Build Up Your Traps, Core & Forearms With This Exercise! (MUST-DO FOR ATHLETES)

What’s up Gronk Fitness,

Today we’re talking about the Farmer’s Walk exercise and its importance for athletes on a competitive level. Of course, you don’t have to be an athlete to be doing this exercise regularly. In fact, it will help you build up your body and prevent imbalances regardless of your fitness level and experience. But when it comes to training athletically and functionally, this exercise is a MUST-DO.

All you need to start practicing the Farmer's Walk right away is a pair of Farmer Walk Handles which will make the exercise much more comfortable and help push you beyond your limits.

The Forearms

Executing the Farmer’s Walk properly is a piece of cake! You can’t really screw up this exercise. You just pick up the barbells and walk. Ideally, you want to pick a “route” with a few turns here and there. The twisting, decelerating and accelerating motions will absolutely work wonders for muscles in your body that you never knew existed.

For the forearms specifically, you need to know that they are mainly responsible for your grip strength. Therefore, this exercise creates hypertrophy and strength gains by forcing your forearms to not only grip on to a lot of weight but also move around whilst carrying it.

This is particularly challenging for the small, stabilizing muscles in your arms, as well as your shoulders, something you will quickly find out after doing the exercise for 20 – 30 seconds.

The Traps

Most people don’t know this but the main function of your upper traps is to prevent your arms from ripping off their sockets when you carry heavy weights. Think about it. Without your traps, there is nothing holding your shoulder joints in place.

As a result, when you Farmer Walk, you heavily engage and stretch your traps to their limit. Providing this kind of stimulus (stretch + resistance at the same time) will blow up your traps in no time. That’s exactly why the Rack Pull is also a terrific exercise for your traps, albeit much less athletic and functional.

So, how many sets or how many minutes should you Farmer Walk for? Well, that depends on your fitness level and your athletic goals. For most professional athletes, 3 – 4 sets of 60 seconds for each set is usually more than enough. However, the weight also factors in the equation. Make sure you use a weight that you can barely handle for 60 seconds. If your 60 seconds are over and you can still go on for another 20 seconds, you are simply NOT lifting heavy enough.

The Core

The Farmer’s Walk is possibly the greatest exercise ever for your abs, obliques and your core in general. Sure, it may not be the best for building a defined six-pack but an athlete cares more about functionality and athleticism.

With that in mind, every single time you start turning, twisting or decelerating, your core will be heavily engaged with one and only purpose; to stabilize your spine.

Want to make it even more extreme? Use ONE barbell instead of two! This “single-side” Farmer’s Walk will be EXTREMELY challenging for your core which is why you’ll have to use lighter weight than usual.

If done right, it will tear through your obliques and serratus anterior like no other exercise you’ve ever tried.

The Rest Of Your Body

The Farmer’s Walk might be great for your abs, traps and core but you will find it also works some major muscle groups including your Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings, Lower Back, Rhomboids and Biceps. In fact, it will work EVERY muscle in your body, to an extent.

So, don’t be a fool and miss out on this great movement. Include the Farmer’s Walk in your workout regimen at least 2 times a week and you’ll start seeing results really fast. And as always…get your mind right!