Maggie's Farm

I'll do an informal series on some interesting exercises for functional (as opposed to body-building) improvement. I think we basically covered serious cardio a week or two ago, and we covered The Planks too.

No need to cover the big, essential resistance ones: Dead lift, bench press, dumbell press, barbell squat, pull-ups, push-ups.

I categorize exercises in three rough categories: Resistance, Cardio, and Mixed Cardio/Resistance. My favorite group is the latter of those 3. Fitness Crossfit does lots of those too.

The Farmer's Walk is a full-body resistance exercise which is highly-functional. I do 2 sets maybe twice weekly. Head up, chest out, shoulders back, quick walk. Often grip and forearm strength is the weak link.

Anything that requires explosive power, athleticism, grip strength, overall limit strength and core strength will benefit from the farmer’s walk. So, basically, the farmer’s walk is the epitome of functional training for about anything.