead over 400lbs using 100lb Db's and walking around with them for a grip exercises would be the equivilent of using 50 lbs on a pull down and quitting when he coldn't hold it any more. His hips, abs, low back would get reduced bennifits and I think thats is over 50% of the point of the exercise.


There are better ways to directly train your grip in preperation to do this exercise.

 

[The275lbAnimal]

I personally think the farmers walk is a total body exercise. When you lifts the weights you core and lower body absorbs the load, as you move your lower body(quads, calfs, hams, and hips) are working with every step. Your Traps and and forearms are also active as you are holding the weights. Also the farmers walk stimulates your cardiovascular system as well. It is a true test of overall fitness and power.

 

[P-funk]

If you want endurance, fail; if you want strength, add weight.

If you want endurance then lower the weight and increase the distance that you are walking.

If you want strength increase the weight and walk until you fail.

 

[KelJu]

Well, I did the farmer's walks today with 100lb dumbells, and let me just say how much I loved having skin on my hands.
But other than that, I loved them. I did them for about 15 minutes each time going to grip failure.
Farmer's walks will be incorperated into my pull days from now on.

 

[CowPimp]

Whether or not you want to consider a farmer's walk a grip exercise, increased grip strength is more than just a fringe benefit of this movement. Also, using dumbbells if a Hell of a lot harder pound for pound compared to FW implements, at least according to strongman competitors that I have conversed with over the Internet on this very topic.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

Petrainer: Actually, I only disagreed with the weight you suggested. No need to jump to conclusions or write an essay on the topic. Being someone who could deadlift 425, I struggled with 70s, which is why I don't think doing 100s is a good starting weight for someone who deadlifts 400. I was disagreeing with the first poster who said that it was basically exclusively grip and that it had nothing to do with a bench or deadlift (how do you pick up the weights if it's got nothing to do with a deadlift?).

P-Funk: I don't think going to failure is the best for strength because I pretty much never do. I just go until almost failure and then increase the weight. To me, going to failure takes more time and would therefore increase endurance more than strength, but I'm probably over/underthinking it.

CowPimp: I've always heard that the implements are much harder pound for pound, not the DBs. After all, the implements are longer and would be harder to control, right?

 

[petrainer]

Whether or not you want to consider a farmer's walk a grip exercise, increased grip strength is more than just a fringe benefit of this movement. Also, using dumbbells if a Hell of a lot harder pound for pound compared to FW implements, at least according to strongman competitors that I have conversed with over the Internet on this very topic.

I gotta disagree here, as right now I am training strong man. The handle on the implement is thicker, the weights are longer so there is a lot more momentum to control and you can't brace them on your thighs....Don't get me wrong though dude, its a great exercise any wa you do it.

 

[P-funk]

it is a full body exercise. I don't understand why people want to try and put all their exercises into one single catergory...."this is back", "this is chest", this is hips"..etc.....We have gone over this numerous times. You don't isolate any one thing. Chances are if you are doing farmers walks and you are finding that the grip is the hardest part for you then your grip is your limiting factor. If you are doing them and you are haing a problem getting more distance and walking with them then your hips are the limiting factor. If you are rounding your back and having a hard time stabalizing then your core is the limiting factor.

there is no need to try and catergorize it. It is just an exercise. I good exercise. I hard and brutal exercise that will build strength all over your body. I don't know one thing that doesn't get worked when you perform these.

 

[KelJu]

it is a full body exercise. I don't understand why people want to try and put all their exercises into one single catergory...."this is back", "this is chest", this is hips"..etc.....We have gone over this numerous times. You don't isolate any one thing. Chances are if you are doing farmers walks and you are finding that the grip is the hardest part for you then your grip is your limiting factor. If you are doing them and you are haing a problem getting more distance and walking with them then your hips are the limiting factor. If you are rounding your back and having a hard time stabalizing then your core is the limiting factor.

there is no need to try and catergorize it. It is just an exercise. I good exercise. I hard and brutal exercise that will build strength all over your body. I don't know one thing that doesn't get worked when you perform these.

