My fitness goal: be able carry my 130 lbs partner from the couch to the bed without waking her up. How to achieve?

[jombuche]

@whatgoeshere you guys are soo cute, i want to pick my bf up too so following this thread

 

[lovemarie]

@jombuche that’s super cute as well

 

[essentialsaltes]

@whatgoeshere Hahahahahaha I totally understand the competition mindset

 

[zoe1973]

@whatgoeshere Even if you can carry your body weight, how do you plan on moving her without waking her? Does she take Ambien or something?

 

[whatgoeshere]

@zoe1973 This one sleeps soundly through fire alarms and actual earthquakes!

 

[zoe1973]

@whatgoeshere Have you tried giving her a piggyback ride while awake?

 

[dawn16]

@whatgoeshere Obviously not the same but I’ve trained to be able to carry my 100 pound dog, and front squats and zercher squats have been the most useful for that. I thought it would be deadlifts but having the weight up in front of you makes a difference.

 

[vivienita]

@dawn16 Similar. I'm a veterinary nurse so I regularly lift large dogs.

Biceps and lats are going to be big. You definitely want your traps/lats to be on point because you'll be engaging them to stay stable. Obviously biceps will be flexed through this as well.

But squats are definitely going to be a huge base start. They'll help with trap engagement and, of course, the initial lift.

 

[gurshwin]

@dawn16 Woah Zercher squats TIL. The more lift variations I learn about, the more I start to think I should just be lifting my dog...

 

[danialclarcke]

@gurshwin Can confirm. My mom's dog is a 31 kg lab mix but thinks he's a lap dog, and he loves to be picked up Zercher squat style.

 

[ecowarrior]

@danialclarcke What is with Labs thinking they're lap dogs. They must all be directly reincarnated from teacup Chihuahuas or something

 

[dawn16]

@ecowarrior All big dogs think they're little. I think it might be that they all started little, and they don't realize they can't do the thing they did as puppies?

 

[betelo995]

@danialclarcke 31.0 kg is 68.28 lbs

 

[aleaderwasborn]

@gurshwin Be careful with it if you do! Mine did a big struggle spasm while I was lifting her over a fence last summer and she broke my nose and gave me a concussion while flailing around

 

[chosenbygod12]

@aleaderwasborn For a while my 60ish pound dog developed a fun habit of climbing up my weird attic stairs and then being too afraid to come back down by himself. He’s also very squirmy and nervous about being picked up, which made us both liable to get hurt on the way down the stairs! I ended up discovering that if I swaddled him like a giant baby first, the whole process went much more smoothly. And luckily I now live in a single-level place with no weird attic stairs

 

[rajky]

@aleaderwasborn I have a Bassett mix with a weird long body and she HATES being picked up. She’s always a terrible wiggle monster about it and there isn’t a great way to hold her even if she was still. Thankfully she’s only 45lbs so it’s more awkward than dangerous.
I’m sorry to hear about your nose!

 

[newchat101]

@rajky Unrelated to fitness, but my parents have an elderly basset who needs lifting sometimes now. The secret to avoid the weird spasm/wiggle/thrash is good butt support

 

[rajky]

@newchat101 Thanks for the tip!

 

[rusha]

@dawn16 This is helpful! One of my goals is to be able to carry my 80 pound dog in case there's an emergency.

 

[whatgoeshere]

@dawn16 I'd never heard of Zercher squats... this looks really promising!