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Exercise guide
Double Dumbbell Overhead Carry
A loaded walk with a dumbbell locked out above each shoulder, doubling the overhead load and removing the free arm that would otherwise help you balance.
What this exercise works
- Muscles
- anterior deltoid · lateral deltoid · erector spinae · serratus anterior · transverse abdominis · trapezius · triceps brachii
- Goals
- strength · endurance
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Category
- Strength
- Difficulty
- intermediate
Demonstration
Step 1
How to perform the movement
- Clean or press a dumbbell to lockout above each shoulder.
- Straighten both elbows fully and pull your shoulder blades up into the weights rather than shrugging away from them.
- Brace hard and keep your ribs down — with both arms overhead the temptation to arch is much stronger.
- Walk forward with short, deliberate strides, keeping both dumbbells stacked over your shoulders.
- Keep breathing shallowly and steadily instead of holding your breath for the whole carry.
- Carry for the desired distance, then lower both weights under control.
Technique cues and common mistakes
- Start lighter than your single-arm carry weight per hand. Two arms overhead is not twice as easy, it is twice as much to stabilise.
- Have a plan for bailing out before you start, and carry where you can drop the weights safely.
- Short distances done well beat long ones done bent. Stop the set when your ribs start to flare, not when your shoulders give out.