Rucking 101
Practical Warrior Fitness to get you in Fighting Shape
Ruck Training Programs – PART 1
There’s quite a bit of published research on appropriate training for load-bearing marches, also known as rucking.
This article will serve to summarize and interpret those military research findings to provide background for Part Two, which will discuss how to apply the findings to a ruck training program.
Rucking Basics
So, what do you need to know to understand the types of training that benefit rucking? The risks involved? The basics? Here goes:
The load carried by the average foot soldier in combat is very heavy. The table below is from the NATO scientific technical report on load bearing marches:
You read that correctly 40kg . . . 88 lbs . . . and the loads are not getting lighter. The same report provides the table below from Afghanistan. Note that the loads are reported in kilograms:
Add in an M-60 or a PRC-77 and you see why us old farts learned real quick what was worth actually carrying. Sometimes that statement of charges for losing shtuff in the field ain't so bad...
...At least until I lost the hammer out of a 292 Antenna kit. Who knew those $500 hammers they told about on the news were real? (Walmart had it for $5, just had to paint it green) :)
88 pounds is no joke even with a really good quality backpack and most backpacks are definitely not good quality. I have an old school Dana Designs pack and even with a top of the line pack that much weight is significant.