What would you do if you could perform only 1 exercise?
Well, that’s a pretty unrealistic scenario. If you can do one, you can probably do 2 (or at least a variation of the first one.)
But sometimes people need simplicity to keep going. There are periods when you just don’t want to lift for whatever reason. If you play the game of human crane long enough, those moments will come sooner or later.
And when that happens, one of the solutions is to simplify/minimize your training completely so that you are less inclined to skip it. The more convenient a training plan is, the more likely we are to perform it consistently.
If you ask people like Rippetoe to choose one exercise only, they will probably pick the back squat or the deadlift.
Why? Because those movements work a lot of muscle mass and are considered special by muscle construction scholars. They are also easy to program and can be done in most gyms.
And many years ago, I would have made the same choice. But those days are gone as I found a much simpler solution.
If I had to do only one exercise, it would be…wait for it…
Just carrying a heavy rock (or another form of weight) with curled arms for distance.
I am not joking. Carrying a weight with the arms bent at 90 degrees offers a ton of benefits and is extremely simple/convenient/affordable.
The pros are:
1/ The entire back is working isometrically, but the spine isn’t stressed tremendously because the weight is light, and the back angle is completely vertical.
2/ The biceps (the most important arm muscle for visual impact) are also working hard isometrically. There is virtually no range of motion, but that has a good side too – you are unlikely to damage a tendon or a ligament. Don’t be surprised if the next day, your biceps are sore beyond belief.
Note: Neither the deadlift nor the squat work the arms. So, that’s a major benefit.
3/ The chest area also works somewhat as a stabilizer, but let’s be real, you ain’t getting a big chest from this movement.
By the way, if you want to increase the involvement of the front delts, you can use a lighter load and bring it up slightly. The burn in the anterior deltoid will be insane and felt within seconds.
4/ The movement is also a conditioning drill. A few years ago, I had to carry about 10-12 boxes with tiles up to the 6th floor without an elevator. Each box was about 25-30kg. I didn’t put them over my shoulder out of fear that I may slip and break them. So, I used the bicep hold method.
After 10 trips, my legs were shaking, my biceps were cramping and my heart was beating maximally.
5/ The exercise requires close to no equipment as you don’t need a lot of weight. I’d say that most people probably don’t need to go over 50kg and that’s pushing it. It makes a lot more sense to focus on time than on weight in this case.
And if you are worried that you will look weird if you do the exercise outside of a gym (or your yard), you can just put the weight in a backpack and carry it that way.
What if you could do 2 exercises?
The main downside of this movement is that it doesn’t work the pushing musculature (triceps, delts, chest), but that can be easily mitigated by performing a variation of the movement or adding one extra exercise.
If you want to keep things simple. Just do a few sets of overhead presses with the same weight at the end.
And of course, you can always add a second exercise such as push-ups (I’d recommend deficit push-ups with handles) or dips.
Focusing On Different Body Parts
Weight carrying can be modified to hit different muscle groups. The main version (essentially holding a weight like a box and walking) focuses on the biceps, back, and cardiovascular system.
But you can try some of the following changes to hit other body parts:
- Stairs
Doing this movement while climbing stairs brings the quads (and glutes) into the equation. Seriously. Your legs will be shaking if you do enough sets.
- Overhead
Walking with the weight overhead will hit the upper traps and many of the shoulder stabilizers.
- Endurance
If you want to increase the conditioning effect, you can grab the weight in a bear hug to reduce the input from the biceps as they are a major limiting factor and increase walking distance.
- Grip
If for some reason you want to train your grip, you can attach weights to two pieces of thick rope (or slide towels through a set of plates) and carry them as normal. Keep the wrists neutral. This movement will be highly limited by your wrist, arm flexors and forearm strength.
- Calves
This isn’t the most practical choice, but you can make the movement calf dominant too. Just walk on the tip of your toes. The burn will come to you fast.
It may be more practical for you to just do farmer walks on your toes (a forgotten calf exercise).
- Lats
Instead of carrying one weight like a box, grab something heavy with both arms and flair them a bit (move them away from the body). Keep the arms straight but don’t obsess over it. Meaning – the elbows don’t have to be locked all the way.
The lats act as a humerus (upper arm stabilizers) and by putting your arms away, you are increasing the involvement of the lats.
Progression
Honestly, don’t overthink it. Once you are moving a decent amount of weight for your bodyweight don’t increase it anymore and just add time/sets.
For instance, you can do a 1-3-minute set, rest for 1-3 minutes, and then go again. In less than 30 minutes, you will be asking for this to end.
Since the movement is fairly intense on the CNS, skipping a day or two between sessions is recommended to avoid mental fatigue.
Enjoy.
– Natty
Good job…very new…
That is how I got bigger in high school. I never used my locker inbtween class and would carry all my books for the day and be the first in class every time. I went from 135lb at 9th grade to 165lb in 12th grade.
