Training guide
An overhead carry, or waiter's walk, is walking with a kettlebell or dumbbell held straight up overhead in one hand. Check your reach first, press a light weight up until your arm is straight and close to your ear, keep your ribs down, and walk slowly for 10 to 15 metres before changing arms. Learn the farmer's and suitcase carries first.
No study has measured the overhead carry itself, so this guide says where its advice comes from: studies of overhead presses, carries at your side and the shoulder blade, plus coaching practice. The weights and distances here are our editorial starting points.
It covers the reach check and the carry step by step on the 3D figure, one arm or two and bottoms-up carries, what it works, how heavy and how far, sore and unstable shoulders, and how to drop the weight safely.
Walking with a weight held overhead on a straight arm: one arm (the waiter's walk) or two. A coaching article for the NSCA (the US National Strength and Conditioning Association) says the waiter's walk "challenges stabilizing muscles in the shoulder and is performed by carrying weight overhead in one hand". Names vary: the American Council on Exercise (ACE) uses "waiter's carry" for a bottoms-up kettlebell held at the shoulder.
We found no study of the overhead carry's muscle activity, loads, distances or injuries, and the NSCA article says "There is currently little research on loaded carries". What we know comes from carries at your side, overhead presses and studies of the shoulder.
In 2,404 adults without shoulder pain, the average arm lift forwards was about 160 degrees, not the full 180, and about 40 degrees less in the oldest age groups than the youngest. Back against a wall, slide your arms up it: if they reach overhead without your lower back lifting off, you have the range, as our overhead press guide says.
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A one-sided load works the trunk on the side away from the weight and loads the lower back more than the same weight split between two hands, and one-arm standing presses drew far more side-trunk activity than two-arm presses. Learn the farmer's and suitcase carries first, as our carry guides teach.
The least stable press, standing with dumbbells, lifted the least weight. Start with a light kettlebell or dumbbell for 2 walks of 10 to 15 metres each arm, building to 15 to 20 metres, as our workouts do (editorial); ACE's version is about 20 to 25 feet (6 to 8 metres), 2 to 4 times.
We found no injury data for overhead carries; the risk from overhead work at work builds over hundreds of hours, and progressive loaded shoulder exercise caused no serious harm in a large NHS trial. With a painful shoulder, a past dislocation or recent surgery, carry at your side instead, and plan your bail: if your arm wavers, steer the weight away and let it fall.
From our move page ("Press a kettlebell or dumbbell overhead in one hand until the arm is straight, the bell resting behind the forearm and the palm facing in"; "Walk a short distance with slow steps, the arm straight up over the shoulder and the ribs down"; "Keep the arm vertical, not drifting forward"), our overhead press guide's wall check, our loaded carry workout ("Keep a clear path so you can drop the weight away from you") and our Turkish get-up practice's bail rule. Looking forward and the free arm's position are editorial.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Overhead carry (waiter's walk)
One arm holds a weight locked out overhead while you walk. Overhead carry, waiter's walk, waiter carry and overhead walk are the usual names for it. ACE's kettlebell overhead carry: "Extend the right arm directly overhead so that the palm is facing the midline of the body. Keep the arm extended overhead and walk forward approximately 20 to 25 feet."
ACE's own "waiter's carry" is a different hold, a bottoms-up kettlebell with "the right elbow next to the rib cage", and the NSCA's bottoms-up walk holds the bell upside down "with the shoulder flexed at 90 degrees". When people say waiter's walk they usually mean overhead.
"During maximum humeral elevation the scapula normally upwardly rotates 45-55 degrees", driven by the serratus anterior (on the side of the ribs) and the trapezius. The serratus anterior worked hardest with the arm raised above 120 degrees and the lower trapezius with the arm overhead, in 30 adults. Measured with bone pins in 12 adults, about a third of arm elevation came from the shoulder blade. That's why the cue is to let the shoulder blade turn up, not pin it down.
Standing two-arm presses drew about 68% less side-trunk (external oblique) activity than one-arm presses in 15 men. In carries at your side, the trunk muscles on the side away from the weight work hardest, and walking with a weight works the back muscles more than holding it still.
