Just Ruck It!

The arrival of spring always signals the need to accelerate training for upcoming mountain exploits, both for simple one-day scrambles and potential multi-day high routes in Washington’s Cascades. My usual response is to start loading various packs with gear and packing the weight up the local trails, and even wearing one on my garage elliptical as I pound out the miles during the early season rains. Sure, I might look peculiar lugging a big pack on the nearby woodland loops. But who cares? I am older and practically invisible as it is. Anyway, it is the results that count.

Curiously, I recently stumbled across an article that announced what purports to be the latest fitness craze, ‘Rucking.’ What the Ruck? I had never heard of it. Had I been living under a rock? Intrigued, I soon discovered that it is merely the practice of carrying a weighted rucksack for exercise. The online buzz seems primarily aimed at urban fitness buffs. If you search online, you will soon run across dedicated websites such as Ruckformiles.com and learn more, much more. And, you will not be surprised to discover several commercial ventures exist to assist one in outfitting for rucking with products specifically designed for the activity. What? Seriously? Yes!

GORUCK, the Rucking Company, assertively proclaims ‘Crush Calories. Get Strong. Rucking burns more calories than walking and builds strength.’ They sell purpose-built packs for rucking that feature internal sleeves constructed to accept ‘ruck weights,’ flat metal plates (They begin at $75 for the entry-level 10 lb. weight. Note: a gallon of water in a plastic jug weighs 8.34 lbs. and costs zilch.). A website popout exhorts ‘Join the Rucking Revolution.’ And asks for your email address, presumably to keep you informed on the latest in rucking, and rucking gear. GORUCK points out that rucking is a great way to get stronger and is easier on your knees than running. Sounds good. Really good. Need to learn more? Their website even provides links to GORUCK events and GORUCK Clubs. GORUCK encourages you to ‘Download the Sandlot app to find and join your local GORUCK club.’ It could make prospective ruckers wonder how they could have missed this next big thing. “All this was happening and I didn’t have a clue?”

GORUCK is not alone. Another entrepreneurial company, Kickstarter-funded ‘Wild Gym’ announces ‘Rucking Backpacks for Wild People.’ Their website urges ‘Build Strength. Get Outside’ and ‘Stay Wild. Join the League of Wildness.’ Who would not be swayed by that? Among other products, they sell a complete ‘Ruck System Bundle’ and in addition to metal ruck plates offer a self-fill weight bag with ‘Chop Wood. Carry Water' silkscreened on the back. ‘Holds up to 100 lbs. of sand. NOT to be filled with water.’ What? No wood nor water? Nonetheless still a very Zen pronouncement. And, the founder, Dan, a former Wildland Firefighter and Wilderness Ranger projects a friendly and inviting vibe.

Dan makes the case that their packs make rucking easier as they are custom-designed to carry the weight in the right place. He makes a compelling argument that a Wild Gym Rucking Pack is superior for this purpose when compared to a regular backpack, which may be difficult to pack properly with training weights. Keeping it simple, he offers two sizes of Rucking packs. By comparison, REI offers over 300 models of day packs and backpacking packs, a bewildering array to sort through and decide. I always laugh at REI’s so-called assortment planning. “Everything is not an assortment.” For any beginner interested in rucking the simple approach makes a lot of sense. For those of us who have a gear closet with an array of packs, less so. And, if we have been using them, are already well versed in how to load them with gear.

Both companies thoughtfully present a system approach that would appeal to anyone looking to get started with this hot ‘new’ training concept. Buy the gear, find a club, and join this cool tribe. But wait a minute. What they present is not groundbreakingly new. Anyone who has participated in, or knows of, basic military training is well familiar with the marching and double timing everywhere hauling a pack weighted with field gear, much of which you would never use, all the while shouting out raunchy call and response cadences with your case-hardened drill instructor. We have been here before. In fact, one could submit that it goes way back. Way back. Think of the Cro Magnon, early humans struggling forth, shouldering the burdensome loads of that era.

There are comparative attributes that help further differentiate the various activities that involve carrying loads on one's back. Urban vs. Wild. Elective vs. Required. Training vs. Task. Cool vs. Uncool. The new ‘rucking’ seems to be primarily urban, elective, training-focused, and presented with a healthy dose of cool. Alpine rucking is wild, elective, training-focused, and likely perceived as eccentrically uncool. And, young army recruits are participating in required, rather than elective, training. Cro Magnon hunters and the hod carriers of yore were most definitely task-focused, not training-oriented. But these varied activities can all achieve physical fitness, that is if done in moderation. Otherwise, they may just break you down. So, there is really nothing unique here. The load-bearing practice has just been updated and rebranded for a new generation.

Nevertheless, it seems that new age rucking is a worthy and effective approach for achieving physical and mental fitness, especially the getting outside part of it. Detach from the computer, put away your cell phone, and start moving. Feeling your body, seeing with new eyes, and smelling wild fragrances are a big part of the practice. I can endorse all of it, even buying the gear, if you feel so inclined. Whatever helps you overcome your body inertia and get moving. The practice itself is a worthy pursuit.

However, I will pass on the specialty rucking stuff as it is not designed for actual alpine adventures. I will keep loading my mountain packs with actual mountain gear and a few dead weights, random stuff lying around the garage, framing hammers, water jugs, and such. Such weight training refamiliarizes my body with my favorite alpine packs. That is worth something in achieving readiness for upcoming adventures. And, using gear that I already own is way less expensive than buying specialty gear just for rucking. I would rather have another lighter ice axe than a rucking pack. You see, I already find it too easy to be tempted by new mountaineering paraphernalia.

But no matter what path you choose, I encourage you to throw a weighted pack on your back, step outside, and get moving. ‘Just Ruck It!’