Carrying is an essential category of human movement. What makes it essential? It is a kind of movement that all humans have done every single day during the thousands of years of our existence until very recently. Humans used to carry food, water, shelter materials, and children for long periods of time. For many thousands of years, this was the only way to transport anything. Our physiology remembers this legacy.
Carrying stuff loads the cells in your body, signaling to your biochemistry to strengthen various tissues (such as bone density) and increases the work of your heart and lungs. Carrying demands effort from your core, legs, arms, and spine. Simply the work of carrying your own body is helpful, but particularly carrying other things is what enables our body to carry things in the future, including ourselves.
Carry More
What kinds of loads do you carry? Groceries? Hay bales? A backpack? A baby? Modern humans have designed a lot of alternatives that allow us to offload the effort onto wheels and fossil-fuels. But our anatomy still needs carrying movement. One option is to schedule time to pick up and put down weights at the gym. This can be a very beneficial activity, and one that many people enjoy, so that’s awesome for them! It doesn’t, however, prepare you for all the kinds of carrying one might do, such as holding those weights for an extended period of time. And it’s definitely not the only place you can strengthen your body’s weight-bearing capability.
Consider for yourself what activities you already do or would enjoy adding to your life where you can carry a few more burdens. At the grocery store, you can opt to carry items in your arms or a basket. Gardening or farming often present opportunities to carry items of a variety of shapes and sizes. There are probably some gardeners or farmers in your area who would love a helping hand. But the best opportunity for a lot of abundant carrying (in my opinion) is child-bearing.
For many of us, we may carry a gallon of milk, a backpack, or a barbell for short periods of time, but none of that compares to carrying a baby. They may start out pretty small, but unlike any other item, they often cry when you try to put them down. Another huge difference is that babies have a biological need to be held in-arms and often. If you have babies in your life in some way or shape, lucky you! You have an opportunity to strengthen your body in a way that’s really beneficial and even essential while simultaneously providing nourishment to someone else—the child you are holding.
It may seem commonplace to bear your baby’s weight within a car seat, stroller, or other device, so much so that a lot of people probably don’t even think about any other options. Each time you opt to use a device to carry your baby instead of your arms, you are missing out on your chance to develop the strength required to be able to keep up with your kid in the future. Being carried in someone’s arms also helps babies develop their own strength, coordination, and nervous system regulation so they can learn to be independent and move on their own. It’s not that one should never use things like strollers to carry, but this choice should be made with intention.
Carry Differently
Try this! Pick up a load that’s mildly heavy for you. Hold this burden in your right arm. Then switch it over to the left. You might heft it up onto your shoulders or even your head. You can cradle it in both arms or hold it low with arms stretched out. If your load is in a bag, you can play with all the different ways you can use the straps to carry it. Or perhaps you’re using a basket with handles, which presents its own options.

There are many ways to carry something. Each different configuration requires different parts of your body to work. If you always carry things in a backpack or baby carrier that centers the weight evenly, then the same parts of your body will be working every time. In the long run, you will balance the work that your whole body is doing if you don’t always carry things in the same way. In the moment, you may be strengthening one side of your body more by carrying in one arm, but eventually those muscles will tire, and you’ll naturally switch things up. Carrying things in your arms can often feel more tiring than using a backpack, but it’s for this very reason that it’s useful to make the choice to use your arms now and then.
While it’s beneficial to carry things in various ways that don’t always load your body in a balanced fashion, there are some body shapes you should be mindful of. First of all, check in with yourself the moment your pick something up. We tend to gravitate towards one shape over and over (such as always carrying your baby on the left so your right arm is free to cook dinner). Make it a habit to switch things up a moment after you put something into your arms. Secondly, when a burden is heavy enough, we often slide into shapes that take the work off of our weaker parts.
Try this: pick up a baby (or a pumpkin) and cradle it in your arms. Notice if you automatically shift your hips or ribcage forward, almost creating a shelf under your burden. This shelf trick is a smart way our bodies navigate still accomplishing the thing we’re trying to do, even when it feels really tiring. If we always go to this method of carrying right away, however, we’ll never require those weaker parts to actually work, and they will never get a chance to get stronger. Instead, see if you can stack your pelvis over your heels. If your chest is elevated, try letting it drop down. This may cause your baby or pumpkin to feel heavier—that’s because you’re working more to hold them up! Over time, your muscles will get stronger, and it may even feel easier to carry things this way. And what’s more, you’ll be teaching your body to be able to carry your own weight more efficiently as well.
Vary Your Carry
At a minimum, everyone needs to be able to carry themselves in order to live independently. Most people would probably like to be capable of more than that at least now and then. The way to keep having a structure that’s up to the task is to challenge yourself regularly. Think about the things you would like to be able to carry and carry them. Respect your body’s current capabilities, and if you have specific conditions to be mindful of, work together with a professional who can guide and support you. Don’t wait for that one day when you want to move the furniture around or pick up your new grandbaby. Make carrying things an integral part of your daily life.
