10 Best Conan's Wheel Alternatives for Quad Strength

Original Exercise: Conan's Wheel

Primary Muscle

Quadriceps

Equipment

Other

Difficulty

Advanced

Type

Compound

Secondary Muscles: Abdominals, Biceps, Calves, Forearms, Lower Back, Shoulders, Traps

How to Perform Conan's Wheel

1. With the weight loaded, take a zurcher hold on the end of the implement. Place the bar in the crook of the elbow and hold onto your wrist. Try to keep the weight off of the forearms.
2. Begin by lifting the weight from the ground. Keep a tight, upright posture as you being to walk, taking short, fast steps. Look up and away as you turn in a circle. Do not hold your breath during the event. Continue walking until you complete one or more complete turns.

Pro Tips

• Category: Strongman
• Movement type: Compound

Ranked Conan's Wheel Alternatives

Best Match

1. Yoke Walk

72.1% Match

Quadriceps Other Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. The yoke is usually done with a yoke apparatus, but is sometimes seen with refrigerators or other heavy objects.
2. Begin by racking the apparatus across the back of the shoulders. With your head looking forward and back arched, lift the yoke by driving through the heels.
3. Begin walking as quickly as possible using short, quick steps. You may hold the side posts of the yoke to help steady it and hold it in position. Continue for the given distance as fast as possible, usually 75-100 feet.

2. Elevated Back Lunge

64.4% Match

Quadriceps Barbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Position a bar onto a rack at shoulder height loaded to an appropriate weight. Place a short, raised platform behind you.
2. Rack the bar onto your upper back, keeping your back arched and tight. Step onto your raised platform with both feet. This will be your starting position.
3. Begin by stepping backwards with one leg. Descend by flexing your hips and knees until your knee touches the floor.
4. Pause, and extend through the hips and knees to rise up, returning all the way to the starting position before alternating.

3. Dumbbell Single Arm Overhead Carry

60.9% Match

Delts Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in one hand.
2. Raise the dumbbell overhead, fully extending your arm.
3. Engage your core and keep your back straight as you walk forward, maintaining the dumbbell overhead.
4. Continue walking for the desired distance or time.
5. Switch hands and repeat the exercise.

4. Split Squat With Dumbbells

60.4% Match

Quadriceps Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Position yourself into a staggered stance with the rear foot elevated and front foot forward.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, letting them hang at the sides. This will be your starting position.
3. Begin by descending, flexing your knee and hip to lower your body down. Maintain good posture througout the movement. Keep the front knee in line with the foot as you perform the exercise.
4. At the bottom of the movement, drive through the heel to extend the knee and hip to return to the starting position.

5. Dumbbell Step Ups

59.7% Match

Quadriceps Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Stand up straight while holding a dumbbell on each hand (palms facing the side of your legs).
2. Place the right foot on the elevated platform. Step on the platform by extending the hip and the knee of your right leg. Use the heel mainly to lift the rest of your body up and place the foot of the left leg on the platform as well. Breathe out as you execute the force required to come up.
3. Step down with the left leg by flexing the hip and knee of the right leg as you inhale. Return to the original standing position by placing the right foot of to next to the left foot on the initial position.
4. Repeat with the right leg for the recommended amount of repetitions and then perform with the left leg.

6. One-Arm Overhead Kettlebell Squats

59.7% Match

Quadriceps Kettlebell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Clean and press a kettlebell with one arm. Clean the kettlebell to your shoulder by extending through the legs and hips as you pull the kettlebell towards your shoulder. Rotate your wrist as you do so. Press the weight overhead by extending through the elbow.This will be your starting position.
2. Looking straight ahead and keeping a kettlebell locked out above you, flex the knees and hips and lower your torso between your legs, keeping your head and chest up.
3. Pause at the bottom position for a second before rising back to the top, driving through the heels of your feet.

7. Sled Overhead Backward Walk

57.9% Match

Delts Sled Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Attach dual handles to a sled connected by a rope or chain. Load the sled to a light weight.
2. Face the sled, backing up until there is some tension in the line. Hold your hands directly above your head with your elbows extended. This will be your starting position.
3. Walk backwards, keeping your arms raised above your head. Avoid jerky movements.

