I've been doing some strength training for a fair while now and thinking of adding some farmer's walks and sled work back into my routine. I was doing some earlier but stopped training due to an injury and had to restart. The gym I go to is pretty good and has a sled and farmer's walk thingies. Farmer's walks are the best exercise known to mankind. Sadly no atlas stones. I'm thinking of doing sled pushes, drags (with a chain and handle thing) and then some rope pull whatsits. I also bought a harness and might add some bear crawls. And then the farmer's walks. But is it better to do all these in one go on a separate day, or stick one or two exercises in to my individual sessions? Or does it even matter. I don't really have serious goals...besides being world's strongest man and a pro-wrestler....just want to get a little bit stronger and keep on top of this ageing nonsense.
What other training are you doing, farmers are essentially walking trap bar deadlifts taxing the same muscles so it's best to either put them at the end of your squat deadlift workout or at least two days apart to allow you to recover, that's if you are going heavy with them. Likewise sped work also works the hips hamstrings etc so either put them in on the same say or go lighter and use them as conditioning/ recovery because there is no excentric component to the lift they can be less taxing. It really depends on your other training and what you want to get out of adding them in!
Other training...does watching films, napping and sleeping count as other training? But no, nothing at the moment. Just looking for pure strength really. I'm not doing any conditioning work or need them for any other reason. They're fun too and they stop me getting bored in the gym. Would you do sled pulls with a rope on a back day and pushes on a chest day? Or something like that?
By other training I mean are you deadlifting and squatting as well, if so are they on the same day or different days?
I'd put the farmers as far away from the deadlifting and squatting as possible to allow recovery so either use them as part warm up on other days or as a finisher (going heavier) at the end of those days. Sled wise you can use rope sled pulls on upper back days and sled pushed or fly's on an upper day if you have the right attachments but proper sled pulls and proper pushes again need to go a few days apart from squat/dead day. So I'd use farmers and sled either lightly as a warm up cool down (in which case it doesn't matter really where they go) or as finishers after upper body days (going heavy but leaving a day or so between this and dead/squat day). Your other option is as you say having a separate day for them, almost like an event day where you do farmers , sleds, log or over head pressing etc but again this needs to be planned so it's not too close to your squat/dead day otherwise your lower back and hamstrings will be too taxed to actually make gains
Thanks for all the help! I quite like the idea of doing an event day, as it would be fun. I could maybe try it in the future. It means going to the gym at stupid o'clock though to hog the sled and area I'd need. Could be worth the effort though. I'd love to find a strongman club/gym but haven't found anything close. There is a gym that has some good equipment (logs, stones, a yoke or two, farmer's walk handles and some grip strength stuff) but it's open at really odd times and in a horrible location. There is a Crossfit gym near too that has atlas stones, but it costs a lot (I use the gym for free)...and I'd have to deal with cross fitters.
