Ensuring you get in 10,000 steps a day is well-worn health advice. But much like eating your greens, it’s not always the most fun to follow.
But there is a loophole: by adding heavy weights, you can use that time to build a stronger, fitter body, and make muscle gain a walk in the park.
Loaded carries – the missing link in many a gym bro’s fitness routine – are essentially ‘cardio for people who hate cardio’. You’ll get all the same benefits – better heart health, improved lung function, serious fat-burning – but by loading yourself up, you can also strengthen your core and spark extra growth.
Each of these workouts focuses on a different muscle group and incorporates a different carry. Spread the workouts throughout the week and leave at least 24 hours between each session for recovery. Aim to go heavier each time you repeat a workout across the month. Think of this as the next step in upgrading your physique – and the step after that, and the one after that…
Workout #01: Pulling Power
The mightiest muscles are the ones you can’t see in the mirror, so we’re kicking off the week with a big back day. After a thorough warm-up, set a timer for 15 mins and use that time to build up to the heaviest 5 reps you can muster for movement 1. Try to beat this each week. After a short rest, strip your bar down and work through as many high-quality rounds of moves 2, 3 and 4 as possible in 20 mins.
Deadlift from blocks x build to a heavy 5 reps
Lifting from height helps you maximise your strength, while minimising injury. Set up a heavy barbell around 6 inches from the ground on plates, or in a rack. Hinge over and grip the bar, brace your core and lift the bar to standing. Lower to the plates under control, repeat.
Pendlay row x 5 reps
You’ll only need about half the weight you lifted in the previous movement for this circuit. First up, rows. Hinge over and grip the bar. Keeping your back straight and parallel to the ground, row the bar up and into your hips, pause here before lowering back to the ground. Repeat.
Deadlift from floor x 10 reps
Less weight, more range – bigger burn. Hinge over and grip the bar, take a breath, brace your core and drive your feet into the floor, lifting the bar to standing. Lower to the ground under control and repeat. Remember, we’re aiming for quality reps, so keep your form tight and ego in check.
Front rack carry x 100 m
Now for the ‘fun’ part. Grab the heaviest dumbbells you can clean up on to your shoulders. Rack them up with your shoulder blades down, back and secure. Stride forwards, keeping your torso upright. Do laps or lengths and drop and rest as necessary, but don’t go back to the rows until you hit the 100m mark.
Workout#02: Pressing Matters
Just because we’re trying to build pack-horse power, doesn’t mean we can’t score a pump along the way. Follow the same protocol as workout 1, spending 15 mins building to a heavy 5 reps in the first movement, followed by a 20-min race around the 3-move circuit of lifting, pumping and carrying to build your chest, shoulders, arms and core.
Single-arm dumbbell press x build to a heavy 5 reps on each arm
Time to build some circus strength. Grip a heavy bell between your feet, stand up explosively, pulling it on to your shoulder. Dip at the knee and drive the weight overhead. Lower back to your shoulder and repeat. Start with your weaker arm, then match the reps on the opposite side.
Close-grip floor press x 10 reps
The bench press’s low-tech, high-yield cousin. Lie flat on your back holding your dumbbells, with your knees bent and feet flat. Explosively press the weights upwards, locking out your elbows. Lower the bells until your upper arms are resting on the floor; pause for a quick count before repeating.
Clean and push press x 10 reps
Next up: building a set of boulder shoulders. With your dumbbells on the floor, hinge with a flat back and grip them. Engage tension throughout your body and stand upright, explosively. Use the momentum to shoulder your bells, dip at the legs and drive them overhead. Lower and repeat.
Heavy farmer's carry x 100m
Pass the strap of a gymnastic ring through a set of weight plates, attach your ring and pull tight. Repeat with another set. Grab the rings, stand tall and brace your core (A). Stride forwards (B). Halfway, drop your weights, turn around, re-grip and return. No gym rings? Grab the heaviest dumbbells you can.
Workout #03: From the Ground Up
You’ve done a lot of walking this week – which is good, because we don’t advise you schedule any for a few days after this workout. As with the other workouts, you want to spend the first 15 mins building up to a heavy squat. After that, rack up as many rounds as possible in 20 mins of our brutal push/drag/swing circuit. You’ll cherish your next recovery day.
Back squat x build to a heavy 5 reps
A strong lower body does a lot of the leg work. After all, you can’t fire a cannon out of a canoe. Rest a barbell across your traps and stand tall. Keeping your torso as upright as possible, take a deep breath and squat down until the crease of your hip passes below your knee. Stand back up explosively; repeat.
Sled push x 60 metres, with the drag
Grab the handles of a sled with your arms fully locked out and lean in so your torso is almost parallel to the ground. Once you’re set, drive the sled by marching forwards, making sure you’re taking large, powerful steps. Try not to lose momentum once you start a length.
Sled drag x 60 metres, with the push
Attach straps to your sled and grip on to them tightly with both hands. Explosively march backwards with powerful steps. Switch between pushing and dragging, moving backwards and forwards until you’ve accumulated 60m total; now you can start the next move. Lucky you.
Kettlebell swing x 10 reps
Powerful hips? There’s no downside. With a kettlebell between your legs, hinge at your hips and swing the weight backwards. Drive your hips forwards to explosively blast it
up to eye level. Let the momentum return you back into the hinge position before moving straight into the next rep.
Cleaning Up: How to do the clean and press
The clean and press is a move with so much pedigree, it’s almost mythical. But you can break the movement down with these progressive steps.
Single-arm dumbbell clean
Hinge down with soft knees and grab a moderate dumbbell. With a tight core, explosively stand upwards, using the momentum from your hips to drive the bell up. Bend at the elbow, keeping the weight close before pulling it on to your shoulder. Lower and repeat for 6 reps on each side.
Double dumbbell push press
Clean the dumbbells on to your shoulders and place your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend at the knees, then stand back upright and drive the dumbbells upwards. Let your shoulders lock them out over your head. Lower and repeat for 5 to 8 reps.
Double dumbbell clean
Hinge down with soft knees and grab some moderate dumbbells from the floor. With a tight core, stand up, using the momentum to pull both bells up. Bend at the elbows and do one final pull to get both weights on to your shoulders. Lower and repeat for 8 to 10 reps.
Andrew Tracey
With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.
