Why Rucking Is One of the Best (and Most Underrated) Forms of Exercise
In the last few years, rucking has exploded in popularity, but not everyone knows what it actually is. Simply put, rucking means walking with a weighted backpack (or rucksack). Originally used in military training, it’s a low-impact workout that helps you burn serious calories and build muscle without the joint strain of higher-impact exercise.
"Rucking is sort of the main activity of physical training in the military, just throwing weight in a backpack and going for a long walk," researcher and best-selling author Michael Easter said in an interview with Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. "I've actually started to shift my language from using the term rucking to simply saying walking with weight or weighted walking."
If you’ve ever rucked, you know it’s one hell of a workout. Not only does it absolutely destroy (in a good way) your cardiovascular system, but by mile five, your legs are burning and your shoulders are crying out.
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Benefits of Rucking
Aside from the fact that you just look hardcore walking around with weight on your back, rucking comes with a ton of benefits—from boosting endurance and improving cardiovascular health to expanding your low-impact workout options. It’s easier on the joints than running, yet it torches more calories than your average walk.
“The benefit is that you’re getting a cardio stimulus because you’re covering ground, but you’re also getting strength work because you’ve loaded your skeletal system,” says Easter. “It’s a two-in-one—so you generally burn more calories per mile than walking or running, simply because you’ve added extra weight.”
Not to mention, rucking helps fill the gaps in a lot of people’s training. In the world of health and fitness, most athletes tend to fall into one of two camps: gym bro or runner. While hybrid athletes have started to change that, plenty of people still stick to one lane. According to Easter, rucking not only gets people outside—it gives them a way to improve their cardiovascular health without the joint strain of running.
“It’s one of these activities that can really fill in gaps in people’s training,” he says. “It gets people outside. There [are] a lot of gym people who are like, ‘Yeah, I lift all the weights, but I’m not doing that running thing.’ A lot of people can’t run, but walking feels a little too easy, so I’m not going to do that. If you can throw some load on someone and have them go for a walk, it gets them outside [and] helps them preferentially burn fat compared to something like running.”