- Rucking has risen in popularity among elite athletes and tech and business executives.
- It helps build stamina, strength, and cardiovascular fitness, so I decided to try it.
- I was surprised by how challenging rucking was and how much it elevated my daily walks.
As a person who does a lot of walking and a lot of weight lifting, I thought rucking — walking while carrying a heavy weight in a backpack — would be a breeze. I was wrong.
Rucking has been a popular military training tool for decades. It's a staple for both the US Army and the British Royal Marines, who call it yomping.
In recent years, however, rucking has exploded in popularity, both among elite athletes such as six-time Fittest Woman in the World Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and high-level executives in business and tech.
The benefits of rucking are wide-ranging: It can help build stamina, strength, and cardiovascular fitness, while also strengthening bones and burning energy.
As a health reporter, keeping active is important to me. I've been lifting weights for seven years, play netball, row, and run most weeks, and aim to walk every day to hit 10,000 steps (even though I know there's nothing magical about that number).
Rucking appealed to me because it seemed like a simple way to make my daily lunchtime walks more efficient.
It only took one attempt, however, to learn that carrying a weighted backpack, known as a ruck or rucker, completely changes a walk. My lunchtime stroll was replaced by a challenging workout that raised my heart rate and left me so sweaty I needed to shower.
Having tried rucking a few times now, I can understand why it's a brilliant way to improve your fitness, but it's definitely not relaxing like a regular walk.
Proper rucking equipment is pricey
I used GoRuck's 15L Rucker 4.0 with one of the brand's 20-pound plates in the inside pocket.
The backpack is designed to hold both a weight plate and have space for other items like a bottle of water, an extra layer of clothing, and snacks.
The rucker alone costs $245 and the plate costs $105, so they're not cheap.
However, the products have a lifetime warranty and are designed specifically for rucking. To minimize injury and improve posture, the weight stays closer to your body and higher up your back than if you just put heavy things in a normal backpack, and the bag has thickly padded shoulder and sternum straps.
There are a lot of colors to choose from, and I opted for a berry shade, which I thought was very cute and on brand for me.
Walking around with the ruck on definitely doesn't look as odd as wearing a weighted vest. That said, it doesn't look like a normal backpack, so I did get a few strange looks as I strolled around the rural village where I live on a weekday lunchtime.
It felt very different from carrying a normal backpack, too, likely due to the weight and its positioning. I often find myself carrying a decent amount of weight on my back, whether that's dashing around London with my laptop, water, and overnight essentials, or heading off on a long hike with my far-more-outdoorsy fiancé.
Rucking raised my heart rate
It took some fiddling around with the straps to find the right positioning. The rucker wasn't particularly comfortable, especially as I got sweatier and sweatier. And boy, did I get sweaty. I wasn't expecting to need a shower afterward, but I definitely did.
Loosening the straps meant my back could breathe somewhat (I didn't love the feeling of my sweaty back on the rucker), but it also meant the weight moved around and hit my back with every step, which wasn't great.
With each ruck I've done, I've swiftly felt my heart rate increase to what felt like higher than during a normal walk, so I could tell my body was working hard.
After 20 minutes or so, I could feel my upper body and shoulders fatiguing. After half an hour or so, I feel myself starting to tire.
Rucking, I have learned, doesn't help you relax and decompress like a walk might. It's a workout. And one I should not attempt immediately after eating my lunch.
I also learned that the ruck isn't something I will just always throw on when going for my daily walk. When I want to get a full body workout in while enjoying the outdoors, I will ruck, when I need to decompress, I will walk.
The ruck is useful for workouts too
One weekday evening I told myself I'd go for a ruck, but what I really wanted to do was watch Wimbledon. So I decided I'd get the best of both worlds and exercise in front of the television while wearing the rucker.
It ended up being a great workout, and definitely left me with aching muscles the next day.
I did movements including lunges, squats, and Bulgarian split squats all while wearing the rucker, and it really leveled up what would have otherwise been an easy bodyweight workout for me.
The ruck also has handles both at the top and the bottom, meaning you can easily hold it in your hands for different types of exercises.
So I will definitely keep using the rucker, both on walks and for home workouts. If you don't want to invest in much fitness equipment, a rucker is a really versatile piece of kit that can tick a lot of boxes.
Just make sure you factor in time to shower after using it.