Hyrox farmers carry: grip, pacing, kettlebell weights and the best farmers carry alternative

The Hyrox farmers carry is 200 m with a kettlebell in each hand: 2 x 16 kg for Women Open, 2 x 24 kg for Men Open and Women Pro, 2 x 32 kg for Men Pro. It's station six, after the row, and it's the station where your grip finds out what the sled pull and the SkiErg did to it earlier.

The load isn't the problem for most people. Putting the bells down is. Every stop costs a pickup, a reset and a few seconds of standing there negotiating with your forearms. Below: the official rules, technique, pacing, how to train it, and the farmers carry alternative that works when your gym has no kettlebells heavy enough, or none at all. If you'd rather have the carries slotted into your week for you, that's a Hyrox training app.

What the Hyrox farmers carry is

You finish the row, run your sixth kilometer, pick up two kettlebells from a marked box, carry them 200 m (often several laps, depending on the venue), and put them back. Then you run again, and then come the lunges.

It's the sixth of the 8 Hyrox stations in order, and it's a grip and posture test more than a strength test. That's good news, because grip and posture respond quickly to regular practice. It's also why carries should show up every week in a 12-week Hyrox build, not once in the final fortnight.

The official farmers carry rules

From section 8.6 of the 26/27 singles rulebook:

• ›200 meters. At some venues that means multiple laps, and it's your job to know the course map and count them.
• ›Pick the right weight. Selecting the correct kettlebells for your division is the racer's responsibility, not the judge's.
• ›Start and finish at the box. The station begins when you take the bells out of the marked box by the start/finish line and ends when you return them.
• ›Carry both bells at all times while you move, with both arms extended by your sides.
• ›You can rest. Putting the kettlebells down is allowed, as long as they don't move forward when you place them on the ground.
• ›Handles upright at the end. Return the bells to the correct box with the handles upright.

Penalties are blunt. Return the bells to the wrong place or not upright and it's 30 seconds, unless you go back and fix it before you exit the Roxzone. Carry all or part of the station with the wrong weight and you have to repeat the whole station with the right weight, or you're disqualified.

Hyrox farmers carry weights

Check the color before you pick them up. It's the cheapest disqualification in the race to avoid.

Chalk and gloves

Event chalk is provided at the farmers carry, and it's one of only two stations where chalk is allowed (the other is the sled pull). Only the event's chalk counts: bringing your own, or carrying the event chalk to another station, is a 2-minute penalty. The rulebook's list of permitted accessories includes gloves, but specifically not grips. Whatever you plan to use, train with it first.

Farmers carry technique

The carry rewards the same basics as any loaded carry. The rulebook adds one constraint: arms extended by your sides, so no hugging the bells to your chest.

• ›Deadlift them up. Hips back, flat back, grab the center of the handle, brace, stand. Rounded-back yanking is how the station starts badly.
• ›Get tall. Shoulders back and slightly down, ribs down, eyes forward. Squeeze the handles hard.
• ›Short, quick steps. Kettlebells hang lower than dumbbells and swing into your legs if your stride gets long. A brisk, compact walk keeps them quiet.
• ›Hold the bells slightly away from your thighs if they keep knocking. Bruised legs break your rhythm.
• ›Turn small. At the end of a lap, take several short steps through the turn instead of pivoting with 48 kg swinging around you.
• ›Set them down under control if you must stop, straight down, not forward.

Strongman research uses much heavier loads, but a systematic review of strongman biomechanics noted that better farmer's walk performers had greater stride length and stride rate with shorter ground contact times. The useful takeaway at Hyrox weights: a smooth, quick rhythm beats a slow, stomping shuffle.

How to pace 200 m

• ›Plan to go unbroken. In coaching practice, for most people at Open weights, the time lost walking slightly slower is far smaller than the time lost putting the bells down twice.
• ›If you will break, break early and on purpose. One planned set-down at a turn, before your grip fails, beats an emergency drop in the middle of a lap.
• ›Walk with purpose. Time under load is grip under load. A slow walk doesn't save your grip; it just holds it longer.
• ›Leave something for the lunges. The next run, then 100 m of sandbag lunges, is waiting. Your legs need to arrive in one piece.

