§ 01
Power & Endurance
Clinical fitness assessment

Farmer's Carry

Assess grip endurance, core stability, and loaded walking capacity.

Equipment

Dumbbells, kettlebells, or farmer's carry handles. Measured course.

The protocol
  1. 01Set up a clear walking course (straight line, no obstacles).
  2. 02Client picks up the weights (equal in each hand) using a deadlift motion.
  3. 03Walk at a steady pace with shoulders back, core braced, and arms at sides.
  4. 04Record: weight carried, distance covered, and/or time.
  5. 05Test ends when the client sets the weights down, drops them, or cannot maintain form.
What to watch for
  • Excessive lateral lean or trunk shifting.
  • Shrugging the shoulders up to the ears.
  • Looking down instead of straight ahead.
  • Unsafe grip — if the weights are slipping, stop the test.
Normative scoring

Often expressed as a ratio of body weight carried. Carrying bodyweight (total, both hands) for 30+ metres is a good general benchmark. Elite: >1.5x bodyweight for 30 m.

Run it with GainPT

Run this test with branded client reports.

GainPT scores Farmer's Carry against published normative data and turns it into a clean, GainPT-branded PDF your client keeps. All 47 clinical tests, unlimited retests — free to start, no card required.