Nothing builds a hard midriff and seriously old-school strength quite like loaded carries.
Requiring zero specialist kit — just a loaded barbell will suffice — the Zercher carry hits nearly every muscle in your core to build strength and stability. Similarly, you'll work on ‘anti-flexion’: the ability to resist being bent up like a pretzel under a heavy load, a handy tool in both training and everyday life.
Zerchers hit your core as well as the postural muscles in your upper back that have become criminally underused in the 21st century and can help to balance out desk-bound life. They’re an uncomfortable movement, too, increasingly uncommon in gyms chocked full of padded machinery — helping to build your grit and mental strength.
Sold? Good. Use this workout ‘finisher’ to incorporate Zerchers into your routine, whilst also building your back, arms and scorching calories to boot. Load up your barbell and complete five rounds of the following circuit as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining good form.
Burpee over bar x 10
Stand tall with your loaded bar at your side, on the ground. Step back and hit the deck, lowering your body until your chest touches the floor (A). Stand back up and jump powerfully over the bar (B) – driving through your hips when you take off. That’s one rep. Then, drop to the floor and go again, moving back and forth over the bar.
Prisoner squat x 15
Stand tall after your final burpee with your torso upright and your hands on your head (A), drop your hips back to sink into a deep squat (B). Hold for a second, before pressing through your heels to stand up, repeat.
Zercher Carry x 20m
Deadlift your bar up to your waist before sinking into a deep squat, your barbell resting in the crease of your hips. Take both arms and reach under the bar, squeeze your fists, and with the bar resting in the crook of your elbows, lift it away from your hips, then stand tall (A). Keeping your torso upright and core braced, take powerful strides forward (B) quickly covering the distance, or turning around at the halfway mark.
With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.