With a weight in one hand, the hip muscles on the other side worked harder, and splitting a load between two hands lowered that work. Our reading: an overhead load in one hand does the same.
These are muscle-activity studies over a few seconds or steps. Activity measured in one session doesn't predict what a muscle will build.
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Comfortable pressing and holding the weight overhead, as our move page asks, a pain-free overhead reach with a straight arm, and a steady farmer's and suitcase carry.
In 2,404 Australian adults without shoulder pain, "The average range of active right shoulder flexion was 161.5° for males and 158.5° for females", about 43 degrees less in the oldest men and 41 in the oldest women than the youngest, and less with diabetes. Daily tasks need about 130 degrees. A straight, stacked overhead hold needs more than daily life does, and that's normal, not a fault.
Stand with your back, head and arms against a wall and slide your arms up it, as in the wall angel. If your arms reach the wall overhead without your lower back lifting off it, you have the range to carry overhead; if not, carry at your side or at your shoulder for now. That's our overhead press guide's check (editorial).
Don't arch your back to get the weight up. Keep doing suitcase carries, work on wall angels and shoulder circles, and try the overhead backward sled walk or a lighter weight once your reach improves (our suggestion).
A review of 11 strongman biomechanics studies found no data on carries with the load in one hand and none on overhead carries, and coaching articles say research on loaded carries is thin. Every line below is indirect.
In strongman athletes, "The carrying events challenged different abilities than the lifting events". Carrying 30 kg in one hand pressed on the lower back with more than 2,800 newtons; 15 kg in each hand, 1,570. Where a load sits matters too: carrying a weight in front of the body raised the force on the spine more than twice as much as carrying it at the side, in 5 people with spinal implants. An overhead load is one-sided and high, so start light (our reading).
In 15 men, standing dumbbell presses lifted about 7% less than a standing barbell and 10% less than seated dumbbells, but drew the most deltoid activity: "the exercise with the greatest stability requirement ... demonstrated the highest neuromuscular activity of the deltoid muscles".
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The overhead squat drew only about 2 to 7% more front-trunk activity than the back squat in 14 trained people, and the authors said it doesn't give "a substantially greater stimulus" for the trunk. The middle trapezius worked harder in the overhead squat than the front squat in 7 trained men.
A bottoms-up kettlebell press drew more serratus anterior activity than a dumbbell or kettlebell press at the same 11.3 kg in 28 baseball players, and more trapezius, biceps and infraspinatus (a rotator cuff muscle) activity in 20 men, though "Absolute between-exercise differences in %MVIC were modest". The one study of a bottoms-up carry, at shoulder height, used 25 lb for 30 yards; its measures were too weak to show what the carry works. The NSCA article reports that trunk and hip activity were very low in racked and bottoms-up carries in a McGill lab study, whose summary doesn't give those numbers.
In 12 people experienced in the Turkish get-up, who hold a kettlebell overhead throughout, shoulder muscle demand was greatest in the press to the elbow and the leg sweep. Our Turkish get-up guide covers it.
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Raising the arm again and again with about 30% of maximum until failure, shoulder muscles tired most in the middle and top of the range. Our reading: end the walk while the arm is still straight and upright; a drifting arm is the cue to stop.
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One arm is lighter, easier to bail out of, and works the side of your trunk. It's the version on the 3D figure, and the one our workouts use.
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A kettlebell or dumbbell in each hand overhead lets you carry more, but needs full, pain-free reach on both sides and is harder to drop safely. Try it only once the one-arm carry is steady on both sides (our suggestion). It has no separate 3D demo; the steps are the same.
Both hands hold a bar or a weight plate overhead. They're the hardest to bail out of, so leave them until the one-arm carry is steady, and use a clear space with room to drop the bar forwards (our suggestion). No 3D demo.
The kettlebell is held upside down by the handle, overhead or at the shoulder, so your grip and wrist have to balance it. It worked the shoulder's steadying muscles slightly more in presses. Use a much lighter bell. No 3D demo.
A weight in each hand overhead is a two-arm overhead carry, not a farmer's carry, which keeps the weights at your sides. Our farmer's carry guide covers that.
