The Farmer’s Carry Standard for UCL Protection
Over the last several years, baseball’s approach to arm care has focused heavily on pitch counts, innings limits and increasingly detailed throwing schedules. Those strategies can help manage workload, but they do not address whether the muscles that help stabilize the elbow are strong enough to tolerate the forces created every time a pitcher throws at high velocity. That matters because the UCL is not responsible for stabilizing the elbow on its own. The flexor-pronator muscles along the inside of the forearm help protect the ligament by resisting the forces trying to open the medial side of the elbow during a pitch. As those muscles fatigue, their ability to provide that protection decreases and the UCL is exposed to more stress. If those muscles are part of what keeps the ligament intact, developing and measuring their strength should be a fundamental part of arm care.
The Force Problem
The forces involved in pitching help explain why this matters. Research from Glenn Fleisig and colleagues measured approximately 64 Nm of elbow valgus torque during the late cocking and early acceleration phases of the pitching motion.[1] Cadaveric testing has shown that the UCL itself fails at considerably lower loads, with one study reporting an average failure torque of approximately 34 Nm.
The ligament does not absorb the entire measured pitching torque by itself. The surrounding muscles contribute to elbow stability, with the flexor-pronator mass playing an important role on the medial side of the joint. These muscles run along the inside of the forearm and act as dynamic stabilizers by helping resist the valgus forces placed on the elbow during throwing.
Research using ultrasound has demonstrated that contraction of the flexor-pronator muscles can reduce medial elbow joint opening under valgus stress. In other words, the forearm musculature is actively helping stabilize the elbow while the athlete throws. The stronger and more capable that system is, the better equipped it is to contribute to handling the forces created during pitching.
What Happens When the Forearm Fatigues?
The issue becomes more important as a pitcher accumulates throws. Muscles do not maintain the same level of force production indefinitely, and the stabilizing contribution of the flexor-pronator mass can decrease as fatigue develops.
A study of collegiate baseball players examined elbow stability before and after a 100-pitch throwing session. Before pitching, contraction of the flexor-pronator mass improved medial elbow stability. After the throwing session, that stabilizing effect was reduced. The researchers concluded that repetitive pitching decreased the valgus stability provided by the flexor-pronator mass and could increase the tensile load placed on the UCL.
That creates a straightforward arm care problem. The muscles surrounding the elbow help share the load with the ligament, but their ability to do so is finite. As they fatigue, the UCL can be exposed to a greater share of the stress. Managing pitch counts can reduce how much stress an athlete accumulates, but it does not build the physical capacity required to tolerate that stress. Both sides of the equation matter.
Throwing Is Not a Strength Standard
Throwing develops the skill, timing, sequencing and specific physical qualities required to pitch. It does not provide an objective measure of whether the forearm, wrist and hand are strong enough to support the forces the athlete is producing.
That distinction is important because strength deficits should be addressed with strength training. If a baseball player needs more lower-body strength, the solution is not simply to play more baseball. The athlete squats, pulls, loads the tissue progressively and develops measurable strength qualities. The same principle applies farther down the arm.
The forearm should not be treated as an afterthought simply because it is involved in every throw. If the musculature around the elbow plays a direct role in stabilizing the joint, then it should be trained deliberately and measured against an objective standard.
Heavy farmer’s carries give us one way to do that.
The Poliquin Standard
Charles Poliquin and Art McDermott outlined a farmer’s walk strength benchmark in Applied Strongman Training for Sport. Their standard uses a total farmer’s carry load equal to the athlete’s five-repetition maximum in the full back squat, divided between the two hands, and carried for 100 feet without putting the implements down.
For an athlete with a 400-pound 5RM back squat, the standard would require approximately 200 pounds in each hand for 100 feet. This is a demanding benchmark, but high-level pitchers are also producing tremendous amounts of force throughout the body and transferring that force through the arm at extremely high speeds.
That is where the relationship between proximal power and distal strength becomes important. The lower body and trunk can only produce so much force before the structures farther down the chain have to control and transfer it. As pitchers become stronger and more powerful proximally, there should also be an expectation that the hand, wrist and forearm possess enough strength to support what the rest of the body can produce.
