The yoke walk is an old exercise and one of the most contested strongman carrying events beyond maybe the farmers walk. The yoke carry is a great overall body and torso strength test for any athlete. The yoke or sometimes called the super yoke carry and is a very unique and special exercise with regard to its ability to assist in developing maximal strength gains. The yoke walk unlike most traditional strength exercises challenges the torso musculature to a higher degree, which aids in overall strength development that can be carried over to traditional compound exercises. The yoke walk is one of if not the most challenging of the strongman exercises due to the athletes need to quickly correct and adjust to the movement of the implement while carrying it, the demands on proprioceptive feedback and multi-planar adjustments are unlike any other exercise programmed. Research was conducted on the yoke walk along with many other strongman exercises, testing of muscle electromyography of multiple torso and hip muscles were completed and it was found that heavy yoke walks overloaded the hip musculature, which required the muscles of the back (primarily quadratus lumborum) to work even harder to stabilize the torso and create “stiffness”, which then allowed the overloaded hip musculature to continue to perform optimally. Anyone who has trained a heavy yoke walk will know the importance of creating torso rigidity to increase the loads carried and distance travelled. This is very similar to understanding proper back squat or deadlift technique, but the demands are much higher for the yoke on multi-planar torque and frontal plane torque primarily, due to the absolute load carried and the positions reached while walking. When we coach traditional compound movements (squat, deadlift, press, bench press, pulls) tension and torso rigidity is always discussed with high importance as most people misunderstand or are unable to create proper levels of tension, which limits loads lifted. Creating proper tension is done by utilization of breath control, musculature contraction, scapular position, etc. – all these components are part of creating and being able to utilize proper posterior tension to avoid flexion or torque about the frontal plane. The research conducted on yoke carries showed higher levels of contraction and utilization of the torso musculature, which will allow for better and higher levels of strength development about the back and torso, which can then be used to develop higher levels of strength in traditional movement patterns (squats and deadlifts). At the end of the day the take home message here is that strongman exercises, especially yoke walks have an excellent carry over effect on “core” strength ability to transfer to all other movements done in the gym, incorporation of the yoke carry is a benefit to all strength sport athletes.
There have been many methods of utilizing the yoke walk (lateral movements, backward movements, swings, etc.), but we believe that the best method of yoke walk training is to first practice yoke pick-up and holds under progressively heavier loads and then progress to walking the yoke forward for certain distances and using linear progression to advance loads across weeks of training.
First, learn to pick-up the yoke with proper rack position and creation of “tension” about the torso. Unlike squatting or deadlifting, which requires extension about the lumbar position, most will find yoke carrying to overload the facets of the lumbar spine if extension is used. Learning how to brace and hold the back in a neutral position (ASIS and PSIS in alignment) is a preferred method of holding and carrying the yoke for back safety and health. While you practice yoke pick-ups you will also practice breathing under load as this is one of the most challenging aspects of the yoke carry. We recommend that one try the following for the first couple of weeks of training with the yoke;
A. Yoke pick-ups and hold 3-5x30sec hold – Rest 4-5 minutes
** This can be done 1-2x/week for 2-4 weeks. One needs to slowly build the loads and intensity that is comfortable to hold in a neutral spine position. Once this ability is developed progress to the following; with lighter loads and slowly build the loads across the weeks of training.
Weeks 1-2
A. Yoke forward carries 3 x 20 feet – rest as needed (progressively add loads over multiple training sessions)
Weeks 3-4
A. Yoke forward carries 3 x 30-40 feet – rest as needed (using loads from previous 20′ walks – this will build the tolerance and time under tension ability to begin longer distance carries int eh future)
Weeks 5-6
Day #1
A. Yoke forward carries 3 x 80-100 feet – rest as needed (use lighter loads and progress time under tension and ability to walk distances similar to competitions, which can be up to 80′)
Day #2
A. Yoke forward carries 3 x 20 feet – rest as needed (use heavier loads to build capacity and strength levels)
DISCLAIMER – the super yoke is not an exercise for just anyone. Anyone can do it and train with it, but light to moderate loads are recommended at the beginning as the dynamic nature of the movement requires experience and a volume of training that allows adaptation and learning to occur. Progress with safety and a long term focus in mind. \
**Both videos provided are not IDEAL as the hold was meant to be much longer than 5sec and the walk was only 10′, which I was aiming for 20′.
McGill SM, McDermott A, Fenwick CM. Comparison of different strongman events: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Jul;23(4):1148-61. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318198f8f7. PubMed PMID:19528856.