Why grip fails on the carry

By station six, your grip has already done the SkiErg, the rope on the sled pull, and the row. Grip fatigue accumulates, so the carry is where it's most likely to show up, even if 24 kg bells feel easy in the gym.

The sleds matter here too. Good sled push technique, with locked arms and leg drive rather than grip and shoulders, leaves more in your hands. On the Hyrox sled pull, long hand-over-hand pulls driven by your legs and bodyweight cost far less grip than short, frantic arm pulls.

The trunk is the other half. A study of strongman events that included the farmer's walk and suitcase carry described how a stiffened torso supports joints that aren't strong enough on their own, and concluded carries challenge different abilities than lifting events. In practice, a carry that leans or sways is a trunk problem, not a grip problem. Mixing two-hand and one-hand carries helps with both, and our guide to suitcase carry vs farmers carry explains what each one builds.

How to train the Hyrox farmers carry

Carry often, carry heavy

• ›Race-weight carries for distance: 4 x 200 m with your division's bells, resting until your grip is genuinely back.
• ›Heavier, shorter carries: 4 to 6 x 30 to 50 m with the next kettlebell up, or heavy dumbbells. Makes race weight feel lighter.
• ›Run-into-carry pairs: 1 km run, straight into 200 m at race weight, x 2 or 3. This is the station as the race delivers it.
• ›Station rehearsal: 1,000 m row, 1 km run, 200 m carry, then a short set of lunges.

Build the grip directly

• ›Farmer holds: a timed hold with no walking, after a deadlift or row session.
• ›Dead hangs from a pull-up bar, for time.
• ›Heavy rows and deadlift variations with no straps.

Where carries fit the week

Carries are cheap to recover from, which makes them easy to fit. Finish a lower-body day with them, or add a short set after an easy run. Keep heavy grip work away from the day before a heavy deadlift or sled pull session. And keep them away from your legs-heavy days if 100 m of lunges is already on the schedule; our guide to Hyrox sandbag lunges covers how to train that station without frying your legs for the week.

The best farmers carry alternative exercises

No kettlebells heavy enough? No kettlebells at all? The carry is easy to substitute, because the job is simple: hold heavy things at your sides and walk without your posture changing.

The best farmers carry alternative for most gyms is a pair of dumbbells. Match or exceed your race weight and walk 200 m, and you've done the station. Kettlebells hang lower and bump your legs more, so do at least some sessions on real kettlebells before race day.

At home, two bags, water jugs or buckets work. Weigh them, keep the handles secure, and walk on a clear surface. If you can't get near race weight, add distance or time instead, and add holds.

Avoid substitutes that change the position. A sandbag bear hug carry is good trunk work, but the station wants your arms at your sides, so it skips the grip.

The same keep-the-pattern logic works for the other kit-heavy stations: a SkiErg alternative keeps the pulling pattern even when the machine is missing.

How exrsz handles the farmers carry

exrsz builds a periodized plan from your goal, schedule, level and equipment, so if you only have dumbbells, the carries use dumbbells. Carries, strength and running sit in one plan, it adapts each week to how you trained, and it reshuffles missed sessions instead of piling them up.

FAQ

What weight is the Hyrox farmers carry?

Under the 26/27 singles rulebook, it's 2 x 16 kg for Women Open, 2 x 24 kg for Men Open and Women Pro, and 2 x 32 kg for Men Pro, carried 200 m.

Can you put the kettlebells down in the Hyrox farmers carry?

Yes. You can set them down to rest as long as they don't move forward when you place them on the ground. Each stop still costs time, so plan to go unbroken.

What is the best farmers carry alternative?

A pair of dumbbells at or above your race weight, carried for the same 200 m. A trap bar carry or farmer handles also work, and suitcase carries are a strong trunk-focused option.

What is a good farmers carry alternative exercise at home?

Two weighed bags, water jugs or buckets carried at your sides, plus timed holds. If you can't reach race weight, carry further or hold longer.

Can you wear gloves for the Hyrox farmers carry?

The rulebook's permitted accessories include gloves but not grips. Event chalk is also provided at the farmers carry; your own chalk isn't allowed.