Get Ruck-based

Doing exercises like dead lift, squats, front squats and lunges with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells or sandbags will help you build the tactical strength foundation needed when progressing into rucking.

Rucking is a new take on an old form of exercise. It involves walking or hiking with a weighted backpack. The extra weight takes your normal walk and turns up the intensity. When rucking, you'll experience less pounding on the knees than when running, making rucking a good choice for low-impact exercise.

Rucking will build the most muscle in your lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves) but you can also expect to see muscle gains in your back, core, and shoulders because of carrying a weighted vest or ruck pack across your torso.

Ruck Training for Basic Conditioning Start out with a distance between 2-4 miles, carrying 15-25lbs of weight. Walk once per week, and increase only one of these variables each week: either 5-10lbs or 1-2 miles. Use nasal breathing to guide your pace—you literally should be able to keep a conversation going.

The best way to train for these is to move out with a rucksack for 1-4 hours at a time, combined with smart foot care. One way to break in your boots is to take a shower with your new boots and walk around in them for about two hours. This will mold them to your feet.

Rucking will build the most muscle in your lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves) but you can also expect to see muscle gains in your back, core, and shoulders because of carrying a weighted vest or ruck pack across your torso.

The definition can be as simple as walking around with a backpack on a hike or as difficult as moving fast with all your military gear, loaded for bear, over rugged terrain, infiltrating to your objective. But the terms ruck, hump or forced march all really mean getting your gear from A to B in a backpack.