Rucking help Running?

[sandhillhunter]

Does weighted rucking help improve running strength or endurance?

I’m curious about this as I am training for a marathon in December.

I really enjoy rucking in preparing for my mountain hunts, but don’t want to waste time doing it if it’s not going to help with distance run training.


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[Coach Chris]

No
Running improves running

 

[Poser]

Professional/competitive runners do not spend time rucking for training.
I agree with the above comment: you'll want to train for a marathon by focusing on running.

 

[V2Pnutrition]

+3. Specificity is one of the fundamental components of training.

With that said, I think employing some muscular endurance training 1-2x/week would be a very wise move to reduce injury risk/improve your running. That's been a huge personal shift for me and several other guys I know who do endurance/ultra/whatever and often advised by coaches in mountain training programs like Uphill Athlete and Evoke.

This podcast is primarily geared at helping people prepare for moving through the mountains with weight, but they have a small blurb about ME and the value it holds for folks doing running and competition without weight. Here is a simple ME workout progression to follow, too.

While not a direct answer to your question, it does have you use weight. One method I've used and like alot is loading my pack with 80lbs to do the movement instead of using a barbell/db/kb, etc...

Best of luck on your marathon!