Fitness

‘Rucking’: What Is It And How Does It Transform Your Body? – Health Digest

Published

2 years ago

August 8, 2024

‘Rucking’: What Is It And How Does It Transform Your Body? – Health Digest

Parfenish_579/Shutterstock

You’ve seen the hashtag #goruck on TikTok. Or maybe you haven’t. CrossFitters will include rucking as part of their WOD (workout of the day) or an additional workout to keep them fit. GQ loves rucking so much that it named rucking the workout of 2024.

Rucking comes from the military. Army ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) cadets must complete a 12-mile ruck march carrying 35 pounds of equipment — including a rifle. Rucking for civilians isn’t quite so extreme. Male CrossFitters might add 20 pounds to their weighted vests while females add 14 pounds, and a 12-mile run isn’t in their plan. Sometimes they’ll go rucking for a mile then complete 50 squats and 25 push-ups — and then repeat.

You also don’t have to be into CrossFit to be a rucker. Some people will just stuff books, bricks, or weighted plates into a backpack and go for a walk. When you think about it, you’re probably already rucking if you’ve ever carried a heavy load on your back around town, an amusement park, or an airport. The added weight on your body can help you build muscle, and you might also find that rucking can improve your posture.

Rucking improves cardiovascular and muscular fitness

woman wearing a backpack crossing a pedestrian bridge

Mireya Acierto/Getty Images

If you’ve ever carried a heavy backpack, you might notice that the backpack itself helps to pull your shoulders back so you’re standing with better posture. The added weight makes it more difficult to hunch forward because it throws you off your balance. Rucking helps you walk more efficiently while creating more stability in your shoulders. You’ll also be strengthening the muscles in your back, core, legs, and glutes.

Running with a weighted vest can also improve your cardiovascular system, according to a 2022 article in Ergonomics. People who ran with a weighted vest on a treadmill had a 7% higher heart rate and required more oxygen to sustain their run. They also said it made the running harder. Running with a weighted vest also caused them to burn more calories. Because their heart rate was higher, they burned more carbohydrates but less fat during their workout.

Exercising with a weighted vest is also good for older adults to prevent age-related muscle loss. In a 2018 study in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11 women aged 65 to 74 took part in a step exercise program while wearing added weights three days a week for six weeks. They improved the power in their legs by as much as 11%, which helped them to climb stairs 9% faster.

How to start rucking

woman walking with rucksack with mountains in the horizon

Paul Biris/Getty Images

If you want to try rucking, you probably don’t need to go to a store. Any backpack will do, although the extra straps and padding on a hiking backpack might make it easier to carry the heavy loads for longer distances. Some backpacks are specifically designed for rucking and even have weighted plates to fit easily in the pack. If you’re using dumbbells, books, or bricks, be sure to wrap them in towels or other types of padding so they don’t pinch your back. It also helps if you can keep the weight higher on your back.

Although the amount of weight you’ll use depends on your fitness, GoRuck suggests starting with 10 to 20 pounds if you can walk a mile in less than 20 minutes. You’ll use less weight if it takes you longer to walk a mile. Your first workout can be a 2.5-mile walk at 17 to 20 minutes per mile. For the next week, try for 3 miles. Do only one workout per week for the first two weeks, especially if you’re somewhat new to fitness. You can gradually progress to two workouts a week and start power walking.

Because many people are used to hunching their shoulders due to sitting at their desks or pecking at a smartphone, be mindful of your posture and balance when you start rucking. It might feel awkward at first as your body gets used to the distribution of weight on your body.

Fitness

Put the fun back in your fitness routine with this 10-minute follow-along workout from The Curvy Girl Trainer Lacee Green

Published

9 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

Put the fun back in your fitness routine with this 10-minute follow-along workout from The Curvy Girl Trainer Lacee Green

Ever feel like beginner-friendly workouts are anything but?

That’s how BODi Super Trainer Lacee Green felt, so she devised a three-week, entry-level program designed for genuine newcomers to exercise—or those just getting back into it.

“My beginner-only plan is for every body and everybody,” Green tells Fit&Well.

Green’s program combines low-impact cardio, strength, core and mobility workouts for a total of five sessions a week and 30 minutes a day.

One of the routines she loves—that she says will provide a flavor of the plan—is a total-body cardio workout inspired by seven different sports.

“There is no repetition, it’s all bodyweight and super fun,” she says. “We do basketball, we do pickleball, we do soccer, and it’s really going to get your heart rate up.”

It will all count toward the CDC’s recommended 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, while incorporating resistance training elements to strengthen your bones and muscles, she explains.

And Green has provided the full 10-minute routine below for you to try.

10-minute cardio workout for beginners

Press play on the video above and Green will guide you through the workout, or keep reading to see what’s in store.

Green’s 10-minute beginner-only cardio workout is inspired by seven different sports that she says will help channel your inner athlete.

Each sport links to an exercise during the routine. Follow the short warm-up, then perform each move for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds, for one round per sport.

In the video, another trainer demonstrates variations of each exercise so you can make it slightly more challenging as desired. The workout concludes with a short cool-down.

