Barbell Zercher Carry
What Is the Barbell Zercher Carry?
Barbell Zercher Carry is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back and also engages the arms, legs and abdominal muscles. It is an advanced-level movement in which you walk while holding a loaded barbell in the crooks of your elbows, pinned against your torso, so your body has to stay upright under a load that sits high and in front of you.
The carry builds strength and posture in a front-loaded position, the same position you use to carry a heavy box, a sandbag or any awkward object hugged to the chest. It is popular with strongman athletes, who train the Zercher position for front carries, and with field and combat sport athletes who need to stay tall while holding resistance in front of the body. It usually goes near the end of a session as a short, heavy carry once the main lifts are done.
Because the load sits in front of you, the muscles along your spine work to keep your torso from tipping forward. In a study of 19 college-aged adults who carried a bar loaded to their fat-free mass over 5 meters, the Zercher position produced about twice the multifidus activity and three times the longissimus activity of a farmers carry with the same load, showed no difference in the abdominal muscles, and led to shorter strides. Grip is rarely the limit, as it often is in a Dumbbell Farmers Carry, because the biceps and upper back hold the bar instead of the hands.
The Barbell Zercher Carry suits lifters who are already comfortable with the Barbell Zercher Squat position and with heavier carries. If the bar is too much for your elbows or your posture, build up with a Kettlebell Goblet Carry or a Sandbag Bear Hug Carry, which load the front of the body in a similar way with less pressure on the arms.
Muscles Worked
- Erector Spinae
- Primary
- Upper Trapezius
- Primary
- Biceps Brachii
- High
- Brachialis
- High
- External Oblique
- Medium
- Gluteus Maximus
- Medium
- Rhomboid Major
- Medium
- Vastus Lateralis
- Medium
- Deltoid
- Low
- Soleus
- Low
Instructions
- Set a barbell in a rack a little below elbow height, and wrap it in a bar pad if you want to protect your elbows.
- Step under the bar, bend your knees slightly and slide your arms under it so it sits in the crooks of both elbows, centered between the plates.
- Bend your elbows fully and clasp your hands together in front of your upper chest, pulling the bar tight against your body.
- Take a breath, brace your trunk and stand up to lift the bar off the rack, then take a step or two back.
- Stand tall with your chest up, shoulders back and eyes forward.
- Walk forward with short, even steps, keeping the bar pinned to your chest and your torso upright.
- Keep breathing in short breaths without letting your trunk relax or your chest drop.
- At the end of your distance or time, turn with small steps instead of twisting, or walk back to the rack.
- Bend your knees to set the bar back in the rack before sliding your arms out.
Common Mistakes
Holding the bar with the hands
Gripping the bar instead of cradling it in the elbows tires the forearms and biceps first and lets the bar drift away from the body.
Letting the bar drift forward
A bar that sits away from the chest pulls the torso forward and makes the load much harder to control.
Dropping the chest
Letting the upper back round as fatigue sets in puts the lower back under load in a flexed position and lets the bar roll out of the arms.
Leaning back to counter the weight
Arching the lower back to balance the bar shifts the work onto the spine instead of a braced trunk.
Going too heavy or too far
A load or distance you cannot finish standing tall ends with the posture breaking down or the bar being dropped.
Setting the rack too high
A rack set at or above elbow height is hard to unrack and even harder to return the bar to when you are tired.
Injuries
Barbell Zercher Carry is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The most common complaint is pressure and bruising in the crease of the elbows, where the bar rests on soft tissue and the biceps tendon, and the elbow flexors stay under load for the whole carry. The lower back is the other strain point: the load sits in front of the body, so if the chest drops and the upper back rounds as you tire, the spine ends up holding the weight in a flexed position.
To protect the elbows, wrap the bar in a pad or a folded towel, and if the crease itself hurts, try resting the bar slightly lower, where the biceps tendon disappears into the forearm. Start with a light load and a short distance, set the rack low enough that you can return the bar when tired, and end each set while you can still stand tall rather than when the bar starts to slip.
If the barbell is too demanding, a Kettlebell Goblet Carry or Sandbag Bear Hug Carry trains the same front-loaded posture with less pressure on the elbows, and the Barbell Zercher Squat gets the arms used to the position. Progress the carry by adding load in small steps once you can finish the distance upright, and add distance only after that.
Stop the set if you feel sharp pain at the front of the elbow, numbness or tingling in the forearms or hands, or pain in the lower back, and stop when the bar starts sliding down your arms or your torso keeps folding forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: How is the Barbell Zercher Carry different from a farmers carry?
The load sits in front of your body instead of at your sides, so the muscles along your spine work harder to keep you upright and you tend to take shorter steps. Grip is rarely what ends the set, so a Dumbbell Farmers Carry is the better choice when grip strength is the goal.
- Q: Should I use a bar pad?
A pad or a folded towel around the bar spreads the pressure on the elbow crease and lets most people carry more before discomfort sets in. Use one whenever your elbows, rather than your trunk or legs, are what end the set.
- Q: How far or how long should I carry?
Short sets of about 20 to 40 seconds, or roughly 10 to 30 meters, are enough to challenge your posture without the bar slipping. Add load once you can finish that distance standing tall, and keep the carry a strength set rather than a long conditioning walk.
- Q: Can I pick the bar up from the floor without a rack?
Yes. Deadlift the bar to your thighs, squat down to rest it on your knees, then slide your arms under it and stand up. It is much harder on the arms and back than unracking it, so use a rack or blocks set below elbow height whenever you can.
- Q: Why do my elbows hurt during the carry?
The bar presses on the soft tissue of the elbow crease, where the biceps tendon runs. Add a pad, try resting the bar slightly lower toward the forearm and lighten the load, and stop if the pain is sharp or lingers after training.