I agree a 100 percent here. I would even like to take it a step farther. My idea is to reduce the weight to a level that I can walk around the gym while doing my shrugs. If I plan the weight right, my grip and traps should give out at about the same time.

 

[whoisjimmybelfa]

another way of doing the farmers walk is carry the dumbell overhead, I have also read that studies show that doing the farmers walk with both dumbells can be very stressful on the spine, they article suggest that carry only one dumbell and, and use the non-weighted side to balance your self.
what do people think

( the article is in mens health the latest edition)

 

[Adamjs]

Stupid question: but when using DB's for farmers walks - what is the next progression after you run out of DB's?.

The DB's @ my gym max out @ 65kg (145lbs) - the other DB's that you can add weight on max out @ about 80kg -90kg (175-198lbs). When i maxed out I stopped the walks. EZ Bar? BB? Once I started trying out all of those I found it too damn difficult to balance. What next?

 

[P-funk]

Stupid question: but when using DB's for farmers walks - what is the next progression after you run out of DB's?.

The DB's @ my gym max out @ 65kg (145lbs) - the other DB's that you can add weight on max out @ about 80kg -90kg (175-198lbs). When i maxed out I stopped the walks. EZ Bar? BB? Once I started trying out all of those I found it too damn difficult to balance. What next?

place the DB so that it is standing up and pinch grip the plates. that is how i do them. it is way harder then holding the DB handle itself.

 

[Squaggleboggin]

another way of doing the farmers walk is carry the dumbell overhead, I have also read that studies show that doing the farmers walk with both dumbells can be very stressful on the spine, they article suggest that carry only one dumbell and, and use the non-weighted side to balance your self.
what do people think

( the article is in mens health the latest edition)

The farmers walk is not bad for you in any way (assuming you're using proper form and that you don't have some type of injury already). Doing them with one hand places even more emphasis on the core and functionality of the exercise.

 

[CowPimp]

Stupid question: but when using DB's for farmers walks - what is the next progression after you run out of DB's?.

The DB's @ my gym max out @ 65kg (145lbs) - the other DB's that you can add weight on max out @ about 80kg -90kg (175-198lbs). When i maxed out I stopped the walks. EZ Bar? BB? Once I started trying out all of those I found it too damn difficult to balance. What next?

You can use two trap bars or two hammer curl bars if you want a plate adjustable method.

Ps idea is great if you really want to kill your grip though.

 

[Adamjs]

P & CP - thanks for the tips - will give them a shot next workout.

 

[KelJu]

I am not seeing improvements. I added FWs to my pull days, and considering that I have never done this exercise before, I had assumed that I would have seen improvement during my second or third time doing these.
I am using 100's and I am able to hold on to them for 30 seconds while walking around. This has been the case for the last 3 times I did these. I would have assumed that I should be able to atleast hold onto the dumbells for 40 seconds. I believe that the forearms are just like calves in the respect that they both can be worked more often than other muscle groups.

Do you think if I started doing these every other day that I might see improvement? Should I drop the weight down?
Any advice would be appreciated, because my grip really sucks. It is starting to become a problem in my training program, where I lose grip on the cable pull bar before my arms get tired, and doing shrugs and deads are becoming a pain in the ass.

 

[CowPimp]

You could try performing the movement more often, sure. How long have you been performing the movement without results?

 

[KelJu]

You could try performing the movement more often, sure. How long have you been performing the movement without results?

Three pull days which are spaced out over a span of 9 days. I have put a lot of effort into doing these, also. I didn't drop the weights until my hands gave out. If I had to complain about any one body part, I would complain about my forearms, they suck.

GROW YOU LITTLE FUCKTARDS, GROW!!!!

 

[CowPimp]

Three pull days which are spaced out over a span of 9 days. I have put a lot of effort into doing these, also. I didn't drop the weights until my hands gave out. If I had to complain about any one body part, I would complain about my forearms, they suck.

GROW YOU LITTLE FUCKTARDS, GROW!!!!

Perhaps you should try doing additional grip work. You may also consider doing some work for your wrist extensors to improve balance. Sometimes your body inhibits the strength of an antagonist muscle if there is a great imbalance.