Daily ruck backpack weight ?

[Thom]

Does it make sense to carry extra weight ? I generally just carry seasonal kit. I have a ACD dog. He likes long walks or he pesters me all day . 8 mile walk usually. Rural road walk . Today 2 cars passed.
thom

[Ryan Jordan]

Two reasons to consider carrying extra weight:

1. It may allow you to increase your heart rate, giving you a better aerobic training workout.

2. It will help your joint musculature adapt to carrying weight (relevant for backpacking).

And the counterargument:

1. If you can achieve a high-aerobic workout without carrying the weight (by increasing pace), you may not tax your joints unnecessarily.

I think it depends on your goals.

I’ve moved towards *not* carrying *heavy* packs for most aerobic training. I will carry weight if I’m actually doing a long hill climb, for muscular endurance training.

[MJ H]

Carrying heavy weight on paved roads/sidewalks for any distance does a number on my feet/ankles and hips.  I used to try to train by putting 40 pounds on my back for my usual evening walk around the neighborhood and that was a bad idea.  Though it did keep me from going into the bar, because I was afraid of funny looks.

[Geoff Caplan]

I’m very dubious of the benefits of this fad for rucking, especially as I slide gently into decrepitude. The wear and tear on the joints seems like too great a risk.

I’m lucky enough to have wonderful hills on my doorstep, so to intensify short walks I simply tackle the slopes at the fastest speed I can muster carrying the minimum day-sack compatible with safety.

Wind-sprints add to the training benefit.

That way, even a half-hour walk helps harden me up.

Given that all of us here are dedicated to walking the hills with modest packs, why encumber ourselves when we’re training?

[Bill Budney]

There is more to it than aerobic training.

Rucking combines some of the benefits of strength training with aerobics. Both are important for a long health span. Rucking is far easier on joints than running.

Backpacking/Rucking may be the single most complete life sport.

Backpackers may choose to train light but they are carrying a pack when they are on trail.

Getting off the road may be even better. Do hills when you can.

Consider carrying different weight on different days. It varies the workout and gives you more recovery time between heavy sessions.

[George W]

I have three packs by the door, 10, 20 and 30lbs. I switch up which one to use depending on what I feel like. When I don’t take a pack I feel like I’m floating. I live 5 miles down a dirt road with lots of trails and no people.

This has nothing to with the rucking fad, I started doing it 35+ years ago. I’ve always had a large yard and I load up my pack and use a push mower.

[Mark Verber]

I have been doing “rucking” on and off for several years.  Motivation (1)  reported health benefits, (2) strengthen my muscles (3) improve my tolerance to weight on shoulders. When I carry more than 10lb on my shoulder I fatigue much quicker than when I have 20lb mostly on my hips… trying to make myself not so sensitive to weight on shoulders.

I have a backpack by the door which is typically loaded with between 20-40lb and is used on most of my walks in town and often when I go into the hills near home.

I haven’t noticed improvement. I still fatigue at the end of the day when carrying >10lb on my shoulders.  I haven’t noticed strengthen improving faster when doing rucking + strength training compared to just strength training.  I am planning to be much more disciplined in the next year, do A/B and decide if I am going to continue.

What seems to be much more energy / time efficient is doing a farmers carry of my body weight for a few minutes a few times a week.

[Brian W]

I do zone 2 cardio on the treadmill for at least an hour 3-4x a week. This gives me my base as I usually hike in zone 1 and 2 except when doing hills.

As for backpack weight, my day pack isn’t a whole lot lighter than my backpacking pack because I usually carry 2-3 liters of water. So I’m usually day hiking with around 15-20 pounds. I definitely feel this when I hike up local hills, where I aim for at least 1000 feet of elevation gain. I usually do these in zone 4-5 by going faster. But as I get more fit, more ends up in zone 3.

Don’t really know much about this rucking fad. One of my friends asked me about it yesterday. Back in the day folks wore weighted vests. I’d rather hike with more weight on uneven terrain as it more closely matched my backpacking with a backpack.

[David D]

I recently listened to an interview (Spotify etc) with Dr. Morgan Brosnihan, a PT specializing in backpacking and thru hiking injuries.  She runs a mobile clinic and telehealth so hikers can tap an expert on trail.

She recommends rucking as one element of training, mainly for injury prevention vs endurance.  She’s a fan of training as similarly to the activity as possible and discusses how to choose weight.  She also likes farmer carries to help avoid shoulder pain from pack weight.

She shares a lot of great training advice based on treating many backpacking specific injuries.

[Geoff Caplan]

I’m sceptical of the value of rucking as strength training, to be honest, especially for older folks like me. I used to be a national-level athlete and have kept up with the research, and it simply doesn’t tick some important boxes.

My philosophy is simple – specific strength training for strength, and specific cardio training for cardio. You end up with a regime that’s safer and more time-effective. Many of the exercise scientists I most admire promote this view, though clearly it’s an evolving field and not everyone agrees.

Much the best strength regime I have found is Timed Static Contraction, developed by Ken Hutchins and his collaborators. It’s proven, inexpensive, convenient, extremely time-efficient, ultra-safe and super-effective. It can be adapted for anyone from elite athletes to frail nonagenarians. What’s not to like? The benefits are general, and they strenuously challenge the current vogue for functional strength training.

You can also do TSC on zero-days on the trail – all you need is a length of webbing. Because you don’t experience the DOMS typical of conventional strength training, you’re pretty much fully recovered by the next day.

Rucking, on the other hand, was developed for young, super-fit, ultra-hard infantry grunts. The fact that it’s claimed to be safer than running is hardly a recommendation, given the notorious injury rates experienced by runners. Here’s a literature review that concludes that regular recreational runners typically experience an annual injury rate of over 50%: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1439399/

By contrast, I’ve never had an injury in decades of doing walking wind-sprints up a hill. And Timed Static Contraction has a reported injury rate approaching zero – which is why I’ve taught it to my frail 92-year-old mother. who is an enthusiastic convert.

[Author]

Posts