Sustaining and especially improving one’s vitality–such as evidenced by age-adjusted, high VO2 Max–requires new levels of wisdom for those of us of a certain age. My previous post was on VO2 Max and its significance per Peter Attia, MD, a highly-recommended authority on vitality especially for enabling it in one’s final decade. This post is about rucking as a powerful tool in improving and sustaining one’s VO2 Max.
First, Safety
The vitality pursuit for us guys (“guys” here is anthropos, ανθροποσ) is safety, particularly injury avoidance. Running intensely or jogging for hours are not age-friendly exercises.
The knees are vulnerable, especially that meniscus tissue that absorbs every pounding. The force multiplier on one’s knees can be 8-9x body weight (Peter Attia). Most of us are carrying many extra pounds from life as a desk jockey, so such multiplier is especially harmful. Splitting one’s (knee) meniscus will require arthroscopy, being laid up for a time, inflamed for quite a long time, and left with even less meniscus. Knee replacements can be done, but it is major surgery, likely requiring a year, or close to it, for recovery, at which time one’s VO2 Max will likely be drained, and may not then be fully recoverable. Age is not our friend in such matters.
So what’s the alternative to running / jogging? There are three: swimming, biking, and rucking. Biking will be another post. Here I’ll make the case for rucking.
What is Rucking?
Being between 75 and 100, and fearing years or a decade of a de-vitalized existence in the final one of life, rucking (and biking) has become my research subject and behavior. Briefly, rucking is carrying a backpack with weight, walking for multi-miles & -hours, several times a week.
The term “ruck” comes from military usage. Perhaps it originates from the word “rucksack” an older word for backpack. The ruck workout is a standard fitness test for military guys seeking to join elite military forces such as Delta. Such test is a 12 mile ruck, carrying 35 pounds, in less than 3 hours. That’s 4 mph, which is beyond walking speed, requiring a distinctive fast shuffle interspersed with power walking. More below on what a reasonable aspiration could be, for us of a certain age, as a vitality target.
Why Ruck?
The basic virtues of rucking is: it promotes gains in VO2 Max / fitness and strengthens one’s “core” (a key buzz word) while reducing the pounding on the knees and legs compared to running / jogging, and can be done anywhere, anytime, even socially, even as challenged by goals and competitions.
First some important cautions, especially for you know who (Those Of a Certain Age, TOCA). Rucking loads one’s spine beyond one’s rest case, which transmits forces through the lower muscles of the back and obviously down through the hips, knees, calves, ankles, feet. As to the knees, which is again a primary weak point, the force multiplier is estimated to be about 3x, compared to 9x for running / jogging, and of course the “x” is a little greater than baseline in accordance with the added ruck weight. So the loads are not nothing.
Rucking benefits also by strengthening one’s core, associated with demanding higher levels of balance and coordination, which does risk injury from twisted ankles to falls.
The other potential adversity of rucking is harming the spine and especially the lower back. (And there’s other stupid risks about which I can speak from experience associated with just lifting one’s rucksack and loading it onto one’s back…details upon request).
Accordingly, those of us of a certain age (TOCAs), or any age, are not good candidates for rucking. If so, don’t try it, or don’t until one has developed the needed flexibility and strength to minimize its risks.
Starting Out Rucking
For the rest of us, the key to starting rucking is starting slow, gentile. Any backpack will work, even a $15 cheapie. Any weight will do, just start small. One can use water bottles: a pint a pound the world around. So a couple of quarts, about 4 pounds, added to, say a 1 pound backpack, should be a safe trial ruck weight. A walk of a mile at a pace of, say, 22 minutes a mile, is a good first ruck. One should ruck close to upright, as a normal walking posture, avoiding any hunched over impulse.
As when starting any new physical activity, it is a very good idea to do pre- and post-stretching, and skipping the day after to assess what new hurts might have arisen. This caution may be overly-conservative; however, injuries (which is more than body parts that simple “hurt”), for those of a certain age, can be serious setbacks in this vitality fitness journey. You don’t want to lose time, because time is what has become precious for us TOCAs (for Those Of us of a Certain Age).
There is a great app that is particularly useful for rucking: “workoutdoors.” It has so many features that it will take you 15 minutes just to figure out how to get started. The activity you want to choose is “hiking” and you’ll want to title your particular rucks with the weight you are carrying. As far as I know, there is no ruck-specific activity or ability to load one’s ruck weight inside the app. The other important task is to get the heart rate zones correct for your age / condition. When you use the app it will then give you the time expended in each heart rate Zone. (More on Zones below). In the Apple eco-system, workoutdoors can be linked with Apple’s “health,” so it can export and import age, weight, etc., and link to the “3 Rings” activity metric.
Rucking Advance
After an extended number or rucks, say 3x a week for 4 weeks, with perhaps adding a water bottle or two so that you have worked up to, say, 8-10 pounds and 2 miles, you are now likely ready to descend into the ruck-cult world. A recommended site is: grouck.com. They sell excellent rucksacks, with custom weight-plates that fit securely in special pockets designed for them. One can add to the front of the shoulder straps molle-webbed holders for water bottles; Amazon has many such options.
Physically smaller TOCAs would be better suited to stepping up to 15 pound weights; with the rucksack and one or two water bottles providing a total ruck weight of about 20+ pounds; ruck purists only count the dry weight because the liquids are consumables…but I count it all because that’s what I have to haul onto my back and take that first step, always the hardest. Larger of us TOCAs could aspire to 30 pound weights, which leads to a starting carry weight of 35+ (of 40 pounds…I use two metal bottles, one for LMNT, more below, and one for Post Alley Dark Roast coffee with real cream…rucking can be joyful).
