How do you....................?

When I was a boy (16) I used a two wheeled barrow to shift manganese, sometimes up to 1 ton at a time, balance was all important and you needed to be able to stand between the arms of the barrow and put your arms behind you, hold the handles, lift and pull, it is always easier to pull rather than push a barrow, so with a garden wheel barrow the principle is still the same, balance, weight to the front, if a heavy load, arms behind you to pull rather than push