Suitcase Carry

If your lean shows up on one side — and for a lot of ultrarunners it does — this is your exercise. The side lean is largely a stabilizer problem: when the muscles along one flank fatigue, your pelvis drops and your torso tips. The suitcase carry trains those stabilizers under honest load, and it has a way of exposing your weaker side before a 100-miler does.

Hold a heavy weight in one hand and your core has to fire hard on the opposite side just to keep you vertical. That's anti-lateral-flexion — the direct counter to the sideways collapse. It doubles as postural endurance: you're not lifting, you're holding yourself together while you walk, which is a pretty good description of the back half of an ultra.

How to do it

Pick up a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand. Stand tall first — shoulders level, hips level, ribs stacked over your pelvis. Brace your whole midsection, then walk with smooth, controlled steps for a set distance or time. The whole point is to not tip toward the weight, and not to lean away to counterbalance either. Stay stacked. Set it down, shake out, switch hands.

Cues that matter

• Stand as tall as you can and keep both shoulders level — don't let the loaded side hike or sag.

• Brace as if someone's about to poke you in the ribs.

• Walk under control. If you're tipping, the weight's too heavy — drop down.

• Notice the side-to-side difference. Give your weaker side an extra round.

Video Example: Champion Physical Therapy and Performance demonstrates Suitcase Carry

Dose it

3–4 rounds of 20–40 yards (or 30–45 seconds) per hand. Heavy enough to challenge your posture, light enough that you never break form.

Make it easier / harder

Easier: lighter weight, march in place, or shorter distance. Harder: more weight, longer carries, or take it onto uneven trail. This one also lives comfortably in your Lateral Hip Stability section if you'd rather file it there — it earns its place in both.