Your arms are straight up holding sled straps while you walk backwards, so there's no weight above your head to drop. Its move page's dose is 3 to 4 walks of 15 to 20 metres with a light sled (our editorial starting point). Our sled drag guide covers sleds.
No study gives an overhead carry load. Start with a kettlebell or dumbbell you could press 8 to 12 times, which you can hold with a straight, upright arm for the whole walk. Go lighter if your arm drifts forward, your elbow bends or you lean. A weight you can press is heavier than one you can carry overhead.
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2 walks of 10 to 15 metres each arm with a light weight, as our Turkish get-up practice does, building to 2 walks of 15 to 20 metres each arm, as our loaded carry workout and kettlebell workout B do (editorial). Coaching sources: ACE's overhead carry is about 20 to 25 feet, 2 to 4 sets, resting 30 to 45 seconds; the NSCA article suggests 2 to 4 rounds of 10 to 20 seconds for carries in general, from coaches' experience.
Rest 60 to 90 seconds, or carry with the other arm while one rests, as our carry guides do. It fits at the end of a session or as a warm-up for pressing (our suggestion).
Once or twice a week as part of your strength training (our suggestion). Add distance before weight. Two-arm and barbell carries only once the one-arm carry is steady on both sides.
The heaviest one-hand carry at the side before form broke averaged 53% of body weight in women and 64% in men. That's a ceiling for side carries, not a guide for overhead, where the weight will be far lighter.
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Carry with a clear path ahead and to the sides, away from other people, mirrors and kit, as our loaded carry workout says.
End the walk while you still control the weight: lower it to your shoulder, then to your side or the floor, the way you got it up.
If your arm bends or wavers too much to lower it, steer the weight away from your body and let it fall while you move the other way. Never try to catch a falling weight, as our Turkish get-up practice says.
"Keep the arm vertical, not drifting forward", as our move page says; go lighter.
Keep your ribs down. If you can't get the weight overhead without arching, carry at your side and work on your reach first, as our overhead press guide advises.
Stay tall and level, as in a suitcase carry; let the shoulder blade turn up without jamming the shoulder into your ear (our suggestion).
Lock it. If you can't, the weight is too heavy.
Look forward. (In the Turkish get-up and the windmill you do watch the bell.)
Stack your wrist over your forearm; a kettlebell rests on the back of the forearm.
Stop while the arm is still straight and upright.
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Start with one light weight and two walks each arm.
We found no injury data for overhead carries. Up to 36% of reported weight-training injuries involve the shoulder, mostly from looking back at records; in 46 recreational weight trainers, signs of shoulder impingement (a pinching pain as the arm rises) went with side raises and upright rows taken above 90 degrees; 21% of injuries in strongman athletes were in the shoulder. Weight-training sports have low injury rates overall.
"Severe arm elevation with elbows above shoulder level (i.e., > 90°) shows a moderate evidence for an association with shoulder disorders" at work, and the risk rose 21% per 1,000 hours of work with the hands above shoulder level. A few minutes of carries a week is far below that (our reading).
In the GRASP trial of 708 adults with rotator cuff problems in 20 NHS trusts, progressive exercise was no better than one good advice session, and "No serious adverse events were reported". Heavier loading was no better or worse than lighter loading in 100 people, a single self-managed exercise matched usual physiotherapy, and adverse events from progressive exercise were "seldom reported and mild". None of these trials used overhead carries.
The NHS says not to make up your own strenuous exercises or use heavy gym equipment while your shoulder is sore. Carry at your side instead, and follow our shoulder guides' rule: pain up to about 5 out of 10, back to normal by your next session. A sharp pinch means lower, lighter or stop.
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The NHS says recovery usually takes 6 to 12 weeks, up to 16 to return to some sports, and that the risk of it happening again rises. After a first dislocation managed without surgery, 54.7% dislocated again over about 6 years; after stabilisation surgery, return to sport took about 5 to 6 months in reviews and about 32 weeks in US rehabilitation protocols, which varied widely. The overhead carry waits for your surgeon or physiotherapist's go-ahead.
In 20 weight lifters with pain from hidden shoulder looseness with the arm out and turned back, 13 of 23 shoulders settled with rehabilitation and changes of technique, 10 needed surgery, and all 20 returned to lifting.
