Suitcase carry

Type

Core and stability

Equipment

Band or dumbbells

Area

Lower back

Level

Advanced

Starting dose in Remedy

3 carries of 30 seconds per side

How to do it

1. Pick up a dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand using a hip hinge, not by rounding your back.
2. Stand tall with your shoulders level and the weight by your side.
3. Walk at a normal pace for about 30 seconds, keeping your trunk upright.
4. Set the weight down with the same hinge, switch hands, and repeat.

Form cues

• Walk tall.
• Keep both shoulders level; don’t lean toward or away from the weight.

Common mistakes

• Leaning away from the weight to balance it.
• Shrugging the loaded shoulder up.
• Starting too heavy. Choose a weight you can carry with good posture the whole time.

Easier and harder versions

• Easier: Side plank

Why it helps a sore back

Carrying something on one side tries to bend you sideways. Resisting that is exactly what the side-of-trunk muscles do in daily life, from grocery bags to a child on one hip.

How Remedy uses it

In the app it is called Suitcase Carry. Remedy is more likely to pick it if you say your back is bothered by standing or walking or working out. A typical starting dose is 3 carries of 30 seconds per side, and the program adjusts reps as the weeks go on. Every exercise in the app has a demonstration video.

General fitness information, not medical advice. Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain, or pain, numbness, or tingling spreading down a leg.