Would you walk 10,000 steps a day with a heavy backpack? Rucking is the low-tech workout you should try
My pack sloshed as I hiked up the hill. I was wearing a Cotopaxi backpack with cross straps at the hips and chest, equipped with an additional 10 kg of water in a plastic bag – not exactly the kind of load that would make military personnel sweat, but this was my first organized “backpack.”
I reached the top of the hill, marked by a stone, and was greeted by stunning views of the British Lake District. I was at the summit of Orrest Head, a small and easily accessible hill near Windermere, but our group only stopped briefly to admire the view before continuing down the other side, determined to take on greater challenges before the day was over.
I was “backpack marching,” which meant walking with a backpack loaded with extra weight for about five miles (about 10,000 steps, according to my Garmin watch). It’s an ancient form of training that’s still practiced by militaries around the world today. Soldiers build endurance by completing long marches with heavy backpacks and equipment like weapons.
Outside of the military, rucking has made something of a comeback among fitness fans recently. While overcomplicated approaches to fitness seemed to dominate the latest fads in the last decade, the 2020s (perhaps inspired by the lack of available equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic) have seen a focus on getting back to basics: using the best under-desk treadmills for walking at home; calisthenics; strength training; or “animal flow,” which requires only a floor.
Rucking fits this trend perfectly. You shoulder a heavy backpack and start walking, and that’s pretty much it. You need to make sure you have the right shoes; one of the best fitness trackers or GPS watches or an app like AllTrails so you can track your route and find your way back safely; comfortable clothes, a water bottle, and a quality backpack – I recommend one with cross-body straps to distribute the weight more evenly across your upper body.
The advantages of rucking
The jerking is said to have a positive effect on our muscles and contribute to “core activation”. The “core” of our body consists of the abdominal and lower back muscles. These are the muscles that relax and become soft when you sit for too long and don’t move enough.
According to a 2017 study from the Education University of Hong Kong, walking with a backpack carrying 10% of your body weight results in “critical changes in core muscle activation and lumbar spine loading,” requiring your stomach and back to work more effectively—not to mention your butt when you’re tackling a steep incline.
It’s also good for fat loss. Walking in general is very beneficial: it’s a low-intensity form of exercise that most people can do easily, and it’s free. For many of us, it’s often the only form of exercise we get, and we should all try to incorporate more walking into our daily routine.
However, when you carry extra weight, you burn more calories because you have to exert more energy to keep moving. Exactly how many you burn is debatable and varies greatly from person to person. But the faster you move and the more weight you carry, the more calories you burn.
A muscle-building and fat-burning activity that’s less strenuous than running, is cheap and easy to try, gets you out in nature, and reverses the damage of sitting for long periods of time – what’s not to like? I’m a convert and encourage you to give it a try.
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