Episode 52: What is "Rucking" and Why You Should Be Doing It

If you aren't in the military or an avid hiker, you might not be familiar with Rucking. But recently, this simple exercise—walking with a weighted pack—has been gaining attention from longevity experts like Dr. Peter Attia as a potential "super exercise".

In this solo Saturday episode, I dive into the research to explain why rucking is such a powerful tool for increasing VO2 max and building strength simultaneously. We cover the safety guidelines to protect your back, how to program your first 4 weeks, and why I love this tool for athletes bridging the gap between walking and running after an injury.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• What is Rucking? Defining the movement and why it pushes you into the "Zone 2" cardio sweet spot.
• The Safety Rules: A review of the Genitrini et al. study on load distribution—why you need a hip belt and why you shouldn't exceed 40% of your body weight.
• The 10% Rule: Where to start if you are a beginner (Hint: Start with just 10% of your body weight).
• Programming 101: Why you should only change one variable at a time (Duration, Weight, or Speed) to avoid injury.
• Rehab Applications: How to use rucking to rehab ACL injuries when you aren't cleared to run yet.
• Gear Check: Why you should probably ditch the running shoes for hiking shoes.

Resources Mentioned:

• Impact of Backpacks on Ergonomics: Biomechanical and Physiological Effects: A Narrative Review

• GoRuck: Beginner recommendations and standards.

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Disclaimer: Although we are healthcare providers, we are not YOUR healthcare provider. Content is for educational purposes only. Please consult your physician before making lifestyle changes.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:02

Welcome to the podcast podcast providing insight on how to can go fix yourself. The podcast hosted by Mike Bruno, a chiropractor and athletic trainer, and me, Michael Stanton, an athletic trainer and certified strength conditioning specialist. Although we're healthcare providers, we are not your healthcare provider. We will discuss general health interventions in this podcast, but you should not take that as health advice that works in every situation. Before doing anything on your changes, please consult with This podcast and views expressed here are separate from our full time jobs and represent our own opinions. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your on your listening platform and subscribe to our podcast on YouTube. Links to our show can be found platform you're listening to. This episode and future episodes solo episodes hosted by me. I'll be using this time to review specific health and wellness topic in depth, or to give some insight on something in the news that is getting coverage. Try to review the research and These episodes are designed to in length to help you learn insight into why why a specific And honestly, it gives me an bit as well. So today's topic is rucking. Um, so I'm going to do a quick see what's going on. So what is rucking? If you're not in the military or hikes, this type of exercise may So it is simply just walking or running with a weighted backpack or sack. Um, this is it's something time in the military. Hikers, you know, if you go out typically and you're out for a a bunch of stuff in a backpack So it's starting to get a little longevity experts such as Doctor unquote, super exercise. Why? Because it can help increase your VO2 max while also adding a strength component. The added weight increases your pushing you into that zone two durations is optimal for And some people call it the fat So let's look at the My research initially brought me general recommendations, but I good article to back it up. So I eventually found an article reviewed the biomechanical and backpacking and rocking. There are a few important notes from this article, especially regarding safety and performance. The first was the load If you have the option, you know instead of just using a regular old backpack, you should use a loaded double backpack which actually has a back and a front to it. So that way the weight was kind center, center your mass, so strain on your back and neck. Um, however, it does note that if you do use a regular backpack, just make sure you actually use both straps and keep the weight placed as close to the center of your body as possible. They also recommended if you can use a hip, hip belt, and shoulder straps to keep the weight tight to your center of mass. Use both shoulder straps and a Um. They also recommended not to exceed forty percent of your body weight. So, for example, if you're two rocking, you really shouldn't be So, you know, that gave me a couple quick notes, but I really wanted to figure out where do you start? You know, I'm kind of new to I've only done it a couple I bought some weights, but to be where to start. And I was kind of struggling to find the starting point in the literature. So I ended up coming up, coming company called Go Ruck. They seem to be the most and they had a good blog about So a lot of it's actually from So I'm going to run through it So right. The biggest thing is if you're a beginner, start light, start with ten percent of your body weight, right. So for example, if you're two at twenty pounds okay. And then the next part was the Uh, so they recommended to only increase weight by ten percent a week. So for example that two hundred did rucking for a week. The next week you would progress That would be a ten percent increase from that previous weight. Um, they also recommend not to exceed a third of your total body weight for general training. Um, then next they want to really make sure you focus on form. Good posture. Don't let yourself hunch over. Right. We're trying to eliminate any unnecessary strain on your back or shoulders. The pace is for them essentially Although rucking can be recommendation is only walk. And so they also point out that the Army standard is a fifteen minute mile. Um, while rocking. And I'll be honest, most people Like even my fastest walk I feel So maybe don't aim for a fifteen fast you typically walk and long period of time before you fast you need to walk. So what about total duration? If you're going to go out with a weighted backpack and go walk for a little while, a little while. So, right. We kind of talked about how we want to challenge Vo two Max and be in zone two for a little while. So if that's the goal, you for about sixty to ninety in zone two. So zone two, it's usually sixty to seventy percent of your heart rate Max. Your heart rate max is two hundred and twenty minus your age. Very rough estimate. And then from there you take sixty to seventy percent of that. For me, it falls somewhere and one hundred and forty five So come off this. I just highly recommend having, smartwatch or something that can So I would also say, if you're you're truly new to exercising general, I would actually minutes and then following that and just focusing on that. So the next thing I want to and progression for rucking. So especially going back on my, as my experience as an athletic trainer and strength coach, I want to really the biggest thing is that you focus on one variable at a time before progressing, right? So right when it comes to rucking, you really have three variables. The how long are you walking and how fast you're walking. So when you try to increase the difficulty difficulty of two or more variables in the same week, that is typically how injuries occur. If you're new to this, take it I recommend focusing on one variable for a four to six week block, progressing it, and then switching variables. So here's an example of a four Let's say we start with duration Weight of twenty pounds. A speed of seventeen minutes per times a week. Right. Just to try to keep him in that For this block, we will focus So right, the weight, the speed and the frequency all stay the same. And then we're going week by So week one we'll start at Week two we progress to thirty Week three forty minutes. Week four forty five minutes. This is a perfectly safe I know we discussed the ten percent rule, uh, kind of what Garroth did. Um, but I just want to point out especially in running, that thirty percent per week, won't have any adverse events. The ten percent rule really becomes much more important once you have a solid base and volume, you've really built yourself out. So a quick note on the gear as about this and I look it up, um, weight and walked um, and so I And the general recommendation You know, they have they're a little bit more sturdy and built, especially with the extra weight. So the cushion. So it won't just kind of Another thing I want to point out, especially as an athletic trainer and as a rehab professional, I feel like rucking is something that could really bridge the gap for athletes. I'm thinking specifically of injury or surgery, like an ACL clear for everyday activity. You know, they can walk, they can go up steps, things like that, but they're not yet clear to run. A lot of times there's, you month window before being able So I feel like this kind of gives an option to create physiological benefit and improve cardio, while providing a functional strengthening component for the legs and core without the high impact of running. And honestly, it might be a know, having to do biking or athletes usually get cleared to So I hope you enjoyed this brief If you're if you enjoyed this the podcast, please leave us a listening platform or YouTube. If you're not already, have not already, please subscribe or follow us. You can find us, uh, find links and subscribe to the well Have a great day!