If you’ve read the Daily Checklist article, you know that we stay walking around here. Emphasizing a high step count and a high non-exercise activity level is a constant for both myself and all of my clients, regardless of age, fitness level, or even goals.
The benefits of a high step count far outweigh the effort it takes to get there.
But sometimes you want to spice up the walk and make it a little closer to exercise than our normal non-exercise category for it. Behold: Rucking. Just throw some weight in a backpack or perhaps a weight vest and you’re off to the races.
Walking and carrying is arguably the most human of all activities. We are remarkably efficient at walking, more so than most species. We are also the only species that can carry by default, meaning free of any contrivances or contraptions, and we’re really good at it as well. Arguably, it’s the only reason why we’re still around as a species. We carry a small amount of gear into a hunt, hopefully kill an animal and then carry a large amount of animal back to our people. Repeat for several hundred thousand years and here we are, still carrying.
If you know me personally, you know that I incorporate rucking into most days of my life, usually in the form of my commute to and from the gym. This very much feels like I am hiding the reps of a very light training session into my day to day life in a way that is legitimately very enjoyable while still being challenging. Let’s dive into why rucking is so awesome.
Steps + Load
If we know that a high step count is good, and being stronger rather than weaker is also good, then it makes intuitive sense that building strength in the exact range of motion we use while walking will be beneficial. The simple formula of Steps + Load is potent enough to elicit a training response while being scalable enough to be approachable for everyone.
We get all the benefits of stepping that we’ve discussed in detail elsewhere. By adding weight, we also unlock more of a training benefit as well.
Cardio-respiratory Endurance
Rucking is a great way to incorporate zone 2 training into your daily routine. Zone 2 work is essentially just hard enough to feel like you’re doing work while being easy enough to where you could realistically stay at that pace forever. You could speak a sentence normally but if you had to recite a monologue, you’d start to breathe a little funny.
Zone 2 work is important because it’s a phenomenal way to build your aerobic base. The broader the base, the higher the pyramid.
As I mentioned before, rucking as part of your routine can really feel like you’re hiding reps by sneaking them into things you’d be doing already. For me it’s a walk to work, for others it’s walking their dog or taking their kids to school. As a side note, that’s why I personally prefer the backpack over the weight vest. Besides the utility of having an awesome backpack that I practically live out of at times, the pack is significantly more incognito than a solo dude walking around in a tactical-looking weight vest.
Not always a great vibe.
Additionally anyone who has ever gone for a long, fast or particularly heavy ruck might note how it felt to their lower legs. Muscularly, it’s a little like a run but it’s a lot easier on the joints. For the runners out there who are looking to mix up their “easy runs”, this is a great substitute. I’d also argue that a lot of runners can’t really get a good zone 2 effort in because most of us can’t maintain zone 2 while still running. Therefore you could say rucking is also like an easy run for people who don’t run well. You heard it here first.
Strength
Rucking is also a great way to develop strength in your legs, trunk, and upper back.
Your legs of course are the primary movers while carrying a load. The faster you walk, the more you’ll feel your calves and posterior chain start to light up. Your feet will also get stronger as an adaptation to carrying more load as well.
Your midline stays engaged the whole time you’re under load, and your upper back and traps are loaded like springs as the weight sits on them.
The great thing about the way a loaded pack sits on the body is that it naturally pulls the shoulders back and into a solid position. This is another argument for the pack vs. the weight vest, as a weight vest can be an absolute posture destroyer.
A loaded backpack does of course fall into the category of a weighted carry, which I would say is one of the most generally beneficial types of exercises you can include in your training. We’ve discussed the benefit of a weighted carry for the aging population, but focusing on increasing one’s grip strength, stability, balance, and midline strength is a great idea at any age.
Time Outside
Not only does rucking allow us to exercise while getting our steps in, it also lets us check off another item on the daily checklist: time outside.
Spending time outside does wonders for your cognition, vision, and immune function. It’s generally phenomenal for mood and is also a great way to spend time with people you care about or meet new people. Alternatively, you can use this time as a quiet getaway time that allows you to mull over your thoughts.
Getting Uncomfortable
Last but certainly not least, rucking allows us to practice getting uncomfortable in a nice controlled (but not too controlled) way. Actively seeking discomfort is something we’ve talked about in the past and is something we aim to do somewhat routinely. Taking the ruck off when you get to your destination is a great feeling. Like climbing a mountain, the journey itself makes the destination that much better.
Conclusion
Next time you’re going for a walk, throw on a backpack with some extra weight in there and reach out to let us know how it goes.
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