Ruck training

[justinspicher]

I try to ”ruck” daily, sometimes its around the neighborhood, other times its in the woods. It all depends on what I have going on that day. I am pretty fortunate that I live at 7500’ and I am within a 10 minute drive to some fantastic national forest. I generally only carry what I would on a hunt, I don’t believe in carrying extra weight just to carry extra weight.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

The lbs. some of you are rucking is higher than I expected to hear; need to up my game. Started ~4 wks ago, 20 lbs, 4+ miles on paved hills. I'm ready to add 5 lbs. and have another go

Sept. will be my 1st elk hunt......

Yeah, I'm typically carryying 45-55 lbs on my back, 330 days a year (on average). But I'm not rucking. I'm actually hunting during all those days. So, no startup weight involved. Basically it's just a matter of grabbing my 50 lb pack whenever and throwing it on my back, and then taking off, no training necessary.

 

[echozarn]

I'm looking at purchasing a rucking back pack. I would like to get a pack that can carry a plate and has the waist strap similar to my hunting pack. I have been using my hunting pack with a sand bag the last couple years but would like to buy a dedicated pack for rucking this year. I was thinking there are some options that you all could share. Thanks

 

[ScottRK]

The info below is a good program to look at. Reading the prior comments I can say that if you do not have 3 hrs a week to dedicate to fitness you may want to look at your lifestyle.

Mike Prevost: Ruck Training Programs - PART 1 - On Target Publications

Interested in the potential offered by ruck training? Because of its history as a means of military conveyance, there’s plenty of information out there on rucking. Mike Prevost sorts through it with you to help get you started.

www.otpbooks.com

Mike Prevost: Ruck Training Programs - PART 2 - On Target Publications

Interested in the potential offered by ruck training? In Part One, Mike Prevost covered the research. Here he puts it all together in two programs to get you rucking.

www.otpbooks.com

I used that 2 years ago for programming starting in Feb along with lifting and got to week 21 til it started hitting 90* F and humid in late July, and I decided I wasn’t going special forces anyways at 55. Just maintained after that.

 

[Short Track]

I hire a guide

 

[Poser]

I live in the mountains so I don’t do any rucking or weighted hiking as I get plenty of backpacking in during the summer when out scouting, camping, peak bagging, fishing etc. I also backcountry ski all winter and spring with an airbag + Avy gear etc so probably 20-25 lbs there.

I don’t find it necessary to do any purposeful “heavy” rucking for training for packouts. If you have your muscular endurance in order for backpacking and you put your time in the gym with the compound lifts, your strength training + established muscular endurance will pay dividends when it comes time to load up “heavy.” That being said, you do have to spend some time with a pack on to be in shape for backpacking -no way around it.

 

[khart_6882]

I'm looking at purchasing a rucking back pack. I would like to get a pack that can carry a plate and has the waist strap similar to my hunting pack. I have been using my hunting pack with a sand bag the last couple years but would like to buy a dedicated pack for rucking this year. I was thinking there are some options that you all could share. Thanks

Is your hunting pack a frame pack? I just removed the bag from the frame of my mystery ranch and strapped a 50lb bag of salt to the frame. Less wear and tear on the bag


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[Mykolaivka887]

I hire a guide

Smart move. I liked that post. Perfect.

 

[S.Clancy]

I wear a 70lb pack when I am walking the dog, the loop is like 3 miles some decent uphill. I do that 3 ish times (2-4) a week.

 

[pcrossett]

Is your hunting pack a frame pack? I just removed the bag from the frame of my mystery ranch and strapped a 50lb bag of salt to the frame. Less wear and tear on the bag


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I do the same and I think it has the extra benefit of "practice how you play" so if you start feeling something funky in the pack after a while you will know how to adjust if needed once you get in the mountains.

 

[insanelupus]

I add my rucking in as a sixth day to my training program, in addition to simply hiking during better weather months 2-4 times a week with light weight (20-30 ish lb hikes). 6th day rucks start with 50 ish lbs and add up to 90-100 ish pounds.

As I add weight, mileage shortens. 60-70 lbs is where I like to peak mileage. I try to always ruck on grade. For me rucking flatland typically wasn't as beneficial as grade.

Weekly fitness is a mix of strength training 3x/wk, LISS 4x/wk, dedicated mobility 1x/wk, long endurance (3ish hours) 1x/wk of mixed modality (individual or combo of bike, running, rowing depending on the wk).

This has been beneficial for me and i continue to see improvement.

