Exercise library
Hinge and Lifting Skills
Loaded carry
How to do it
- 1Load a sturdy household bag (a shopping bag or backpack) with a weight that feels easy to start with.
- 2Stand tall, brace your core gently, and pick the bag up with a flat-back hinge, keeping it close to your body.
- 3Walk a set distance at a steady, controlled pace, standing tall with your shoulders back and your core braced. Do not lean or hike one hip up to compensate.
- 4Set the bag down with the same flat-back hinge, rest, and repeat for the prescribed distance or number of trips.
Why this exercise
Carrying things is one of the most everyday loaded tasks there is, from shopping to luggage to a full laundry basket. This rebuilds your tolerance for it on the move, training your core to keep your spine tall and steady while you walk under load. It pairs with the graded lifting practice: lifting builds the pick-up, carrying builds the walk.
Make it easier
- Shorter distance
- Lighter load
- Split the load across both hands to keep yourself even
Make it harder
- Increase the distance first while keeping the same weight
- Then increase the load, in small jumps
- Carry the weight in one hand (a suitcase carry) to challenge your core to resist leaning