How Rucking Can Turn Your Walks into a Full-Body Workout

If you’re looking to add a new workout to your fitness routine, try rucking—walking with a weighted backpack.

Originally a military training exercise, rucking has grown into a popular fitness trend. It’s a full-body workout with numerous physical and mental health benefits.

“In the military sector, we’re doing it for a purpose. We’re doing it so we’re able to complete a mission and get all of our equipment where we need to get it,” said Kayla Aritt, NASM-CPT, a certified personal trainer based in Pompano Beach, Florida, who began rucking when she joined the Army six years ago.

Aritt typically carries 45 pounds when she rucks with the military, but in her personal workouts, she sticks to 15 to 25 pounds. She suggests starting with a lighter weight and gradually increasing it.

“On the civilian side, you’re doing it for a fun exercise. You’re doing it for the health benefits, like trying to increase bone density or trying to get in a moderate-intensity exercise,” Aritt said.

How to Start Rucking Safely

Rucksacks and weighted vests are available on the market, but you don’t need special gear loaded with military-level weights to start. Simply find a backpack, add something heavy, and take a walk.

It’s up to you to decide how long and how far you want to ruck. Current physical activity guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise. However, you might want to mix this into your routine rather than rucking every day.

“For somebody who has never rucked before, if they’re going to start rucking, they probably would want to start with every other or every third day to give their body a chance to recover, to make sure that doing it on consecutive days is not going to cause some sort of adverse soreness or pain,” Joseph Ihm, MD, a board-certified doctor in physical medicine and rehabilitation and sports medicine at UW Medicine, told Verywell.

You can start with 10 pounds or 10% of your body weight, Ihm said. Then, aim for a 15-minute per-mile pace and adjust the weights as needed.

“A lot of times people will see the weight and think, ‘Oh, it’s only 10, 15, maybe 20 pounds. When you walk for a mile, you’ll find that the weight is actually much heavier than you think. So start low and go slow,” said Matthew Stone, RN, MS, MBA, APRN, a certified nurse practitioner at Ohio State’s Wilce Student Health Center.

Increasing the weight slowly over a few weeks or months allows you to build core strength, which helps support the rucksack and can protect you from back pain, Stone added. To further protect your back, consider also wrapping the weights or books in a towel before putting these in your rucksack.

Should You Try Rucking?

People who have back problems, cardiac issues, or problems with weight-bearing exercises should speak to a healthcare provider before starting rucking but, overall, this is relatively safe for most people, Ihm said.

Research shows that walking, even without a weighted rucksack, has anti-aging benefits and helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and high blood pressure. Adding a weighted backpack could help you increase the intensity of your workout, but this is not your only option.

“You could walk faster to increase the intensity, you don’t have to wear a weight. You could cross-train and do something you’ve never done before, which might allow you to do a higher intensity. You could change from a steady state exercise to interval training and affect the intensity,” Ihm added.

Rucking is just one option for mixing up your fitness routine and staying active. If you want to try it, but don’t know where to start, look for a local rucking group. Research has shown that working out in a group helps decrease stress compared to working out alone or not exercising at all.

Typically, people ruck at a pace where they can still chat with each other, according to Stone.

“You’re basically able to walk and talk and continue to get a good exercise in,” he said. “It allows you to develop a community of people where you actually get to know them and talk while you exercise.”