Tuesday, October 01, 2024
Do you love the idea of running—getting outdoors, burning calories, building cardio fitness—but you wish you could do it without, you know, running? Try walking with a weighted pack instead, an activity that’s become known as "rucking."
What is rucking?
Rucking means walking or hiking with a weighted pack. It’s the fitness version of what they do in the military: marching long distances while carrying supplies in a rucksack. (Rucksack, rucking, get it?)
When you ruck as part of a fitness routine, you probably won’t carry hiking or military supplies—especially if you’re just going for a short ruck around your neighborhood. Instead, your pack will hold weights, or you might just use a weighted vest.
What are the benefits of rucking?
Like running or other cardio, rucking is a form of steady-state cardio. It gets your heart rate up for an extended period of time, so it’s great for your cardio fitness. It also burns plenty of calories, so it can be useful in maintaining or managing your weight.
Why not just walk, without the weight? Once you’ve achieved a basic level of fitness, walking is a very low-intensity exercise. If you already walk, and you’re ready for more of a challenge, your next best options are walking faster, walking uphill, or walking with added weight. Rucking is that last one—but you can combine all of these factors when you ruck.
Can I use a regular backpack for rucking?
Yes, but people who really get into rucking will often buy special packs or use a weighted vest. If you already have a backpack you can use, do your first few rucks with that, just to see if you actually like rucking.
You’ll notice pretty quickly that a loose dumbbell in a backpack is uncomfortable. The quickest way to get started is to buy a bag of play sand (typically $5 or so for 50 pounds) and use a portion of that, in a bag that’s taped shut, as your first rucking weight. It won’t have any hard edges to poke you, and you can add more sand to the pack as you get stronger.
If you do choose to use weights from your home gym, consider wrapping them in a towel for cushioning. Weight plates are likely to be easier to work with than dumbbells or kettlebells. Whatever you use, try to keep it as high as possible on your back, and snugged up against your body. Straps or bungee cords can help to keep your pack from flopping around.
What equipment should I get for rucking?
First, before we talk about packs, make sure you’re wearing appropriate shoes. You may want sturdy boots, like hiking boots, instead of running shoes. The exact model and fit are up to you.
When it comes to the pack, consider whether you want a pack that can carry useful items (great if you are hiking or backpacking, or going on very long rucks) or if you just want to add some weight in the simplest way possible.
If you’ll mainly be rucking with light to medium weights for short distances, consider a weighted vest. (These are also great if you like to do weighted pushups or other exercises. Your CrossFit friends all have one for Murph.) There are fitness-focused weighted vests that have pockets for small pouches of weight. This one from CAP is available in a 20-pound version, but there are also options that go up to 80 pounds. You can add or remove weights as needed, so buy the heaviest vest you think you’ll actually use.
Another option for weighted vests is the type that loads with a thin rectangular(ish) plate, like this from Wolf Tactical. These are more expensive, but tend to be more customizable for heavy weights, and they bill themselves as being higher quality.
If you’ll be rucking long distances and carrying supplies, go for an actual pack. There’s an older style of military pack called the ALICE, which you can sometimes find sold cheaply as surplus. They’re not particularly comfortable, or so I’ve heard. Molle style packs are the more modern equivalent. There’s no need to stick to the military aesthetic, though. If you plan to do a lot of backpacking and camping, head to your local outdoors store and try on hikers’ packs.
When you’re carrying a real pack, you can fill it with snacks and water, plus your first aid kit and survival essentials. Just about every good pack is set up to take a hydration bladder, which lets you keep several liters of water on your back and sip from it through a flexible straw without having to stop and unzip your pack.
How much weight should I use for rucking?
As a beginner, 10 pounds may be plenty. See if you can keep up a strong pace with that weight, and if so, consider adding weight. Most people will use between 10 and 50 pounds for rucking, depending on body size and fitness.
There is a rule of thumb in the military that soldiers shouldn’t be asked to routinely carry more than about ⅓ of their bodyweight. This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, and you certainly don’t have to follow military rules in your personal fitness journey, but it may be helpful as a guideline for knowing how much is too much.
As with anything else in exercise, you’ll want to start easy, make sure your body can handle what you’re asking of it, and increase gradually. Every couple of weeks, consider whether your rucking weight is still appropriate and adjust it if not. This may mean going heavier as you get stronger, but it could also mean lowering the weight if you had a hard time keeping up when carrying heavier loads.
How fast should I walk when I’m rucking?
In the military, a 15-minute mile is considered a good pace. Most people walk at about a 20-minute mile pace, so a 15-minute mile is a good bit faster. And you’re doing it with a weighted pack! Again, see this as a goal, and work up to it over time if you aren’t ready to work at this pace just yet.
How often and how far should I ruck?
You can approach this like any cardio exercise, starting with whatever amount you can comfortably do right now, and increasing as long as you feel good and have the time to do it.
If you don’t currently do any cardio, two to three times per week for 20 to 30 minutes is a good place to start (or to work up to, if that is more than you’re ready for at first). If you already run, bike, or use the cardio machines at the gym, swap one or two of your weekly sessions for a ruck.
Once you’re in the habit of it, you can ruck pretty much any amount you want. Rucking counts as vigorous cardio, meaning 75 minutes per week meets the bare minimum exercise guidelines, 150 minutes is a good amount for an active person, and more is great if you’re up for it. Consider rucking three to five times per week, for 30 minutes or more each time, with one of those sessions being a longer one, an hour or more. That last one is perhaps best done as a weekend hike with friends. Tell them you’ll bring the snacks—you have plenty of room in your pack.
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