8. Olympic Squat

56.4% Match

Quadriceps Barbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Begin with a barbell supported on top of the traps. The chest should be up, and the head facing forward. Adopt a hip width stance with the feet turned out as needed.
2. Descend by flexing the knees, refraining from moving the hips back as much as possible. This requires that the knees travel forward; ensure that they stay aligned with the feet. The goal is to keep the torso as upright as possible. Continue all the way down, keeping the weight on the front of the heel.
3. At the moment the upper legs contact the lower, reverse the motion, driving the weight upward.

9. Car Deadlift

55.9% Match

Quadriceps Other Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. This event apparatus typically has neutral grip handles, however some have a straight bar that you can approach like a normal deadlift. The apparatus can be loaded with a vehicle or other heavy objects such as tractor tires or kegs.
2. Center yourself between the handles if you are a strong squatter, or back a couple inches if you are a strong deadlifter. You feet should be about hip width apart. Bend at the hip to grip the handles. With your feet and your grip set, take a big breath and then lower your hips and flex the knees.
3. Look forward with your head, keep your chest up and your back arched, and begin driving through the heels to move the weight upward. As the weight comes up, pull your shoulder blades together as you drive your hips forward.
4. Lower the weight by bending at the hips and guiding it to the floor.

10. Narrow Stance Squats

55.9% Match

Quadriceps Barbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. This exercise is best performed inside a squat rack for safety purposes. To begin, first set the bar on a rack that best matches your height. Once the correct height is chosen and the bar is loaded, step under the bar and place the back of your shoulders (slightly below the neck) across it.
2. Hold on to the bar using both arms at each side and lift it off the rack by first pushing with your legs and at the same time straightening your torso.
3. Step away from the rack and position your legs using a less-than-shoulder-width narrow stance with the toes slightly pointed out. Feet should be around 3-6 inches apart. Keep your head up at all times (looking down will get you off balance) and maintain a straight back. This will be your starting position. (Note: For the purposes of this discussion we will use the medium stance described above which targets overall development; however you can choose any of the three stances discussed in the foot stances section).
4. Begin to slowly lower the bar by bending the knees as you maintain a straight posture with the head up. Continue down until the angle between the upper leg and the calves becomes slightly less than 90-degrees (which is the point in which the upper legs are below parallel to the floor). Inhale as you perform this portion of the movement. Tip: If you performed the exercise correctly, the front of the knees should make an imaginary straight line with the toes that is perpendicular to the front. If your knees are past that imaginary line (if they are past your toes) then you are placing undue stress on the knee and the exercise has been performed incorrectly.
5. Begin to raise the bar as you exhale by pushing the floor with the heel of your foot mainly as you straighten the legs again and go back to the starting position.

Why You Might Need a Conan's Wheel Alternative

You might swap Conan's Wheel for equipment, injury, or preference reasons. The wheel creates sustained anterior loading and continuous knee extension; shoulder, wrist, or core issues can make it impractical. Alternatives like landmine or front-loaded squats preserve the upright torso and knee torque without overhead stress. Bulgarian split squats or single-leg variations reduce spinal load while increasing unilateral quad recruitment and balance. If you lack heavy implements, slow-tempo hack squats or lunges increase time under tension. Technique cue: maintain an upright torso, track the knee over the toes, and use a controlled 2–3 second eccentric to prioritize quadriceps activation and safe biomechanics.

How to Choose the Right Substitute

Choose a substitute based on equipment, mobility, and training goal. For max load capacity pick landmine or Zercher setups, they let you load the anterior chain while keeping trunk upright and maximizing knee-extension torque. For unilateral strength and imbalance correction choose Bulgarian split squats or rear-foot-elevated variations, pause at the bottom to increase quad time under tension. If knee pain or limited range is an issue, shorten depth and emphasize controlled eccentrics. Technique cue: load through the midfoot, keep knees tracking over toes, and limit forward trunk lean to retain quad-dominant mechanics. Progress via load, reps, or slower eccentrics depending on hypertrophy or strength aims.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Exercise Alternatives

Find Alternatives for Any Exercise

Use the exercise substitution finder to compare ranked alternatives for your available equipment and training preference.