Everyone loves a shortcut. Any time you see a patch of grass at the corner of a pavement, it’s bound to be trampled down by people looking to shave milliseconds off their journey. The problem is, in the fitness world, you’ll be hard-pressed to find many shortcuts that actually work.
Rucking – wearing a weighted backpack while you walk – could be one of the few exceptions. So I decided to give it a go, committing to walking 10,000 steps a day for a week with a weight on my back.
The practice originates in the military, but it’s attracted the masses in recent years thanks to its accessibility and appealing effort-to-reward ratio. Simply add weight to your walks to amplify the intensity and challenge your heart, lungs, legs, core and more. This can boost your fitness and build strength throughout your body – not a bad return from a pop to the shops, or any similar short jaunt.
With the practice promising to make fulfilling my fitness fix feel like a walk in the park, I slid on my rucksack and set off – here are five things I learned.
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Rucking is accessible
When you start a new type of exercise, there’s usually a period where you don’t have a clue what you’re doing. Case in point: my early teenage gym sessions consisted of a few ropey bicep curls and 20 minutes on the treadmill. But with rucking, I found this wasn’t the case.
Without wanting to brag, I’ve walked with a backpack before, and rucking was just that with a little extra weight. Once I’d acknowledged the slight shift in my centre of gravity, I was good to go.
Another important point to note is that, while I used a purpose-built backpack and weight plates from rucking specialists GoRuck, you don’t actually need any specialist equipment to get started.
“If you want to start with a lighter weight, I suggest just throwing a few household items in a bag,” says Nichele Cihlar, GoRuck’s director of training. “My water bottle is really large and heavy, so you can put something like that in your ruck then work your way up.”
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It’s versatile
I walk quite a lot anyway, so rather than trying to fit in regular long rucks I decided to wear the weighted backpack as I went about my day-to-day life. And for me, this worked a treat.
“I always recommend keeping [your weighted bag] by the front door,” Cihlar says. “If you have to go and find the rucksack then find the weight plate for it, you might not bother to bring it. But if it’s right by the door, it’s easy to put it on.”
I wore mine for dog walks, a day in the office, a pop into town; when I was out of the house, the rucksack rarely left my shoulders. And I found I was able to rack up 10,000 steps per day fairly easily by taking this approach.
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But rucking can also be a handy tool if you struggle to fit movement into your day. By increasing the intensity of walking as an activity, it means you can draw more benefits from a shorter stroll.
“I have a couple of French bulldogs and I live in Florida where it’s very hot, so they can’t go super long distances,” says Cihlar. “It’s shorter walks for us, so by adding a ruck to that I can get more out of it.”
It can help you build strength
Wearing a weighted rucksack makes walking harder, and very few people would choose to make something harder unless it offered a whole bunch of benefits. Fortunately, rucking delivers on this front.
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“Walking is largely a lower body activity, so the quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius [muscles in the thigh and calf] are going to have to accommodate that heavier load,” Dr Elroy Aguiar, assistant professor of exercise science at The University of Alabama, tells me.
“As a result, you would get small improvements [in strength and bone density], especially if you do it over a prolonged period of time. You would also get some improvement in muscle mass from rucking, although it probably won’t be equivalent to what you could achieve from strength training.”
“Rucking also helps develop your core strength and the postural muscles in your upper back, because you’re holding that weight on your shoulders,” Cihlar adds.
After walking particularly hilly routes with a heavier weight, I found my thighs felt the familiar dull ache more commonly associated with a challenging leg day. And my upper traps (the muscles you can see around the base of your neck) were hit particularly hard when I was carrying higher loads.
It’s not just a workout for your muscles
Strength is only one benefit to come from rucking. You’ll also call your heart and lungs into action for cardio perks, and you’ll work them harder than if you simply went for an unweighted walk.
“You’re carrying extra weight, and that extra weight costs you energy to move,” explains Dr Aguiar. “It’s going to increase your oxygen consumption and heart rate if you’re trying to maintain the same speed of walking.”