BTW, part of my program being close to 50 is minding injury potential, i.e., not rucking in ice, extreme mud, wet scree, etc.

Yes, I tackle those in season just fine, but the pace is slowed and preventing injury in those situations is the focus, not improving fitness.

One more note, as I age, the better dialed my nutrition and sleep, the better the quality of my training and fitness. Sleep is currently the biggest challenge, but if i can hit 7-7.5 hours, I feel extremely good and perform well. Nutrition is primarily sufficient protein with enough good carbs, eliminating ultra processed food, and plenty of hydration (goal is 1 gallon H2O a day). It isn't a secret or magic, but when I hit all these objectives (training, sleep, nutrition) in the proper moderated quantities (not too extreme either direction), I feel blessed and compared with where my fitness used to be a a younger man, it verges on miraculous.

 

[bsshaver]

I ruck once in October on the rugby pitch. Live at 400ft elevation. Put my first pack on sept 2nd and would run circles around you overachievers at 12,000’ & 50+ years old. By the sound of it we got a bunch of bud lite drinkers.


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[CMF]

Is your hunting pack a frame pack? I just removed the bag from the frame of my mystery ranch and strapped a 50lb bag of salt to the frame. Less wear and tear on the bag


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I do the same with my exo... no need for another pack/bag around...

 

[FlyAK]

I don't have time to drive to areas with terrain to hike so I take my pack to the gym and wear it on the stairmaster and alternate between it and the treadmill. I vary speeds, inclines and so on. I do this weekly throughout the year.

My wife and I are going to do "The Incline" in Manitou Springs in May so I've been on the stairmaster a lot more than normal recently.

As mentioned, core work is equally important and maintaining flexibility as well. It's one thing to just ruck and climb but being able to go over deadfalls, fences, under low branches and so on are essential as well. Train accordingly.

Wags, I do the Manitou Incline about twice a week, usually mondays and thursdays. I actually just did it about an hour ago. Just under 36 min to the top. It’s a blast! Great way to prep for hunting season. Have fun!

 

[khart_6882]

I ruck once in October on the rugby pitch. Live at 400ft elevation. Put my first pack on sept 2nd and would run circles around you overachievers at 12,000’ & 50+ years old. By the sound of it we got a bunch of bud lite drinkers.


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Cool story…


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[Jdeck09]

Easy to overtrain in Ruk especially for the older guys (joints are joints and like the springs on your truck, they get burnt up). I do #50lb / 5-8 miles once a week and then incorporate a lot of resistance training 3-4 times / week. Keeping the heart rate in Zone 2 and periodically 3 will help build endurance and shed those unwanted bacon handles. Walking is the best expecise out there overall. Monitor your heart rate, this gives you the feedback you need. Shuffle UP the hills and get your body acclimated to UP, UP, UP, then flat pace over smoother ground. Like the others said, 'don't ever stop'. Go year around

I am going to give this a shot! Thank you!

 

[Wags]

Wags, I do the Manitou Incline about twice a week, usually mondays and thursdays. I actually just did it about an hour ago. Just under 36 min to the top. It’s a blast! Great way to prep for hunting season. Have fun!

Man that's a great time! I'd like to push it and time myself but there's no way my wife could maintain my pace and I don't want to leave her behind. We're going to take our son's back later this year hopefully and I'll go at it for time with my oldest. I'm envious for those of you who have access to things like this to train on. Strong work.

 

[Marbles]

Is your hunting pack a frame pack? I just removed the bag from the frame of my mystery ranch and strapped a 50lb bag of salt to the frame. Less wear and tear on the bag


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Quality hunting packs are the most comfortable with weight. So, I train with my hunting pack. If money is not a limiting factor, one could always get a second frame.

 

[Spiro]

Sooner the better


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[Marbles]

Well now that I know 4.5 on flat ground is achievable I have to strive for it haha. I managed to get 3.8 this morning with 50lbs. Seems like there’s a very fine sweet spot where I was just on the cusp of a jog and my pack would very slightly sway left to right opposed to bouncing and I could really make some time. It was tricky to maintain that pace but practice makes perfect I reckon


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I was finally able to hold 4.5 mph for a kilometer. To hold above 4.2ish I end up in a very odd trot that is almost a run, but a foot on the ground at all times and I don't bounce. This pushes my HR to just below lactate threshold in the 170s, which is higher than most of my runs.

Definitely gives me a lot of respect for the physical fitness of WWII dogfaces and the old breed.