Now so ruck-weighted, it is a good idea to try just a mile at a slow place, then skip a day, and see how everything feels. You should feel upper-body tired in a deeper way than perhaps you ever have. It’s a wonderful feeling, so long as you haven’t pinched off some nerves or overstrained a muscle, tendon, ligament. After a few such trials with skip days you will know how best to advance your rucking and beginning the VO2 Max attack while minimizing risk.
Rucking and One’s Core
When walking there are two dynamics that affect one’s core. Every step forward involves a small elevation change, beginning with a small descent and ending with a small ascent. The degree of change is dependent on the degree of calf raising one uses. Additionally there is a small but important side-to-side movement and bodily compensation by the core muscles.
With a ruck weight high on one’s back, such physical movements of walking requires greater compensation of the musculature of one’s core. This might sound like a small thing, but it feels big, and is virtuous.
Aspirational Rucking
As to aspirational rucking for us TOCAs, the variables are the weight, distance, mph (which will correlate to heart rate zones, more below), and frequency. Being somewhere between 75 and 100, I have found I can do 20 pounds, 1-3+ miles, at 21+ minutes a mile, 2-3x a week quite easily, and beneficially. My max has been 40 pounds and 6 miles, at 21 minutes a mile, in summer heat and humidity (more on this below regarding LMNT). Such numbers are nothing special as backpackers such as through-hiking the Appalachian Trail (the “AT”) or the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) carry 50 pounds or more and go 15+ miles a day, day after day. These backpackers however tend to pace themselves with rest breaks spacing out their day. Also, they begin their hikes in a state of high fitness and become increasingly so as their days extend. And these hiking exemplars tend to be pre-TOCAs. But another benefit of rucking is its training value for those aspiring to try, or return to, extended duration backpacking.
Rucking also occurs in communities of fellow ‘believers’ and those with aspirational, competitive inclinations. The ultimate measurement, as given at the top, would be 35 pounds dry weight, 12 miles, 3 hours. None of us TOCAs should be even close to achieving this; having said that, there is very likely some 70 year old 175 pound mesomorph who is determined to prove otherwise. Be careful as 50% of the individuals who experience their first heart problem experience it as death (Peter Attia stat). And 50% of TOCAs who break a hip so as to be immobilized for an extended period die within a year (particularly for European descent females, again Peter Attia).
What is especially dangerous about the elite ruck standard is the 4 mph element. For us TOCAs, 3 mph (20 minute miles) is a good aspirational figure. But at 3 mph, such 12 mile standard would be 4 hours, and that’s 4 hours of continuous clock time which includes any rest stops. Again, de-tuning for TOCAs, an aspirational target could be 6 miles (10K) in 2 hours (3 mph), carrying one’s appropriate ruck weight (20 pounds for smaller guys, 40 pounds for bigger). Some ruckers recommend 15-20% of body weight for a ruck weight; for that to make sense, the “body weight” calculation should be one’s idea weight, not some corpulent desk jockey starting weight.
Electrolytes (LMNT)
Rucking and sweat go together like teenagers and really bad ideas. In hot humid climates rucking can lead to a serious risk of heat exhaustion with attendant mental confusion, and possibility of stumbling to a fall. The usual good advice is drinking lots of water, beyond what one’s thirst triggers; with us TOCAs, our thirst signal is not what it used to be so we need to rely on the clock and awareness of temperatures and humidity.
But beyond water, it seems to help during and post rucking to add electrolytes to the water. One company that appears to be reputable sells a packaged product known as LMNT. I use a packet with 24 oz of water, to which I’ve also added, for reasons lost to antiquity, 1 oz of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar and 1 oz of Lucy’s lemon juice, plus 1 tsp of cinnamon powder. It tastes pretty good, and it seems to help support endurance and recovery.
Heart Rate Zones (Zone 2 and Zone 5)
For TOCAs, getting one’s specific heart rate Zone identified is a challenge. The usual formula of 220 less one’s age is only an estimate for pre-TOCAs. Peter Attia in his various talks and writings gives alternative ways to estimate such Zones, including perceived levels of effort. One test of Zone 2 is being able to talk but not wanting to talk (much). Once such Zones have been estimated they can be input into the workoutdoors app.
Again, referencing Peter Attia (and many others), he stresses the importance of training primarily in Zone 2, which is a level of effort that one should be able to do for extended periods, supplemented by Zone 5 training. Zone 5 is super-intense, level of effort for short intervals.
Including Zone 5 work in an overall program is deemed to be particularly effective for boosting one’s VO2 Max. This is accomplished by High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which is covered in the next post. The most-suitable way of HIIT with rucking is hills. Rucking uphill really intensifies the experience and can easily get one into Zone 5. The alternative means is to accelerate one’s walking pace, to say, 18 minute miles, for a brief period to get the heart rate to Zone 5, then slowing down to, say, 22+ minute miles, back to Zone 2 or even Zone 1 for a longer period. One intense form of HIIT is, for example, one minute at Zone 5 followed by a step down to three minutes at Zone 2/1, and then repeat the cycle perhaps five to ten times, preceded and succeeded by warmup and cooldown.
My experience is a stationary bike (see the next post) is a safer and more convenient way to do HIIT.