Here’s a brief breakdown of each exercise.

1. Basketball catch and shoot

Step to your side, then reach up into full extension as if shooting a three-pointer. Repeat by shuffling from side to side.

2. Quick football feet

Lower into a quarter squat with your feet wide apart and alternate quick stepping onto either foot. On Green’s cues, switch the direction you face from center to left and right.

3. Skater side-step

Step side to side as if skating, hitting an imaginary hockey stick across your body.

4. Soccer kick-up

Keeping light on your feet, hop from side to side as if juggling a football with your feet.

5. Pickleball shuffle

Lower into a half squat with your hands together in front of you. Keeping low, step or jump forward, then shuffle back to the start position.

6. Boxing jab cross

Stand side on with slightly bent knees and your guard up. Alternate throwing jabs with your left and right, switching your stance after 20 seconds.

7. Baseball squat to high plank

With your feet wide apart, lower into a deep squat with your hands up like a catcher. Place your hands on the floor and step back into a high plank, then back to the low squat.

About our expert

Lacee Green

Lacee Green is a BODi Super Trainer, certified personal trainer (CPT) and coach with more than 10 years of experience. She hosts a number of BODi on-demand fitness programs that are designed to challenge and motivate you while also providing a supportive and inclusive environment.

Fitness

Higher fitness levels linked to lower risk of depression, dementia – Harvard Health

Published

21 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Higher fitness levels linked to lower risk of depression, dementia – Harvard Health

research review

People with high cardiorespiratory fitness were 36% less likely to experience depression and 39% less likely to develop dementia than those with low cardiorespiratory fitness. Even small improvements in fitness were linked to a lower risk. Experts believe that exercise’s ability to boost blood flow to the brain, reduce bodywide inflammation, and improve stress regulation may explain the connection.

Fitness

These 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique

Published

1 day ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

These 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique

While many swear by them, most people see burpees as a form of punishment – usually dished out drill sergeant-style by overzealous bootcamp PTs. Often the final blow in an already brutal workout, burpees are designed to test cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and mental grit. Love them or loathe them, they deliver every time.

For Max Edwards – aka Busy Dad Training on YouTube – they became a simple but highly effective way to stay fit and lean during lockdown. Once a committed powerlifter, spending upwards of 80 minutes a day in the gym, he was forced to overhaul his approach due to fatherhood, lockdown and a schedule that no longer allowed for long, structured lifting sessions.

‘Even though I was putting in hours and hours into the gym and even though my physique was pretty good, I wasn’t becoming truly excellent at any physical discipline,’ he explained in a YouTube video.

‘I loved the intentionality of training,’ says Edwards. ‘The fact that every session has a point, every rep in every set is helping you get towards a training goal, and I loved that there was a clear way of gauging progression – feeling like I was developing competence and moving towards mastery.’

Why He Walked Away From Powerlifting

Despite that structure, Edwards began to question whether powerlifting was sustainable long-term.

‘My sessions were very taxing on my central nervous system. I was exhausted between sessions. It felt as if I needed at least nine hours of sleep each night just to function.’

He also noted that his appetite was consistently high.

But the biggest drawback was time.

‘I could not justify taking 80 minutes a day away from my family for what felt like a self-centred pursuit,’ he says.

A Simpler Approach That Stuck

‘Over the course of that year I fixed my relationship with alcohol and I developed, for the first time in my adult life, a relationship with physical training,’ says Edwards.

With limited time and no access to equipment, he turned to burpees. Just two variations, four times a week, with each session lasting 20 minutes.

‘My approach in each workout was very simple. On a six-count training day I would do as many six-counts as I possibly could within 20 minutes. On a Navy Seal training day I would do as many Navy Seal burpees as I could within 20 minutes – then in the next workout I would simply try to beat the number I had managed previously.’

This style of training is known as AMRAP – as many reps (or rounds) as possible.

The Results

Edwards initially saw the routine as nothing more than a six-month stopgap to stay in shape. But that quickly changed.

‘I remember catching sight of myself in the mirror one morning and I was utterly baffled by the man I saw looking back at me.’

He found himself in the best shape of his life. His energy levels improved, his resting heart rate dropped and his physique changed in ways that powerlifting hadn’t quite delivered.

‘It has been five years since I have set foot in a gym,’ he says. ‘That six-month training practice has become the defining training practice of my life – and for five years I have trained for no more than 80 minutes per week.’

The Burpee Workouts

1/ 6-Count Burpees

20-minute AMRAP, twice a week

How to do them:

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor (count 1)
Jump your feet back into a high plank (count 2)
Lower into the bottom of a push-up (count 3)
Push back up to plank (count 4)
Jump your feet forward to your hands (count 5)
Stand up straight (count 6)

20-minute AMRAP, twice a week

How to do them:

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor
Jump your feet back into a high plank
Perform a push-up (chest to floor)
At the top, bring your right knee to your right elbow, then return
Perform another push-up
Bring your left knee to your left elbow, then return
Perform a third push-up
Jump your feet forward
Stand or jump to finish

Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.