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Wall angels, 8 slow slides, as the reach check (our overhead squat progression); farmer's carries, 3 carries of 30 m, then suitcase carries, 2 of 20 to 30 m each side (our loaded carry workout); a press you can do well, 3 sets of 5 to 8 each side stopping 2 or 3 reps short (our kettlebell clean and press workout); then overhead carries, 2 walks of 10 to 15 m each arm, building to 15 to 20 m (our workouts; the move page gives no dose). The overhead backward sled walk is a gentler option where there's a sled (its move page's dose: 3 to 4 walks of 15 to 20 m with a light sled).
3D demoWall angelBeginner · A wall
3D demoFarmer's carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoSuitcase carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoStanding overhead pressIntermediate · A barbell + A dumbbell
3D demoAlternating kettlebell pressIntermediate · A kettlebell
3D demoOverhead carry (waiter's walk)Intermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoOverhead backward sled walkBeginner · A sledTurkish get-ups, 3 to 5 single reps each side once learned (our kettlebell workout B; learn them with our Turkish get-up practice); kettlebell windmills at their move page's dose, 2 to 3 sets of 3 to 5 slow reps each side with a light bell; overhead squats, 3 sets of 5 slowly with a dowel first (our overhead squat progression).
Shoulder circles, 3 or 4 slow circles each arm; band external rotations, 12 to 15 each arm; scapular push-ups, 10 reps; prone Y-T-W raises, 5 of each shape; face pulls and band pull-aparts, 15 reps (our shoulder mobility and rotator cuff routine); dead bugs, 2 sets of 6 to 8 each side (our full-body gym workout); side planks, 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds each side (our loaded carry workout); kettlebell halos at their move page's dose, 2 to 3 sets of 5 to 8 slow circles each way with a light bell. Afterwards, the cross-body shoulder stretch and doorway chest stretch for 30 seconds, for comfort.
3D demoShoulder CARs (controlled articular rotations)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoStanding band external rotationBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoScapular push-up (push-up plus)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoProne Y-T-W raisesBeginner · No equipment
3D demoFace pullIntermediate · A band
3D demoBand pull-apartIntermediate · A band
3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoKettlebell haloBeginner · A kettlebell
3D demoCross-body shoulder stretchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoDoorway chest openerBeginner · A wallOur loaded carry workout builds from farmer's to suitcase to overhead carries; the Turkish get-up practice and the kettlebell clean and press workout use a light overhead carry; kettlebell workout B and the overhead squat progression add it after presses and squats.
A 25-minute carry workout with dumbbells or kettlebells: farmer's carries, suitcase carries on each side and an overhead carry, with a safe pick-up first.
25 minBeginner7 movesA kettlebell, A dumbbellA 25-minute practice session for the Turkish get-up: floor transfers, an overhead hold, the half get-up, the shoe drill, then light single reps.
25 minBeginner8 movesA dumbbell, A kettlebellA 35-minute practice session for the kettlebell clean and press: hinge and swing, the clean in three steps, then strict presses from the rack, with one bell.
35 minIntermediate12 movesA kettlebell, A dumbbellKettlebell workout B: Turkish get-ups, goblet squats, single-leg deadlifts, floor presses, one-arm rows and an overhead carry, with one or two bells.
40 minIntermediate10 movesA kettlebell, A dumbbellA 25-minute session for the overhead squat: check your ankles and reach, loosen what the check shows, then climb from the goblet squat to a dowel and an empty bar.
25 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A wallBoth plans use kettlebell workout B, with its overhead carry.
An 8-week kettlebell plan for beginners: two strength sessions and a swing-interval day each week, with how to choose a bell and swing safely.
3 training days35 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week calisthenics plan for beginners: three bodyweight sessions a week with push-up, pull-up, squat and dip ladders, and a bar if you have one.
3 training days40 minBeginnerCarry at your side instead until overhead reaching is comfortable, and see our shoulder pain guides.
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Wait for your physiotherapist or surgeon's go-ahead; the arm-up position is where shoulders slip. After a recent shoulder dislocation, or shoulder or elbow surgery, follow your surgical team's limits first.
