How to do the Overhead Carry
Step by step
- Press a dumbbell or kettlebell overhead until the arm is straight and the wrist is stacked over the shoulder.
- Pull your ribs down and brace your core so you are not arching your back.
- Walk with controlled steps, keeping the weight locked directly overhead.
- Keep your gaze forward and shoulders level as you travel.
- Lower the weight safely, then switch arms.
The thing people get wrong
Skip this if your shoulder cannot reach a stable, pain-free overhead position - never balance a load in a cramped range.
Coaching cue
Keep pushing the weight up toward the ceiling the whole walk so the arm never sags.
Stay safe
If the weight drifts behind your head or your arm starts shaking, set it down before it falls.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Use a lighter weight, or carry it resting at your shoulder.
- Harder: Go heavier, or carry one weight overhead and one at your side.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Core, Front delts
- Secondary: Upper Back, Traps, Forearms
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.