Trends in fitness and health are almost comically predictable.  Some celebrity positioned expert has a personal affinity to an approach or style of training and they spark ongoing discussions on its benefits.  Like an ocean wave building momentum it becomes an unstoppable force.

 

Rucking may be that unstoppable fitness trend for 2024.  Thanks to Andrew Huberman, Peter Attia and many other health expert podcasters you’ve likely heard of rucking in the last couple years more than ever before.

 

So can it live up to the hype?  Or will it be the next Shake Weight or Thigh Master that comes in with a bang and exits just as fast with a whisper.

 

Spoiler alert: Rucking has been around for decades and will continue to be for decades to come.

 

What is rucking?

 

Rucking is simply walking, carrying some extra weight on your back.  It’s so simple it doesn’t hardly seem worth writing and talking about.  But there is elegance in simplicity.

 

Rucking is a walk with some purposefully added weight to add some intensity to condition yourself.  If you’ve ever gone for hike with a heavy backpack or walked a long distance with a toddler strapped to your back, essentially you’ve done some ruck training.

 

The term ruck comes from the German description “der Rücken” which translates to the back.  Rucking has its origins in decades of military training where your rucksack is a backpack.

 

What are the health and fitness benefits of rucking?

 

Posture, Spine Stability and Lower body Strength

Adding extra load requires additional postural stability.  A study on military recruits found with increasing carriage weight increased abdominal muscle and spinal muscle activity and increased spine stabilization was found.

 

Dr. Stuart Mcgill, the worlds leading back expert, states that rucking can be a great way to build resilience in your spine when properly progressed in a training routine.

 

Increased muscle activity has been demonstrated in the calves, hamstrings, quads and glutes with increased load carriage.

 

A large review conducted in 2019 shows a strong association of leg strength and power to load carriage performance in tactical personnel.

 

From military data we know the most common areas of injury from load carriage occur in the spine and lower extremities.  More specifically the low back, the knee and lower leg account for the majority of rucking related injuries.

 

However these injuries are reported in military settings where the volume of rucking is much more significant than the majority of us are considering.  These are obviously areas of stress and stress as we know is important to build resilience.  With biomechanical load and stress comes opportunity for improvement in these areas.

 

Cardiovascular Fitness: VO2 Max

The additional load added increases metabolic demand which subsequently increases cardiovascular strain.  Of course.  Harder effort increases the cardiovascular effort.  No real shocker there.

 

VO2 max is the maximal amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise.  While rucking is not generally performed as a maximal exercise, training at submaximal intensities will induce a training effect on VO2 max.

 

Austrialian researchers have shown in as little as 10 weeks VO2 max can increase by as much as 5%. However these authors combined load carriage training and strength training so it’s impossible to extract the specific role rucking played in increasing VO2 max in this study.

 

5% may not seem dramatic.  And certainly if increasing your VO2 max quickly is the primary target, there are more efficient ways to do this such as Sprint training or high intensity interval training.

 

Cardiovascular Fitness: Aerobic Threshold

Rucking is perfectly suited to help build aerobic stamina or endurance by improving your aerobic threshold.

 

Your aerobic threshold is the exercise intensity at which blood lactate begins to accumulate substantially and subsequently your ability to continue exercising will diminish.  Working to improve this aerobic threshold will allow you to continue to do steady state work for a long time.  This training peaks article highlights the value of building your aerobic base which I would argue we all should strive to do, not just endurance athletes!

 

Mitochondrial Biogenesis (aka building Mitochondrial Density)

Mitochondria are the energy powerhouse of your cells and are tied to a myriad of health benefits, including protecting against many chronic diseases including diabetes, alzheimers, parkinson’s and some cancers.

 

While it’s true that many forms of exercise are capable of inducing mitochondrial biogenesis rucking, like walking, is easily accessible and a relatively low cost way to stimulate this energy powerhouse.

 

The degree of association between mitochondrial density and longevity has yet to be established.  However, there does seem to be a strong signal in support of the conclusion that increased mitochondrial density improves longevity, including the finding that individual genetic mutations are present in centenarians that increases their mitochondrial density.

 

Bone Mineral Density

While we know weight bearing exercise is important in maintaining bone mineral mass, there is insufficient evidence that high intensity exercise is superior to lower intensity exercise options for increasing bone mineral density.

 

A study showing long term weighted vest use prevented hip bone loss in post menopausal women.

 

Rucking is a great lower intensity option and combined with some weight bearing resistance training and potentially some higher intensity training could form a great foundation for building and maintaining solid bone health (in the spine and lower extremities at least!).

 

Weight loss

There are no available studies directly on rucking and weight loss.  However it’s not much of a stretch to extrapolate findings from walking research.  We know those who walk more, tend to be leaner, and that walking over the long term in sedentary individuals can lead to weight loss.

 

A couple years back we wrote an article comparing high intensity cardio of slow cardio for fat oxidation and ultimately weight loss.  The results may surprise you, and support the expression “there a many roads to Rome”, including rucking.

 

If time isn’t a concern, or you need to balance out your current fitness routine with some lower impact alternative there is definitely an argument for weight loss when incorporating rucking regularly.

 

Rucking and longevity

There is a large body of evidence connecting walking to increased longevity.  Our most recent article on this body of evidence demonstrates value in working towards that 10,000 step a day goal if you want to live longer.

 

So why not turn up the dial a bit while you’re at it.  Add some extra load and get some extra cardiovascular and musculoskeletal benefits for at least some of those 10,000 steps.  If rucking forces you to get some extra steps in, then that’s a significant reason on it’s own to get started.

 

Who should consider rucking?

Anyone:

-who walks regularly and is looking to beef up their overall return on their walking investment

-who trains/exercises more than 3-4 days a week and doesn’t have some other form of longer/lower intensity training session (ideally 1 hr or >)

-struggling to lose weight looking to add some low intensity/impact options

-unable or unwilling to perform higher intensity cardiovascular training

-especially seniors, who do not have a regular weight bearing exercise routine (ie weight training) and are looking to build bone mineral density

-especially endurance athletes, looking for an alternative way to build/maintain their aerobic base

-looking to enhance their posture and spine stability

-looking to build leg muscle stamina and endurance

-who values their long term health!

 

How to Get started

Start with a weight that’s no more than 10% of your body weight.  Go for a comfortable walking distance and gradually increase the load, your total time walking and your pace as your body adapts.

 

Human nature is to slow down once the weight gets heavier, so be aware of your pace if you are trying to step up your cardiovascular challenge by adding weight.

 

If you are making your own ruck pack there are some considerations in how you carry the load.  You want to keep the weight as close as possible to the body and to carry the weight high on your back to enable an upright torso and minimize energy expenditure.

 

A clear sign your ruck or weighted vest is too heavy is a hunch or lean in your torso forward to keep the backpack from tipping you backward.  Think of giving a kid a piggy back ride or carrying a way too heavy backpack; the natural compensation is to lean forward.  You want to try and be able to maintain a normal upright walking posture.

 

If you want to read more about proper rucking technique, this article is solid.

 

Also ensure your ruck gear or backpack is not too tight, thus restricting your breathing capacity and increasing your energy expenditure, or heavy in an isolated spot on your shoulders, potentially causing some symptoms to radiate down your arms.

 

There are many ruck gear companies.  We have no affiliation to any of them.  Here is one option to get you started.

 

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and please feel free to reach out with any of your rucking related questions or concerns!