There is a running joke in the strength and conditioning world that coaches go through the following cycle:

Basic -> Complicated -> Basic
 
New coaches come in to the industry with little experience so they rely on basics to progress. You can’t begrudge them that. I’m sure it’s the same in every industry. Remember that time you got your hair cut by the apprentice? I’m sure you do!
 
Once they’ve got a little more experience and gain some confidence, they start to complicate things. Often this stage gets taken too far and things go crazy! Trying conjugate method, crazy amounts of volume or intensity, overly complex exercises involving random equipment, etc.
But eventually it all comes back around and the basics return because, guess what, they work!
 
I’ve always been a fan of the basics, largely because in the words of Lynyrd Skynyrd:
“I’m a simple kind of man.” That doesn’t mean I never went through that middle phase because it inevitably happens, but because I stick to the basics myself I do the same with my athletes.
 
Just about as basic as it gets is one of my favorite exercises: loaded carries. Ask any coach who has minimal time with their athletes what exercises they believe in for bang for your buck carryover, and the majority will call for carries.

Why? Let’s spell it out.  What are you doing in a carry? Picking up something heavy. Moving it from A to B. Repeat. What are we doing in team sports? Moving heavy things (the human opposite you), moving our own heavy thing (our frame), and moving all these through different ranges of motion and planes of movement.
 
Don’t get me wrong; you still can’t stray too far from a heavy squat, deadlift or power clean to develop basic strength and power, but carries are right up there in the same category, and potentially have a higher amount of carry over to dynamic sports.

“Controversial,” I hear you cry. Well, you might be right, but let’s have a look into it because there are several different ways in which we can add loaded carries into a program.
 
Youth Athletic Development
 
Thankfully, we seem to have moved past the days of parents giving coaches grief about strength training at a young age, but there are considerations that have to be made, and one of the biggest is appropriate training load.
 
During developmental stages, it is very important not to add large loads to the joints or ramp up the physical stress too high as the body is working hard to grow so additional stresses can have an impact.
 
Loaded carries solve all this issue, so they are one of my favorite means of strength training for young athletes. Carries keep the total load lower, spread the stress across the largest muscle groups rather than isolating certain joints, and can even be somewhat fun. Even if you don’t have access to sandbags, farmers walk handles or whatever other implements you’d like, you can get the athletes doing piggy backs, wedding carry, fireman’s carry, plate overhead walks, or anything else you can think of.
 
Prehab & Rehab
 
As mentioned above, using carries is a way of minimalizing the total tonnage, so during rehabilitation phases, they are a great alternative to barbell movements. Not only that, but by being able to move through a full range of motion and by loading movements that you are likely to carry out in your sport, you are actively strengthening the supporting structure of the joints increasing the structural integrity of tendons, ligaments and muscle attachment sites.
I include them for many of my athletes in-season and off-season for the same reason, to develop structural strength to prevent future injury.
 
Conditioning
 
If you’re anything like me, the idea of plodding along on a bike, cross-trainer, or treadmill is about the worst thing you can think of.  But give me a conditioning session based around strength movements and I’m happy to jump in!

One of my preferred ways is to set up a carrying implement at one end of a 40m track, and do one carry every 60 seconds. If you really want a cool little acronym for it, I believe they call it EMOM (every minute on the minute).

Another is the good old-fashioned medley like you see at the World’s Strongest Man events. Pick up an implement, take it to the other end, run back for the next … so on and so forth.
Not only is this great for your conditioning, but it also gives your body the opportunity to adapt to carrying load and, more importantly, carrying load under fatigue. This is where you’ll begin to stress all the small musculature that doesn’t get as much love during regular training.
 
“Okay Rob, we get it; carries are great. You’ve said it a million times. But what carries can we do?” I thought you’d never ask.
 
Farmers Walk
 
Pick up something heavy in each hand and take it for a stroll. If you have the proper handles, then definitely use them, but if not, grab some heavy kettlebells, dumbbells or even water jugs and start walking. The big focus here should be on an upright torso and head facing forward; we don’t want to stress the back, and by loading the upright position we develop trunk dynamic trunk strength.
 
Briefcase Carries
 
As above, but this time you’ll only be using one hand at a time. I covered this one in a previous article, Rotational Exercise for Postural Strength, so be sure to check that one out, too.
 
Yoke Walk
 
The easiest way to do these is with a proper yoke implement, but if you don’t have one, just use a regular barbell loaded up, or if you want to replicate the swinging then have your weights placed on resistance bands rather than on the bar collars. The best thing about this exercise is that you can go pretty heavy, and it directly loads the trunk from above.
 
Squeeze Carry
 
Great for wrestlers, judo or jiu-jitsu fighters: grab a sandbag, hug it to your chest and hard as you can, and then start walking. This develops grip, choke endurance, and your ability to continue breathing with restricted ribcage movement.
 
Front Rack Carry
 
Use a pair of kettlebells, dumbbells, a sandbag, a barbell, or whatever you have and place it in a front rack (think of a front squat, weight against the collar bone, elbows high) position. This develops upper back strength and places a lot of strain on your trunk, so it’s a great way to develop dynamic strength.
 
Overhead Carry
 
I normally do these with plates, but you could easily go for dumbbells, kettlebells, or whatever else you have. Chuck them up above your head and start walking. The biggest thing to be aware of with this one is that you maintain an upright posture, not compensating to accommodate the load overhead. As with the front rack carries, these will be great for your trunk.
 
Sled Push / Drag
 
Although not technically a carry, I would put these in the same category, and they are a fantastic exercise for field sport athletes due to mechanics used. They enhance sprint potential and develop leg strength without stressing the spine.
 
There are loads of other variations, but to save going on forever describing similar exercises I’ll leave it here.
 
What’s the moral of the story? Loaded carries are versatile and incredibly effective, and often the equipment is cheap to get ahold of. So start adding them in to your program, explore the potential with youth athletes, speed up rehab processes, and thank me later.