How We Use Heavy Carries
Farmer’s carries have been part of Newman HP programming for years because they are simple to load, easy to measure and difficult to fake. Heavy carries require the athlete to maintain grip strength, wrist position and elbow stability while moving under significant load. They provide a direct way to challenge the distal arm without adding more high-velocity throwing stress.
The 100-foot standard gives that training a clear target. Instead of treating carries as a few arbitrary trips across the weight room at the end of a session, the load can be tracked and progressed like any other strength quality. The athlete has a measurable number to work toward, and coaches can monitor whether that capacity is improving over time.
Carries are not the only way to train the distal arm. Grip strength, wrist flexion and extension, pronation, supination and other direct forearm work can all have a place in a complete program. The value of the 100-foot carry is that it creates an objective benchmark around a quality that is often trained without one.
Building Strength Before There Is a Problem
The 100-foot farmer’s carry is not a validated injury prediction test, and reaching the standard does not guarantee that a pitcher will avoid a UCL injury. Throwing volume, velocity, mechanics, previous injury, recovery and tissue health all contribute to the overall risk profile. No single exercise or strength number can account for all of those factors.
The purpose of the standard is much simpler. The flexor-pronator mass helps stabilize the medial elbow, and repetitive pitching can reduce its ability to provide that stability as fatigue develops. Developing more strength and capacity throughout the forearm gives the athlete a stronger physical system to help tolerate the demands of throwing.
Baseball already puts significant effort into monitoring how much pitchers throw. The same attention should be given to building the structures responsible for handling those throws. Heavy farmer’s carries provide one practical way to develop that strength, and the 100-foot standard gives athletes a meaningful target to pursue before the arm is forced to prove its capacity under game conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What muscles help protect the UCL?
The flexor-pronator mass on the inside of the forearm acts as a dynamic stabilizer of the medial elbow. When these muscles contract, they help resist valgus stress and reduce medial elbow joint opening, which helps share the load placed on the UCL.
What happens when those muscles fatigue?
Their ability to dynamically stabilize the elbow can decrease. Research following repetitive pitching has shown a reduction in the valgus stability provided by the flexor-pronator mass, which can increase the amount of stress placed on the UCL.
Why isn’t throwing enough?
Throwing is essential for pitching development, but it is not an objective distal strength standard. Direct resistance training allows the forearm, wrist and grip to be progressively loaded and measured rather than assuming that throwing alone has developed enough capacity.
What is the 100-foot farmer’s carry standard?
The Poliquin and McDermott benchmark uses a total farmer’s carry load equal to the athlete’s five-repetition maximum full back squat, divided between the two hands, and carried for 100 feet without putting the implements down. An athlete with a 400-pound 5RM back squat would therefore work toward approximately 200 pounds in each hand.
Does hitting the standard guarantee that a pitcher will avoid a UCL injury?
No. The 100-foot standard is not a validated injury-prevention cutoff. It is an objective distal strength target that can be developed and measured as part of a complete arm care program.
Contact Us
To discuss arm care programming and strength standards for your throwing athletes, contact Newman HP.
References
Fleisig GS, Andrews JR, Dillman CJ, Escamilla RF. Kinetics of Baseball Pitching With Implications About Injury Mechanisms. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 1995;23(2):233-239.
Ahmad CS, Lee TQ, ElAttrache NS. Biomechanical Evaluation of a New Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction Technique With Interference Screw Fixation. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2003.
Otoshi K, Kikuchi S, Kato K, et al. The Role of the Flexor Pronator Muscles as Dynamic Stabilizers Against Elbow Valgus Stress in Patients With Medial Ulnar Collateral Ligament Insufficiency. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. 2022;31(4):694-698.
Nara M, et al. Repetitive Pitching Decreases the Elbow Valgus Stability Provided by the Flexor-Pronator Mass: The Effects of Repetitive Pitching on Elbow Valgus Stability. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. 2023;32(9).
McDermott A, Poliquin C. Applied Strongman Training for Sport: Theory and Technical. IronMind Enterprises; 2005.
