Farmers Carry Workouts for Hyrox

What must be reproduced for competition

The current Singles Farmers Carry is 200 m with two kettlebells. Loads are Women 2×16 kg, Women Pro/Men 2×24 kg and Men Pro 2×32 kg. The rulebook allows the kettlebells to be put down for rest but they must remain in the designated lane; throwing them or moving them outside the lane can be penalised. No alternative is identical unless it reproduces two independent implements, legal load, distance, handle demands and walking context.

HYROX^® Singles Rulebook 2026/27

Choose a session purpose

A technique session can use manageable load and short distances to practise legal pickup, walking and setting down. A capacity session can accumulate controlled distance with planned rests. A race-specific session can use current division load and selected distance once appropriate. These are purposes, not six mandatory protocols, and no reviewed evidence fixes one session as universally best.

HYROX^® Singles Rulebook 2026/27 · ACSM 2026 resistance-training position stand

Progress load and distance

Increase one main variable at a time: load, total distance, uninterrupted distance, preceding work or reduced rest. Keep legal handling and a safe walking path. Race-load practice can improve familiarity, but overload carries, plate-pinches and fatigue circuits are optional accessories; no source validates the original exact sets, percentages, weekly frequency or eight-week sequence.

ACSM 2026 resistance-training position stand

Grip-focused and improvised options

Plate-pinching or buckets can provide a holding/walking task when equipment is limited, but grip shape and safety differ. “Equipment-free Farmers Carry” is a contradiction: without external load there is no loaded carry. Static holds omit walking, while rows, deadlifts or shrugs train different actions. Use them as accessories rather than claiming they replace the whole station.

ACSM 2026 resistance-training position stand

Programming and safety

Select load, distance, sets and rest from experience, available equipment, total programme and symptoms. Progress one main variable at a time and keep a clear walking path. Secure improvised loads; do not use unstable containers or sharp handles. Pain, numbness, loss of grip control or unsafe posture requires stopping and reassessment. A 15% side-to-side rule, fixed 30–60 m sets or weekly race-load carry is not universally established.

ACSM 2026 resistance-training position stand · HYROX^® Singles Rulebook 2026/27

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the closest alternative?

Two side-carried dumbbells or kettlebells generally preserve the bilateral walking task best, though handles and balance still differ.

ACSM 2026 resistance-training position stand · HYROX^® Singles Rulebook 2026/27

Can a trap bar replace Farmers Carry?

It can train loaded walking, but the connected frame changes grip and load behaviour; use actual separate implements for race specificity when possible.

ACSM 2026 resistance-training position stand · HYROX^® Singles Rulebook 2026/27

Can I train it without equipment?

You can train supporting strength or walking fitness, but a loaded carry requires external load and cannot be fully reproduced without equipment.

ACSM 2026 resistance-training position stand · HYROX^® Singles Rulebook 2026/27

What weight should I use?

Use a controllable training load that fits the session, then progress toward relevant race demands when appropriate. The official race load depends on division.

HYROX^® Singles Rulebook 2026/27 · ACSM 2026 resistance-training position stand

Marketing text preserved unchanged

Data from the Repz athlete database, covering recent seasons of race data, shows that the athletes who lose the most time on the carry are not always the weakest in absolute terms. They are the athletes who arrive at the station with compromised grip from accumulated race fatigue and then slow to a shuffle, or stop entirely, because they have never trained the carry under those conditions. The six sessions below address that gap directly.