ZombieFit™ :: Vol 10

If there were only a single physical activity I could recommend for improving your body, mind, and soul, I would unequivocally tell you to do this one thing: just ruck!

The benefits of rucking are just straight-up ridonkulous. 

In addition to the overt benefits to your physical fitness, it’s equally good for supercharging momentum in your life.

Walking 500 miles? 🥱 

Rucking 500 miles? 🤩 

The Proclaimers have been foreshadowing the rucking movement for years if only you had the ears to hear…

Let’s roll!

🎒 What is rucking?

First things first, let's define rucking. Simply put, rucking is just walking with weight on your back. The roots of rucking can be traced back to military training in ancient history, and it still has overtly military connotations. However, I find it convenient to think of it as “sub/urban hiking.”

Yep - just walking around in the downtown (or the burbs) with a weighted pack to add some extra resistance is technically rucking. There are plenty of ways to spice it up a bit, but it really is that simple.

🤔 Why Ruck?

Why ruck…

Let me count the ways:

• It’s a high-quality exercise that improves your overall physical fitness

• It’s a form of physical activity that increases “sleep pressure”

• It’s good to go outside and get in some sunlight exposure

• It is an excellent way to get in some Zone 2 cardio

• It burns more calories than just walking

• It’s good for your posture

• It revs the metabolism

• And Lots More…

Beyond the physical and physiological benefits, you can also multi-task and get smarter while you do it by listening to podcasts or audiobooks. Or, you can connect with friends while you do it by having a conversation (phone or in real life)

I’ve never gone on a ruck and regretted it. Personally, I often go on a ruck first thing in the morning to get my head straight, kickstart my metabolism, and build momentum in my day.

🧐 How to get started rucking?

Let’s not overthink it. Getting started with rucking is super simple. Theoretically, all you need to get started is a sturdy backpack and some weight (e.g. books, rocks, whatever…) to put in it.

From there, it’s just a matter of convenience and comfort. For example, you can upgrade to using a hiking pack with denser objects (e.g. weight plates or bags of sand) if you already have a hiking pack.

If you’re really committed to building a durable trucking habit, though, you should consider going all the way and purchasing a high-quality rucksack from a reputable source with weight plates that are convenient to swap in and out. (Recommended!)

Dollar for dollar, the products I’ve purchased from GORUCK® is some of the best money I’ve ever spent. Just ultra-high-quality-bomb-proof stuff that will last a lifetime. (BTW, I have no affiliation or partnership with them. I’m just a happy customer and a huge fan!)

But again, don’t overthink it — the point is that you don’t need anything fancy to start rucking. Just start, and the rest will come into focus and take care of itself…

In terms of loading your pack rucksack, start off gradually and increase the intensity. Remember: you are cultivating a high-performance lifestyle for the long haul.

Yes - it’s good to “be in a hurry”, but you also want to etch this practice into your daily routine bit by bit, give your joints (and the bottoms of your feet!) a little time to pre-condition, etc.

When starting out, aim for a load that is between 5-10% of your body weight. As a reference point, I’m a s a ~190lb male, and I started with about 20 lbs. This felt good and I now ruck with a 40lb plate.

Tangent: out of sheer curiosity, I rucked 1 mile with 100 lbs earlier this year just to see how it would feel. (I definitely wouldn’t have done this when I was just starting out though!)

Rucking lends itself to standard progressive overload principles, and there are three fairly obvious ways to increase the intensity of the physical practice:

• Increase distance or duration

• Increase your walking speed

• Increase the load

For most people, starting with a “reasonable” load and increasing distance or duration is the most natural approach. From there, you can move more intentionally (e.g. increase speed) and/or increase the load.

And — another way (my favorite way!) is to integrate some exercise movements throughout your rucking session. For example, every 5 minutes, pause and do some calisthenics, use the rucksack as an odd object for ground-to-overhead movements, etc.

🦺 Safety First

As with any physical activity that could cause injury or death, be sure to consult with your physician to determine if rucking is safe for you.

Better safe than sorry…and stuff.

Don’t wanna be like Beavis and find yourself in the ER…

Seriously - assuming you start light and go gradually, your chances of injury are slim to none, but for the avoidance of doubt…

• Use a quality rucksack.

• Start with a light load and work up.

• Start with a short distance or duration and work up.

Don’t do weighted jogs or runs with a rucksack unless you really know that your joints can handle it…

⌛️ Maximizing Time

When it comes to maximizing time spent working at your desk, multitasking is an anti-pattern for productivity! (I highly recommend deep work sessions with the intention of ultra-focus, especially for any cognitive task.)

Rucking is a totally different story, though! You most almost certainly should be multi-tasking while you ruck — especially if you’re short on time!

Use your rucking sessions to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, or catch up with friends on voice calls. In addition to burning some calories and kickstarting the ole system for the day, you’ll also be feeding your mind with valuable knowledge.

Don’t like audio materials and don’t have any friends?

Then untangle some thoughts while rucking. Dictation is an effective form our “journaling” and there are a lot of tools out there nowadays (e.g. ChatGPT et al) that you can use to synthesize a disheveled transcript into a meaningful summary that can help you to move important projects forward.

Don’t like journaling? Then just think of your ruck as a moving meditation and space out for a while 🛰️ 

📈 Return on Time

Assuming your goal is to cultivate a high-performance lifestyle that spans body, mind, and soul, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better use of your time than rucking.

And time is the great equalizer.

Memento Mori.

Nuff said.

You know what to do, but don’t take my word for it. Listen to Ray…

Until next week…

Command center — out! ✌️
Matthew Russell
Head of Zombie Preparedness

P.S. If you’re enjoying this newsletter (at all), a short reply with nothing more than a 👍️ would be super-appreciated!

Would also love to know if there are any other topics I could cover in future issues that would help you, and I will add them to the backlog…