I often say that walking is the human condition, but I would like to amend that to be more precise: walking with a load – or driving – is the human condition. Casual idling is an important part of becoming an active, capable human being and lays the ideal foundation for a healthy level of fitness. However, it can and should be lifted with occasional (or regular) walking while under weight.
For example, when hunter-gatherers walk 12 miles back from a successful hunt, they carry a 40-pound antelope on their shoulders — or a woven basket full of tubers, fruit, and beehives. When the Roman legionnaires marched 18.5 miles in one day, they also carried a 45-pound package. They then proceeded to build a defensive fortress in two hours. When the kids walked to school (before the ubiquitous presence of SUVs filled with miles), they carried briefcases full of books.
Hell, the whole premise of bipedalism is that it allows you to walk while carrying stuff – tools, building materials, shelter materials, weapons, food, meat, plants and roots. These are all essential objects that humans carry on two legs, all of which increase the pull of gravity you have to resist.
Why should you play
Today, we load our food into the trunk of a truck and take it home — or worse, we deliver it to our door. We take our children to school and pick them up. We drove to manicured trails, hiked for miles, and had an air-conditioned van waiting to take us home with a smoothie stop along the way. We parked at the campsites and complained about the 100 meter hike.
Now, these aren’t “bad,” but they’re novel environments to the human genome that make us weaker and more vulnerable to stressors in general. . As with everything, if we want to become better, stronger and healthier despite modern conveniences, we must set arbitrary and artificial boundaries for ourselves. A great way to do that and recreate the full-load walking environment of our ancestors is to ride a bike. Rucking is wearing a weighted backpack while walking and hiking. That’s it. And when you’re juicy, you’ll start to see some real benefits.
Rucking build grit.
It’s a full-body workout that gets you stronger, faster, faster and everything else, but a lot of exercises do just that. Heck, almost all of them do. Rucking builds on an invisible quality that I can only describe as grit or toughness. Because rucking is hard.
Rucking makes you stronger.
You’re losing more weight — the oldest recipe in the book for getting stronger.
Cardio training is a great way to get a cardio boost without increasing speed.
It’s a low-intensity/high-intensity exercise. It’s intense because you’re bearing more weight. It’s low intensity because you’re moving at a walking pace. Uphill/downhill cycling in particular is a great cardio workout and if you do it carefully, the joints will be easier than you think.
How to Ruck
If you stop reading now and just take your heavy backpack out for walks and hikes, you’ll probably be fine. But there are some additional details and tips that I can offer that you may find helpful.
1. Get a backpack
You can shuffle with any sturdy backpack filled with rocks, sandbags, books, or weights. But if you’re really serious about it, I recommend a dedicated bag. These are solid backpacks known as backpacks designed to handle and distribute heavy loads across the body. They usually have proprietary weights that fit perfectly in a backpack, so that the load is balanced and even.
The highest rated brand is Go Ruck. It’s the only way I can recommend because it’s the only way I’ve ever tried, but I’m sure there are others you can use.
2. Start small — lose 5-10 pounds more than you think you can handle
You can always add more weight next time, but if you fall into deep water with too much weight, you will have a hard time getting it back up.
3. Choose the right path
A good rule of thumb is to start running on a walking or hiking path that you can do in your sleep. Pick one that’s already easy for you without any consideration and that you enjoy doing. Don’t take it as an “exercise”. Then you can make it harder.
4. Perfect your gait and walking technique
Any slight disturbance to your walking technique or gait will be compounded by the extra weight, as will any damage to your joints or muscle strain.
Remember, the rucking is already loaded take a walk. Do not run. Regular running with 30-40 pounds on your back is a leading cause of injury. It won’t happen to everyone, but it happens to enough people that it’s not worth trying your luck. You’re better off walking with the weight and saving your running time for non-weight loss outings.
5. Don’t abuse it
Playing the piano is training; it is not an event. When you train for anything, you don’t want to fail. You don’t want to leave everything on the field. Putting all that into a competition (or a life-and-death situation). Coaching is for you to become stronger so that when those serious situations arise, you can handle them. Leave some in the tank.
6. Gradually increase your weight
Remember to start small and once you feel comfortable, increase your weight.
- Beginner: Ruck 10-15 pounds along a route you’ve done many times before with ease
- Medium: Ruck 20-30 pounds along a route you’ve done many times before with ease
- Advanced: Ruck 30-50 pounds along a route you’ve done many times before with ease
7. Shadow painting on the hill
I find that dashing uphill (and then downhill) is an amazing workout. Surprisingly, it feels better and more efficient than cycling on flat ground.
Rucking Alternatives
You don’t have to buy a backpack that rattles, or even wear one. There are other options for walking with loads:
- Carry a large branch or log on your shoulder: The best part of this is that they are usually free for hiking and you don’t have to take it home with you. Just find a suitable twig or log and carry it around for as long as you like and then dump it on the ground when you’re done. This also works with large rocks.
- Bring a friend and a kettlebell with you: When either of you gets tired, take it off. When the other person gets tired, it’s your turn. Continue until the walk is over.
- Wear a weighted vest: This is a different type of weight distribution that puts some of the weight on the front of your body, which presents its own set of challenges.
- Load sandbags or duffle bags: You can fill it with sand or gravel and take it for a walk. Move from shoulder to shoulder, hug tightly, carry the bride over the threshold, or drape them over both shoulders. Just keep it there, whenever you can, and walk with it.
- Use normal backpacks with weight: This won’t be as comfortable as a backpack. The straps will go deep into your shoulders, not much of the load is distributed to the hips, and the bag can break. But it do work if you’re having trouble.
If you want to elevate it, load a loosely packed sandbag over your head to take your workout to the next level.
There are dozens of ways for you to load your walking weight, backpacks being the most comfortable and accessible. But the point is: incorporate load-bearing walks into your schedule and watch your fitness soar and your connection to our ancestral past solidified.
Caring for people. I’d love to hear about your experiences with hikes or truckloads.
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