Now recently adding sandbag walks got from 170lb to 185lb. Now the sandbag I sued over the years gradulaly got bigger starting at 120lb, 160lb 185lb and its now maxed at 200lb. I also have blocks of concrete from a drive way that was demoloshed that i use for carries.
I recall doing a circuit of pull-ups chin-ups , push-ups and dips three sets rest in between each cycle and getting a Vicious pump and after some time getting some broadness to the upper body , it worked better than any exercise routine (, bench press , squats , overhead presses) ever did. I always wondered “am I wasting my time with weights when this broadens me up better “.
This kind of thing is exactly what I’ve now been doing for more than two years. No, I don’t look like Arnie or Sly, but as a 40+ year old dad with very bad self-esteem, I still claim that I’ve got a better physique than most of the people who are the same age, even many who are a lot younger too. In total I do the following amounts a week:
Pullup variations 6 work sets (rows for warmup 2 sets per session)
Dips 4 work sets
Diamond pushups 2 work sets
Bodyweight triceps extension sometimes, 2 work sets (as a finishers)
Bulgarian split squats 2 work sets per leg (easier squat variations for warmup 2 sets)
One legged calf raises sometimes (one set per leg as a finisher)
And half of this is only complementary stuff, so the volume could be cut in half. I only do this “much” because it keeps my mental health in check.
In my own experience as a 30 years old single who used to be very skinny in his 20s and teenage years, following a simple training routine like yours 2 or 3 times per week and eating/drinking protein rich food/supplements regularly is more than enough to get a decent physical shape in a matter of months.
The key, as TruthSeeker mentions in some of his articles/books, is consistency and progression. I also don’t look like Chris Hemsworth or other action movie stars (who most likely inject themselves roids or other similar substances to look like they look), but I can tell that my physique is better than the average natty person who doesn’t train or isn’t consistent with it.
Such a great article once again! During the last couple of years, I’ve often thought about how different things and concepts can be compressed in a nutshell. I usually think of it as how I can compress all the relevant information about a given subject so that it can be written on matchbox. As an example, lately, I’ve been dealing with animal training and that is once again a subject where you can go to hell and back when trying to find the “right” information. The sources and experts are endless, and they all contradict, even with their own data. But in the end, the most important thing is to “discard the unwanted behavior, praise and reward the wanted behavior”. That’s about it, and it can be written on a matchbox. Of course there’s always more, but that’s the core, the simple way to put it.
I’ve of course thought about this when it comes to training too. And one of the things to think about is always the question about what would be a single most important thing or exercise. For upper body muscle-up is an ideal and classic example. But then again in practice it’s not necessarily that good for several reasons. One exercise that comes to my mind is a kind of burpee pullup thing where you basically squat down, do pushup and then jump and grab a pullup par, do a pullup, come back to ground and repeat. Of course, this is not ideal either, but worthwhile in my opinion.
Nowadays I only do bodyweight rows, pullups, dips and pushups and Bulgarian split squats for legs. But another thing I also do is that I try to keep my overall activity levels high. The overall acticity takes a lot more time than my real training.This is very different compared to my old “bodybuilding” days when only bodybuilding was done and everything else was shit in my mind and only hindered the MAD “gainzzzz”. In fact, if I had to pick and choose today, I’d choose high general activity levels over strength training. I’d of course lose some muscle mass, at least from upper body, but I still think I’d look better overall.
But as Truth wrote above, carrying is a hell of an exercise. I started a renovating process a few weeks ago and part of it is that I must carry tools, scaffolding etc. from point a to point b the time, and it’s tough. Very tough!
Great practical article.
excellent article. save worthy
Great article.
If you walk 100 steps, you hold the dumbbells or the sandbag (or any weight) in position for 60 to 90 seconds (depending on how fast you go). That’s a whole lot of “time under tension.”
Think about holding the mid-point of push-up or dip — or the top position of a pull-up or chin-up for that long.
For me, the best exercice would be taking an Atlas stone (or a sandbag) from the ground to above his head, arms outstretched.
For an Atlas stone, you can find a low wall above your head to place it on for safety.
Then pick it up and lower it to the ground, controlling the descent.
This movement is reminiscent of the deadlift, also building legs (to bring the weight up to chest level) then overhead press. Your forearms will also be put to the test.
For cardio training, you can aim for sets of 20 or 30 repetitions depending on the weight.
Even 10 reps with a descent challenging weight will make you think you are wrestling with a grizzly (without dying.)
For a second exercise, you can add deficit push ups for your chest.
Enjoy.
Steve Justa had a chapter in his book Rock Iron Steel devoted to carrying weight, which was very interesting. A lost art of strength training and the typical routines so heavily focused on the powerlifts, which while still extremely important don’t make the full make up of a strongman competitor.
Carrying weight was a big part of my graduation into having appreciable muscle mass as a young man, summers spent delivering furniture were a rite of passage into being accepted as strong enough for the elders. A combination of technique and strength in the right places could trick many, but those isometric holds certainly drew a solid bicep vein out from the depth.
Wanna look like Rippletitties (Mark)? Train like Rippletitties.