Keg Load

🎯 Lower back🏋️ OtherIntermediateCompoundAbdominals (2°)Biceps (2°)Calves (2°)Forearms (2°)Glutes (2°)Hamstrings (2°)Middle back (2°)Quadriceps (2°)Shoulders (2°)Traps (2°)

How to do the keg load

  1. To load kegs, place the desired number a distance from the loading platform, typically 30-50 feet.
  2. Begin by grabbing the close handle of the first keg, tilting it onto its side to grab the opposite edge of the bottom of the keg. Lift the keg up to your chest.
  3. The higher you can place the keg, the faster you should be able to move to the platform. Shouldering is usually not allowed. Be sure to keep a firm hold on the keg. Move as quickly as possible to the platform, and load it, extending through your hips, knees, and ankles to get it as high as possible.
  4. Return to the starting position to retrieve the next keg, and repeat until the event is completed.

Muscles worked

The prime movers are the spinal erectors running either side of the lumbar spine, which hold the spine extended instead of letting it round under load.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the abdominals brace the trunk so force can pass between the hips and the shoulders; the biceps add force at the elbow; the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position.

The forearms, glutes, hamstrings, middle back, quadriceps, shoulders and traps take a share of the work as well.

Every exercise for:Lower backAbdominalsBicepsCalvesForearms

How this movement works

The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.

It is filed under strongman, where the load is deliberately awkward rather than balanced. Most of the difficulty goes on holding on and staying braced.

What you need

These train the lower back too, using equipment this one does not:

Difficulty

Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.

Of the 35 lower back exercises in this database, 12 are listed at intermediate level.

Related exercises

Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →

ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.