Rucking is one of the most simple yet diverse forms of exercise. Anyone from a former army ranger to a mom pushing a stroller can do it. “Rucking is the foundation of Special Forces training. …alone when they must, together whenever possible. Rucking requires strength, endurance, and character – and builds it too.” The slogan of the rucking community is Making Better Americans.
The following interview is with avid rucker, Eric MacDonald, who lives in southern California with his wife and two daughters.
How would you explain rucking?
Rucking is a foundational training tool for the military. Rucking is putting a weight on your body and going for a walk. A “ruck” is a military word for backpack. Rucking is backpacking in the city. It’s like urban backpacking.
To whom would you recommend rucking?
It’s a specific style of exercise that I think anyone can do. Very low entry level, very low cost. It’s for people who have tried other forms of fitness and nothing sticks. A lot of the fitness world tries to sell something that is supposedly quick and immediate, but something that is small and you do with discipline will change your life. It’s for people who are tired of the quick fixes that don’t fix anything. It can be done anywhere.
What does rucking training look like for you?
For me, my training is always focused on training for a specific event that I’ve signed up for in advance. I didn’t have a purpose for exercising before rucking. Rucking is also called “functional fitness.” Activities like picking up children as they get heavier, carrying groceries, and moving luggage through the airport are made easier. Rucking uses different muscles than weight lifting. I can get an amazing workout in my backyard and not have to go to a gym.
What kind of equipment do you need to ruck?
When I started, I literally bought a backpack off of Amazon for $30 and bought some 5-pound bricks from Home Depot. Now, I’ve moved to more technical backpacks. What’s so great about rucking is it’s very scalable. Let’s say you want to go for a run and you ask your friend to come with you. You are an amazing runner, but your friend has never run before. You aren’t going to get a workout. With rucking, you can each put a different weight in your ruck and both get a great workout.
The main thing I’ve been told is if you go for a walk right now, your body doesn’t know anything special is happening. But as soon as you start carrying something, your body starts engaging more muscles and shifts. Your body knows that it now needs to be strong. The release when you take the weight off makes you feel like you can carry anything. Anyone can put on a backpack with weight in it and go for a walk. That’s rucking at its most basic.
What is the rucking community like?
There is a major team aspect. Life is not an individual thing. One time, in one of my events, we had probably 15-20 people on our team. We had sandbags on a bike path. We had to run down to the ocean, run back, grab a sandbag, and run back to the ocean. I’m smoked, sandy, and I have a big ol’ smile on my face. An older gentleman on my team asked why I was smiling. I said, “Man, I sit at a desk all day. It’s not everyday that I get to torture myself with a bunch of friends.”
Anything else you would like to talk about?
I’ve done these events and those are super fun, but there is one that’s been super impactful. At the beginning of COVID, the Marine Corps Marathon, typically held in Washington D.C. every year, was shut down. So it was done virtually. My friend (the one who got me into rucking and is a former army ranger) called me and asked me to do it with him. I said, let’s figure out a way to get more people involved. I set up a two mile loop that started and ended at my house. That allowed people to stop whenever they wanted to be done. I’ve done it two years in a row now. The most recent time we did it, we had about forty people, from babies in strollers to families with teenagers. What was so cool was every thirty minutes, when you reset at the start and end point, you got to have a new conversation with a new person. There’s a way to get creative with it.
Interested in learning more? Visit rucking.com for more information!