To test this, I did three 1.2km loops of my undulating local park – once without the rucksack, once carrying 15kg and once with 35kg, all at the same pace. According to my Apple Watch, he first lap burned an estimated 102 active calories and my heart rate averaged 88bpm, while the final lap used 119 active calories and my heart rate averaged 108bpm.
Perhaps this isn’t the most mind-blowing difference, but I found these incremental jumps added up over the course of the week. Regularly raising your heart rate can help improve cardiovascular fitness too, and by hiking it higher you’re more likely to experience this benefit.
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As someone who exercises regularly, this final fitness perk wasn’t as much of a pull factor for me. But I did draw another less expected benefit from my rucking ventures: I enjoyed the challenge.
“The benefits are as much physical as they are mental,” says Cihlar. “I always say that you never leave the house to go for a ruck and come back in a bad mood. It’s a great way to clear your mind or get outside and get some fresh air, all while getting a good bang for your buck as far as time and fitness is concerned.”
The weight you use is important
Though it’s last on this list, this might be the most important point of all: rucking with a light backpack feels very different to rucking with a heavy one. That’s why it’s very important to find a weight that works for you, and vary it depending on the type of activity you’re doing.
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Cihlar says she usually prescribes 30lb for men and 20lb for women (roughly 15kg and 10kg in UK plates) as baseline weights, but highlights how these loads “aren’t a starting point for everyone”.
“You can literally start with any backpack and put some weight in it, which can be your water bottle, some magazines, your snacks, whatever,” she says.
This can be progressed over time as your strength and fitness builds. Then, when you can happily carry more than 5kg, it might be worth investing in some rucking plates and a purpose-built backpack for comfort.
“We also make our Rucker 4.0 rucksacks so they can hold two plates, so if you’re a heavy hitter and you’re training for a hike you can bump it up to 60lb or 75lb,” Cihlar adds.
These heavier weights are more likely to trigger strength adaptations, but you don’t want to lift a load that’s too heavy for you and risk inury.
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“As long as you’re [using a weight that means you’re] still able to walk and talk, as we say, then you’re OK,” Cihlar summises. “Your heart rate will be up, but you should still be able to carry on a conversation and breathe well.”
Personally, as someone who lifts weights regularly and weighs roughly 95kg, I found varying my rucksack between 15kg and 35kg worked for me, using the lighter load on longer walks or incidental steps, and the heavier total when I wanted to really push myself.
These heavier sessions were far more taxing on my muscles, and I could feel the impacts in my thighs and traps afterwards. Whereas, by the end of the week, carrying 15kg had become like a default setting and I felt comfortable carting it around.
Will I continue rucking?
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Even though my rucking challenge is over, my backpack and plates remain by the front door. I no longer use them as religiously as I did during my seven-day streak – I don’t feel the need to pick them up for every walk, or hit a quota like 10,000 weighted steps a day – but I still reach for them when taking my dog to the park, among other ventures.
Why? Because I like being able to elevate a short walk into an impromptu workout, especially on busy days when it would otherwise be tricky to fit one in. I really enjoy the challenge too, and find I invariably feel better after a quick weighted walk.
For these reasons and more, I’m hoping that rucking is a fitness trend that sticks around.
Read more: I tried the viral 75 soft fitness challenge – here’s what I learnt
A new fitness court is now open for public use at the Smith River Sports Complex.
The fitness court, located at the Smith River Sports Complex, was completed in partnership with Aetna for its National Fitness Campaign across Virginia. It was created to cater to people ages 14 and older and with multiple levels of fitness in mind by allowing them to move at their own pace.
“We would like to thank Aetna for their support in bringing this important program to our community,” Henry County Director of Parks and Recreation Roger Adams said. “And for recognizing the need to support healthy lifestyles for all Virginians.”
The Smith River Sports Complex Fitness Court is one of the first communities in Virginia selected for the initiative, Adams said.
