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Kettlebell Loaded Carries

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Suitcase carry to and from the park, switching hands as needed without setting the bell down. At the park, do whatever carries you like. Throw in some some BW moves. Do a qigong set. Sprint. Lay in the grass. Have fun.

Use the light bell first to see how it goes. If you go too heavy, it might be a really long walk back!
 
schurgerdc said:
I'm leaning to the 1/2 mile walk with a 16kg, alternating between overhead, rack & suitcase until grip fatigue sets in, then alternating. Looking for feedback on a long walk like this.
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I think the guidelines for Cook carries are two minutes each for the overhead, rack, and suitcase carry, repeating for each hand. That's 12 minutes. A nice, slow (and safe) walking speed while carrying might be 2.5 mph, which is 24 minutes per mile. Your 1/2-walk at that speed also takes about 12 minutes. Sounds like a perfect fit.
 
After my favourite high speed/low drag, practical/tactical 60 minute cardio session (mowing the lawn) I sampled the Cook Carry drill- overhead carry with the 16kg is going to be the most challenging, followed by the suitcase. I was changing positions every 25-30 paces, and did a little over 5 minutes. The 16kg rack carry is the 'rest' period (for me)- but that overhead carry- wow. While walking to the end of the drive with the KB in overhead position, one of the local farmers drove by and gave me the ol' 'double take' look....
 
Good call Bauer- my overhead carry needs work for sure- my driveway is a rough old uneven track, so the overhead carry doesn't feel 'solid' when I'm trying not to stumble my way down (75 meters) and back up!
 
KIWI5 said:
After my favourite high speed/low drag, practical/tactical 60 minute cardio session (mowing the lawn) I sampled the Cook Carry drill- overhead carry with the 16kg is going to be the most challenging, followed by the suitcase. I was changing positions every 25-30 paces, and did a little over 5 minutes. The 16kg rack carry is the 'rest' period (for me)- but that overhead carry- wow. While walking to the end of the drive with the KB in overhead position, one of the local farmers drove by and gave me the ol' 'double take' look....
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@KIWI5 At first, I thought you were mowing the lawn while doing the carries...that would be badass!
 
I see that I am not the only one using the mower for conditioning...I get weird looks from people when the see me running (well more jogging) behind the mower. I also get the weird looks when I do carries. The neighbors are now used to it, but people passing in front of the house are probably asking themselves what I am doing, especially since I go up to a few meters from the street when I go back and forth in my driveway.

Regarding the weight, start slow and build up. A lot of the beginners gains are in the neural adaptations required to balance the weight while walking, and they come quickly. I remember starting with 16 kg two years ago or so, but I can now do over 50 meters overhead with a 32kg. The "official" Cook drill is a lot of time non-stop, but don't hesitate to go shorter with breaks and a heavier weight. If you can press it or do a getup with it, you will eventually walk it. Just use good judgement to time the end of any overhead carry, or practice getting out of the way of a dropping bell ;).
 
Regarding the shoulder position for the overhead/waiters carry- the Gray Cook/Dan John article states that the shoulder should be kept CLOSE to the ear during the carry.....help me out here- I've always thought that the shoulder should be kept away from the ear during presses. Why the difference between the press/carry? Or- am I simply confused.....again? EDIT_ I re-read the article....as Shawn90 points out, BICEP next to ear.
 
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KIWI5 said:
Regarding the shoulder position for the overhead/waiters carry- the Gray Cook/Dan John article states that the shoulder should be kept CLOSE to the ear during the carry.....help me out here- I've always thought that the shoulder should be kept away from the ear during presses. Why the difference between the press/carry? Or- am I simply confused.....again?
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bicep next to ear... not shoulder ??
 
A few points, in no particular order:

For those of us who regularly perform barbell deadlifts and/or kettlebell ballistics, carries are less necessary, IMHO. Every time I've seen a standard for carries, I've gone out and tested it and can already do it without training carries. JMO, YMMV.

Carry "on the lat" - if that's happening, everything else usually lines up and fires correctly, in my experience.

When carrying single-sided or uneven weights, pretend that the weights are in both hands and even. This will cause the more lightly-loaded side to work harder to keep the body balanced.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
A few points, in no particular order:

For those of us who regularly perform barbell deadlifts and/or kettlebell ballistics, carries are less necessary, IMHO. Every time I've seen a standard for carries, I've gone out and tested it and can already do it without training carries. JMO, YMMV.

Carry "on the lat" - if that's happening, everything else usually lines up and fires correctly, in my experience.

When carrying single-sided or uneven weights, pretend that the weights are in both hands and even. This will cause the more lightly-loaded side to work harder to keep the body balanced.

-S-
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I'm getting the impression that deadlifts make quite a lot of other moves obsolete. I am getting a lot, beyond my imagination, accomplished with the 1.5 bodyweight deadlifts (330lbs) I am doing these days. It is amazing for my judo and for everything.
 
Kozushi said:
I'm getting the impression that deadlifts make quite a lot of other moves obsolete. I am getting a lot, beyond my imagination, accomplished with the 1.5 bodyweight deadlifts (330lbs) I am doing these days. It is amazing for my judo and for everything.
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Yeah, it's kind of tough to explain to people, but once you've experienced it, you realize what a tremendous lift it is and how it seems to carryover to just about everything.

-S-
 
@Steve Freides

I m pretty much devoted to kettlebells, both for time and cost ( I train at home)
Are barbells the only way to get into serious deadlifting ? I;m about 177 pounds, so they just do seem heavy enough.
 
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