After heart surgery through the breastbone, or a heart or lung transplant, follow your surgeon's advice before pushing, pulling or lifting with your arms.
After breast cancer surgery or reconstruction, follow your surgical team's advice on when you can lift your arm above shoulder height, or push, pull or lift with it.
With a pacemaker or defibrillator, the American Heart Association asks you to check with your doctor before upper-body strength training, because repeated arm movements can damage or dislodge the leads.
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Carry at your side, and stop if your fingers tingle or go numb with your arm up.
Carry at your side, or press seated with your back supported, until you can hold your ribs down with the arm up, as our overhead press guide advises.
A load in the hand opposite a replaced hip raised that hip's muscle work in 25 people, and the author advised caution. Hold the weight on the same side as the new hip, and only once your surgical team agrees (our reading, as our suitcase carry guide says).
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The NHS says strength training at a gym is fine if you already do it, but not to start new vigorous activity. As your balance changes, carry at your side or keep the weight light, and stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell.
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With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe. Breathe out as you lift, as our breathing guide advises.
Keep the weight light and keep breathing as you walk: heavy efforts against a held breath drive blood pressure very high.
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; arm pain that comes on suddenly with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest; severe difficulty breathing, or a chest that feels tight or heavy; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
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Keep shoulder pain to about 5 out of 10 or less during the exercise, back to its usual level by your next session, as our shoulder guides advise. A sharp pinch means lower, lighter or stop.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for sudden or very bad shoulder pain, an arm you can't move, a shoulder that has changed shape or is badly swollen, pins and needles that don't go away, no feeling in your arm or shoulder, an arm or shoulder that's hot or cold to touch, pain after an injury or a fall, severe pain in both shoulders, or feeling feverish or unwell. Go to A&E if, after an injury, you can't move your arm or your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape. See a GP if shoulder pain is getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks.
Call 999 or go to A&E: after a fall or injury, your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape, you cannot move your arm, or your shoulder is painful, bruised or swollen. Do not drive yourself, and do not try to put it back in yourself.
Your shoulder has partly or fully come out of joint, or you worry it might, including a clunk, a dead arm or a feeling it will slip when you hang from the bar or at the bottom of a pull-up. Get it checked by a GP or physiotherapist soon (our suggestion).
Same day (GP or NHS 111): a sudden pop or snap with pain at the shoulder or upper arm during a lift, with or without a bulge low in the upper arm. It's usually a torn long head of the biceps. Most need no operation, but the rotator cuff can tear at the same time.
Same day (GP or NHS 111): sudden weakness lifting the arm after an injury or fall. A rotator cuff tear caused by an injury needs urgent referral to a shoulder specialist. After a dislocation in anyone over 40, the rotator cuff should be checked: about 40% have a tear.
Same day (NHS 111 or an urgent treatment centre): a pop or tearing at the front of the armpit or chest during a lift, a dip or a tackle, followed by bruising into the chest or upper arm, a change in the shape of the chest or armpit (a thinner or lost armpit fold, or a chest or nipple that looks uneven), or weakness pushing. Don't wait for it to settle: it can be a torn pec tendon. In the US, go to urgent care.
Stop if your fingers tingle or go numb: that's a nerve, not a tired muscle, as our grip strength guide says.
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Some discomfort during these exercises is fine and doesn't mean you are doing damage. Keep it to about 5 out of 10 or less. It should settle within half an hour or so, and your hand should be no worse the next morning. If it is, do fewer, smaller or lighter next time, not nothing. That's our wrist pain guides' rule.
Get help from NHS 111 for a wrist injury with a snap, grinding or popping noise, lost feeling in the hand, or a wrist you think is broken.
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Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, the joint or limb has changed shape or points at an odd angle, it's numb or tingling, or the skin looks blue or grey or feels cold. Get help from NHS 111 (in the US, urgent care) if it's very painful, very swollen or bruised, very stiff, or you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps.
Call 999 if someone has hit their head and has been knocked out and not woken up, can't stay awake, has a fit, has fallen from a height of more than 1 metre or 5 stairs, has problems with their vision, hearing, balance, walking or speech, or has new numbness or weakness. Get help from NHS 111 after a head injury if you're being sick or feel dizzy. If you're told to go to A&E, don't drive yourself.
