By Anthony Conti
How can you build or maintain bone density as you start to lose it?
Functional strength training can help stop and even slightly reverse this decline
If you're postmenopausal, sedentary, or taking hormone-regulating medications like those used for thyroid cancer, you're at increased risk of osteopenia — the gradual loss of bone density that can lead to osteoporosis, fractures, and limited mobility.
That is why for this installment of "TrainSMART at Home" we are introducing Farmers Carry. One of the most effective and accessible exercises for building stronger bones, enhancing stability, and improving coordination. Here's how it works and why it's so powerful in the fight against bone density loss.
Outpace Age with Intelligence, Strategy, Commitment, and Care.
At TrainSMART, we specialize in creating safe, customized programs designed to build muscle and bone, burn fat, increase strength, enhance balance, boost energy levels, and improve cognitive function. As experts in longevity, our intelligent strategies are crafted with your unique needs in mind. Through unwavering commitment and personalized care, we believe you can feel better and stronger than you did 20 years ago.
Take the first step toward a more vibrant, energetic you.
CALL or TEXT (716) 650 0535 today and let’s outpace age Together!
Why It Works
The Farmer’s Carry is a full-body, tri-planar exercise that:
- Activates and strengthens your core, improving spinal stability and posture.
- Builds grip strength and endurance
- Trains proper gait patterning, helping you walk and move with more confidence
- Stimulates bone-loading forces throughout your skeleton to help slow the effects of osteopenia and maintain bone density
How to Perform the Farmer’s Carry
Setup: Place two kettlebells or dumbbells on an elevated surface.
Lift Safely: Hinge at the hips with a neutral spine, brace your core, and pick up the weights.
Walk Tall: Begin walking in a straight line. Go for 30 steps or if you don’t have the room, walk for 30 seconds.
Arms stay by your side (not brushing your legs).
Keep tension in your core and glutes.
Controlled Finish: At the end, hinge again to place the weights down — don’t drop or collapse.
Coaching Cues
- Stand as tall as possible — think feet through the floor, head to the ceiling like you're 10 ft tall.
- Brace your core like you're about to be punched and activate your glutes like you're squeezing an imaginary quarter.
- Gently pull the weights apart as you walk to increase tension
- Breathe behind the wall, wide into your lower lungs to maintain core stiffness
- Retract and depress your shoulder blades — no slouched posture, think about “anti-shrugging” and getting your shoulders away from your ears.
- Imagine holding buckets of water and trying not to spill them
What to Watch Out For
Neck alignment: Keep your head up, neck neutral. Fix your gaze on a point ahead of you.
Tempo: Don’t walk too fast — control matters more than speed.
Form: Weights should not swing; your hips and shoulders move together.
Posture: Shoulders should not round forward — stay proud through the chest.
Progressions & Regressions
Start Here (Easier):
Static Hold (no walking)
Lower weight
Progress When Ready (Harder):
In-line carry (DUI Test, one foot in front of the other)
Suitcase carry (one-sided)
Overhead carry
Cross-body carry
Bottoms-up carry (advanced grip/stability)
Why This Matters for Osteopenia and Bone Density Loss
Bone density decreases with age — but loss can be slowed, and small amounts can be built back.
At TrainSMART we prescribe the Farmer’s Carry because it effectively loads your bones in a way that stimulates osteogenesis (bone-building). Combined with a smart, progressive strength training plan, it’s one of the most powerful tools we have to combat age-related bone loss.
