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Exercise library · Forearms

Backpack carry

Carry for the forearms with other equipment.

How to do it

1 of 3

Grip the handle, arm straight at your side

  1. Starting position

    Stand beside a loaded backpack and grip its carry handle with one hand, keeping your arm straight by your side.

  2. The movement

    Walk forward with even steps and keep the backpack close to your side, then stop and set it down with control.

Most common mistake

Don't lean away from the backpack, stay upright and keep your shoulders level as you walk.

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Muscle group
Forearms
Equipment
Other
Where
Home or gym
Logged as
Weight and distance

Muscles worked

The backpack carry is a loaded carry with the weight in one hand. Your grip holds the backpack, and a narrow carry handle makes your fingers work hard, but the bigger job falls on your trunk. With the weight on one side only, it tries to pull you sideways, and the obliques and flank on your free side keep you upright. Your upper back holds the carrying shoulder in place, and your hips keep your pelvis steady as you walk.

Common mistakes

  • The load shifts around. Loosely packed contents swing about, and the bag knocks against your leg. Put the heaviest items in the middle, fill the gaps with towels or clothes and pull the straps tight so nothing moves.
  • Trusting a worn handle. The carry handle on an ordinary backpack is not always built for heavy loads. Check the seams before you load it up, and lift the bag a few centimetres first to feel that it holds.
  • Carrying on one side only. It is easy to always pick the bag up with your stronger hand. Carry the same distance or time with each hand, and start with your weaker side.

Variations and alternatives

  • The farmer's walk, with a dumbbell in each hand, when you want to carry more.
  • The side plank trains the side of your trunk without any weight and fits well in the same session.
  • The backpack row uses the same loaded backpack to train your back.

Sets and reps

The backpack carry is measured in time or distance per hand. Two to four rounds per side of 30 to 60 seconds, or 20 to 40 metres, suit most people. Indoors you can walk up and down a hallway and count steps or seconds. Swap hands after each round, so one hand's turn becomes the other's rest. For putting the rounds together, see the guide to sets and reps.

Weigh the backpack so you know what you are carrying: stand on a bathroom scale with and without it and work out the difference. Then add load in small steps (a litre of water weighs about a kilo) or walk further with the same weight. That is progressive overload with what you have at home.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

Want it in a programme?

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