Intermediate

Towel Farmer's Carry

Wrapping towels through the handles fattens and softens the grip, so the hands and forearms work far harder than the load alone would suggest. It builds crushing grip and forearm endurance that carry over to pull-ups, deadlifts and rope events. Expect the grip to give out well before the legs.

Equipment
Dumbbell
Body part
Forearms
Type
Functional, Strength
Browse by muscle
Brachioradialis
Browse by movement
Carry
Muscles worked
Target
Brachioradialis
Secondary
Trapezius Upper, Erector Spinae
Tertiary
Extensors

How to do it

  1. 1

    Thread a towel through the handle of each dumbbell and even out the ends.

  2. 2

    Grip both towel ends together in each hand and deadlift the dumbbells off the floor.

  3. 3

    Stand tall with the weights hanging at your sides and shoulders set back.

  4. 4

    Brace the trunk and walk with short, controlled steps.

  5. 5

    Grip as hard as you can to keep the towels from slipping through your hands.

  6. 6

    Set the dumbbells down under control the moment your grip starts to fail.

Tips

  • Use thicker or folded towels to increase the grip demand as you progress.
  • Keep the wrists straight so the fingers do the holding.
  • Reduce the load from your normal farmer's walk; the thick grip changes everything.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Towel ends are often left uneven, so one dumbbell hangs lower than the other and the shoulders start the walk out of level.
  • The towel slides through the hand a centimeter at a time and people keep walking, which ends with a dumbbell landing on a foot rather than a controlled set-down.
  • Choosing a thin, slippery gym towel tests friction rather than your hands; a thicker folded towel is what makes the grip work.
  • Only the fingertips end up holding, because the hand was never set around the fold before the lift, and the pinch gives out within a few steps.
  • Wrapping the towel around the wrist for the last stretch puts the load on skin and joint instead of the grip, and hides where the set really ended.

Frequently asked

How many towel farmer's carries should you do in a session when you are new to the exercise?
Three or four short walks of 15 to 20 meters is a full session for the hands, and grip work sits best at the end of a training day. Use roughly half to two thirds of the load you would carry with bare handles. Progress by folding the towel thicker, then by adding distance, and only then by adding weight. If the towel slips in the first five steps, the load is wrong for the towel you picked.
What can replace the towel farmer's carry if I have no towel or dumbbells?
A towel looped over a pull-up bar for hangs gives nearly the same crushing demand with no weights at all, and a rope or a thick jacket sleeve works the same way. With dumbbells but no towel, thick grips or a plate pinch carry are the closest matches, and a heavy bag dragged by a strap loads the open hand hard too.
Is the towel farmer's carry worth doing?
It is worth doing if grip is what limits your deadlifts, pull-ups or rope climbs, since the soft, fat surface makes the fingers and forearm flexors work far past what a knurled handle demands. It is a poor choice as your main carry for trunk or trap strength, because the load has to stay light enough for the hands, and it is a frustrating pick during an active finger or elbow tendon problem.

Related exercises

Other movements among FitRay's 2,000+ exercises that load the same target muscle — same equipment and level first.

All Forearms exercises