The fitness court base is a concrete pad with a connecting wall that features different equipment allowing users to work different muscles. The court is separated into seven different sections including: core, squat, push, pull, lunge, agility and bend.
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Some of the different exercises possible on the fitness court include: mountain climbers, pushups, lunges at the lunge station, pullups, burpees and different core exercises.
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“The fitness court is a wonderful example of partnerships across the public and private sectors to help break down barriers to accessible community programming,” Adams said. “Living a healthy lifestyle and taking preventative measures can help reduce the risk of developing chronic yet preventable diseases.”
“By practicing healthy habits through regular exercise on the fitness court with body weight training, individuals could significantly lower their risk of developing these diseases,” Adams said. “A body weight workout enhances coordination, balance and mobility in particular. We encourage everyone to walk, jog and cycle to our new fitness court and spend a little more time outside every day.”
“We know that when your physical health is better, your mental health is also better,” Henry County Board of Supervisors Iriswood District Representative Garrett Dillard said. “When you become a healthier community, that impacts your work, your school, your daily life.”
“We need to do better in Henry County,” Dillard said.
Henry County ranks 119 out of 133 counties in Virginia in terms of health outcomes, the county life expectancy is almost five years less than the state average, 42% of the population is considered obese and 26% of the county population reports having access to exercise opportunities, Dillard said.
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“The key word there is opportunity,” he added. “Yes, we have a fair share of problems, but we also have an opportunity to solve them if we work together.”
“By partnering with Aetna, the National Fitness Campaign … the county is now able to offer free, accessible and high-quality fitness equipment for people of all ages and abilities,” Dillard said. “The fitness court is designed to bring the benefits of exercise to everyone, regardless of fitness level, and its right here in our community.”
Along with the fitness court, users can download the free Fitness Court App which provides a coach-in-your-pocket and enhances the outdoor gym with a digitally supported wellness experience.
The Martinsville-Henry County YMCA also plans to hold classes on the fitness court in the future.
“This is sure to be the first of many initiatives that will encourage healthy habits in our community,” Dillard said. “I encourage everyone to take full advantage of this incredible resource as we work together to improve the health and quality of life for everyone in our community.”
Ginkgo Health is preparing to launch its groundbreaking AI-driven fitness application — Ginkgo Active. Designed to deliver tailored exercise plans for managing and preventing chronic conditions, the app uses advanced algorithms to process extensive health data and create individualized prescriptions, targeting balance, strength, and cardiovascular fitness. Set to be available in December, Ginkgo Health’s tool bridges the gap between exercise research and practical implementation. This move addresses a critical need for accessible, preventive healthcare solutions.
By providing dynamic adjustments based on user feedback, Ginkgo Active offers flexibility to accommodate changing needs, such as limited equipment or fluctuating energy levels. Its commitment to personalization ensures each plan evolves with the user’s progress. The app’s gamified design further fosters engagement by turning habit formation into an enjoyable experience.
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) — High cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with better cognitive performance and lower dementia risk, according to a study published online Nov. 19 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Shuqi Wang, from the Tianjin Medical University in China, and colleagues examined the association of CRF with cognitive function and dementia risk, accounting for genetic predisposition for dementia. A total of 61,214 dementia-free participants within the U.K. Biobank, aged 39 to 70 years, were followed for up to 12 years. The CRF score was estimated using a six-minute submaximal exercise test and divided into age- and sex-standardized tertiles.
The researchers found that high CRF was associated with better global cognitive function compared with low CRF (β = 0.05). Overall, 553 individuals developed dementia during the follow-up period. The incidence rate ratio was 0.60 for all dementia for high CRF versus low CRF; dementia onset was delayed by 1.48 years among people with high versus low CRF. Higher CRF attenuated all dementia risk by 35 percent among those with a moderate/high polygenic risk score (incidence rate ratio, 0.65).
“Our findings suggest that maintaining favorable CRF could be a strategy for the prevention of dementia, even among people with a high genetic predisposition,” the authors write.