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Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
See a GP if pain spreading down a leg hasn't improved after a few weeks of home treatment, is getting worse or stops your normal activities. Sciatica on both sides, or weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, is a 999 call or a trip to A&E.
Aim for discomfort you'd call mild to moderate, no more than about 5 out of 10. It should settle within an hour or so, and your back should be no worse the next morning, as our back pain guides say. Pain, pins and needles or numbness spreading down a leg are the exception: stop, and see our sciatica guide.
See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
The NHS lists lifting heavy weights among the causes of a femoral hernia. After an inguinal hernia repair, avoid heavy lifting or strenuous activity for at least 4 to 6 weeks.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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We found no injury data for overhead carries. Shoulder pain signs in gym-goers went with raises and upright rows above 90 degrees, risk from overhead work builds over hundreds of hours at work, and loaded shoulder exercise caused no serious harm in a large NHS trial. But with a painful or unstable shoulder, or after surgery, it isn't the place to start.
No trial has tested carries for shoulder injuries, stability or pain. They work the serratus and trapezius in the range where those muscles work hardest, which is a reason to do them, not a guarantee.
Holding a bar overhead added only 2 to 7% front-trunk activity to a squat, and planks worked the front of the stomach harder than carries did. One-arm work does load the side of the trunk. Use carries alongside planks and other core work.
Average shoulder range is about 160 degrees in adults without shoulder pain and about 40 degrees less in the oldest, and daily life needs about 130. If you can't get there without arching, carry at your side.
A bottoms-up press drew slightly more rotator cuff and trapezius activity, but the differences were modest, and no training study exists.
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The least stable press lifts the least weight, and a carry adds walking. Coaching sources start light.
Walking with a weight held overhead on a straight arm, usually a kettlebell or dumbbell in one hand. A coaching article describes the waiter's walk as carrying weight overhead in one hand; some sources use "waiter's carry" for a bottoms-up kettlebell held at the shoulder instead.
Press a kettlebell or dumbbell overhead until your arm is straight, the weight over your shoulder and your arm by your ear, ribs down. Walk slowly for a short distance, keeping the arm upright, then lower the weight to your shoulder and change arms.
Your shoulder muscles hold the arm up and steady, especially those that turn the shoulder blade upwards; your trunk stops you leaning, the side away from the weight most; and your legs walk. No study has measured the carry itself, so this comes from studies of presses, carries at the side and arm raises.
It works the side of your trunk, like a suitcase carry, but it isn't magic: holding a bar overhead added only a little trunk work to a squat, and planks work the front of the stomach harder than carries. Use it alongside planks and other carries.
Light: a weight you can hold with a straight, upright arm for the whole walk, which is less than you can press. No study has set a load. Start with a light kettlebell or dumbbell, and go lighter if your arm drifts forward or you lean.
Start with 2 walks of 10 to 15 metres each arm, building to 15 to 20 metres, as our workouts do; coaching sources use 2 to 4 rounds of 10 to 20 seconds. Add distance before weight.
One arm first: it's lighter, easier to bail out of, and works the side of your trunk. Two arms let you carry more but need full overhead reach on both sides. A barbell or plate overhead carry is the hardest to bail out of, so leave it until the one-arm carry is steady.
We found no study showing harm, and loaded shoulder exercise caused no serious problems in a large NHS trial. But if overhead reaching hurts, your shoulder has dislocated or feels unstable, or you've had shoulder surgery, carry at your side instead and follow your physiotherapist's advice.
That's common: overhead reach falls with age, and daily life needs less of it. Do suitcase carries instead and work on the wall check from our overhead press guide; don't arch your back to get there.
Holding a kettlebell upside down by the handle, at your shoulder or overhead, so your grip and wrist have to balance it. It works the shoulder's steadying muscles slightly more than a normal hold, and the weight must be much lighter.
Bring it down to your shoulder under control. If your arm bends or wavers too much for that, steer the weight away from your body and let it fall while you move the other way; never try to catch it, and always carry with a clear path around you.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
