Drill library · Grip + carry

Grip · Strength endurance

Grip + carry drill.

Grip is the silent killer. You'll feel like you've got more in the legs and lungs, but the hands open and the sandbag drops or the sled handles slip. Most athletes train carries occasionally, they should train grip multiple times per week.

Race load + format

Farmer carry: Men Pro 2×24 kg · Men Open 2×16 kg · Women Pro 2×16 kg · Distance: 200 m

Targets: Silent station-failure cluster (grip fails before strength does)

FARMERS CARRY · POSITION SHOULDERS PACKED · CRUSH GRIP · BRACED CORE TOP-DOWN VIEW FEET 24KG 24KG CLOSE FORCE VECTORS Gravity 48kg Lats pull DOWN Brace ↔ 360° SHORT FAST STRIDES

Technique cues

Four cues that fix most issues.

Open this page mid-session. Cycle through the cues across reps. Don't try to fix all four in one set, pick one, dial it, then add the next.

Death grip = early failure

Tight grip throughout activates the forearm flexors way too early. Hold tight enough to not drop, no tighter. The grip is a clamp, not a vice.

Shoulders pinned down

Letting the shoulders shrug up changes the loading on the forearms. Pin shoulders down and back, keep the load running through the lats.

Walk, don't shuffle

Heel-toe walking is more efficient than shuffling. Shuffling drains the calves and changes the carry pattern.

Breathe even with the load

Holding breath under a heavy carry spikes blood pressure. Steady 3-in-3-out breathing for the duration.

Common faults

What it looks like when it's going wrong.

Each fault has a diagnostic. The diagnostic tells you what to change, load, posture, cadence, rest interval, or skill cue.

Grip opens 80 m into 200 m carry

Grip endurance is under-trained. Add dead hangs + farmer holds 3× per week.

Shoulders rolling forward

Posterior chain hasn't kept up with grip strength. Add rows + face-pulls.

Trunk swinging side-to-side

Core anti-rotation is weak. Pallof presses + farmer carries at heavier loads, shorter distances.

Heart rate spiking on carries

Carries are aerobic too. They're not 'just a strength piece', they belong in conditioning blocks.

Modifications

If equipment, injury or level is the constraint.

Substitutes that train similar capacity. None are perfect mirrors, most are 80-90% of the demand. That's enough for week-to-week progress.

No heavy KBs

Suitcase carry with a single heavy dumbbell. Train each side separately.

Shoulder issue

Yoke carry or sandbag bear-hug carry. Different shoulder demands.

Limited grip strength

Pinch carries with weight plates first. Builds grip pattern at lighter load.

Suggested rep scheme: 3-4 × 40-50 m carries at 90-100% race load. Rest 60-90s. Add 1 × 30s dead hang per session. Aim for 2-3 grip sessions per week.

Related drills

What pairs with this.

→ Sandbag lunges → Sled push
Training only. Pain that doesn't resolve within 2-3 days needs a physiotherapist, not another drill. We're a training platform, not a medical service. → Get help finding a physio

Find out what's actually costing you minutes

Does your grip fail before the finish line?

Grip durability is one of 8 systems we measure. Take the assessment to find out if carry work should anchor your week, or if your real time loss is somewhere else.

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Related tools

Grip Carry Drill: next training move

Use this drill page with the calculator, readiness, article, and playbook pages so technique work connects back to race execution.

Race calculatorTurn drill work into station splits and a target race plan. Threshold pace calculatorSet a running anchor that survives station fatigue. Training articlesRead deeper pacing, sled, wall ball, threshold, and recovery guides. First Race PlaybookDownload the free PDF, checklist, worksheets, and audiobook. Race readiness checkCheck whether training should focus on running, stations, durability, or race execution.