Truth is, I Only Know 6 Exercises.

If you think about it all exercises come back to:

From John Rusins instagram

Every exercise falls into one or more of those categories.
With loaded carries maybe being the most “functional” of all of those categories.

Carries train:

• Grip
• Shoulder Stability
• Core
• Hips
• Legs

Too often clients with poor core or hip strength or adequate strength but a lack of motor control will compensate by overarching the low back, leaning the trunk to one side or shifting the hips.

How do we fix/ counteract these compensations?

Marching

What are the components of marching?

• Neutral Pelvis
• Knee at or above crease of the hip
• Ground foot active, rooted, gripping the ground. <—big toe driven down
• Ground leg knee straight. Driving force down into the ground.
• Chest up/ Tall torso position

Why Marching Works?

To perform marching correctly, staying tall with the knee rising to or higher than the crease of the hips,  the spine and pelvis MUST remain neutral.

This means the core and hips are firing synergistically, as a unit, how they’re supposed to.

The long and short of it is, marching forces you to OWN YOUR POSITION. 

Marching Suitcase Carries

Checklist:

• Crush the weight
• Shoulder in the joint
• Root into and “attack” the floor
• 90 degree (or greater) angle at the knee and hip at the top
• Slight pause at the top of the movement.

Bro Tips:

• Never allow the weight to rest on you. Try to keep some daylight between your elbow and the body.
• Don’t lift or throw the knee up, “Pull” the knee and foot up. This creates tension on the non-grounded side and helps to keep the pelvis neutral.
• Dorsiflex the ankle when you lift the knee to help create even more tension in the system.
• Think about actively PRESSING hard against the ground.

It’s always more important to stay tall than to try carrying more weight.

When in doubt, go lighter and be even more disciplined about the movement.

I was going to shoot a video, but I found this video from Mike Reinold and its great.

In this video they alternate legs, but I’m actually a bigger fan of performing Marching Suitcase Carries in place and only lifting the leg that is closest to the weight, but these are good too.