Our next series that we are going to dive into is about the different exercises that improve functional performance throughout the day. There are seven different types of movement that incomposes functional tasks and today we are going to talk about carries.
You use carries when you are bringing in your groceries from the car, dragging your luggage through TSA (when that was a thing…), and carrying a baby in a car seat. A lot of times when we are carrying something relatively heavy at our sides, we can lean forward or to the side that puts pressure on your neck, arm, or back. Trying to keep your posture in a supportive position along with keeping a rigid trunk will allow you to carry items with less stress. It’s amazing how much your core can light up when using carries as an exercise. Working on carries also helps with grip strength which has recently been shown to correlate with mortality. Below are some variations of carries that you can work on. The first video is from a podcast talking about the benefits from carries (there is some curse words).