Training guide
Rucking means walking briskly with a loaded backpack. It turns a walk into harder exercise for your legs, heart and lungs: the US guidelines count hiking with a heavy backpack as vigorous activity. Most of what we know comes from soldiers, who carry far more than you need to, so this guide starts light: about a tenth of your body weight, on the flat, once or twice a week.
It covers what a pack really adds (more than walking, but not three times the calories), how heavy and how far to go, a build-up that changes one thing at a time, packing and fitting the bag, looking after your feet, back and knees, what rucking can and can't do for your bones, who should check first, and the warning signs.
Our rucking move page asks for 30 minutes of brisk walking before you add a pack. Then start light, about a tenth of your body weight, and stay under about 30%, as our hiking pages already say. Brisk means you can still talk but can't sing.
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A pack's cost rises with its weight, your speed and the slope, and faster than in proportion as it gets heavier. By our arithmetic from a 2022 equation, a pack of 10% of body weight raises the cost of walking (above resting) by about 9% at the same speed. Brisk walking is about 4.8 METs (multiples of your resting energy use) and backpacking 7.0.
Add a little weight or a little time, never both at once, as our hill and stair session says. In soldiers, programmes that built loads up step by step went with fewer injuries.
In 831 infantry soldiers, loads over a quarter of body weight, and marching 5 or more times a month, each went with about twice the odds of injury. For a fitness ruck, one or two a week to start is plenty (our editorial suggestion).
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Blisters are the commonest load-carriage injury, then back and foot problems. Ruck in shoes you've already walked in, keep the weight high and close to your back, and do up the hip belt.
Walking is low-impact exercise for bone, and adding weight to walking didn't change bone markers in a 12-week trial. In a trial of older adults losing weight, a weighted vest didn't stop hip bone loss. Strength training and impact work do more for bones.
Rucking is walking at a brisk, purposeful pace with a loaded backpack (a rucksack) high and snug on your upper back. The name comes from military "ruck marching". It isn't the rugby ruck. Our move page sums it up: walking with a loaded backpack high on the back, and hiking with a heavy pack counts as vigorous activity in the US guidelines.
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Your thighs, calves and hips push the extra weight along, your trunk and upper back hold you upright under the pack, and your heart and lungs work harder than in walking. The move page lists the quads and calves as the main muscles, with the glutes, back and abs.
Across 54 studies, a backpack made people lean forward more, take shorter, quicker steps and push harder into the ground. Heavier loads move the head forward and bend the trunk further. Weight on your feet costs 7 to 10% more energy per kilogram than weight on your back, so heavy boots add up.
The 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities (reference energy costs for adults aged 19 to 59) gives brisk walking at 3.5 to 3.9 mph 4.8 METs, walking with a day pack around town 3.5, backpacking 7.0, hiking with a day pack 7.8, and climbing hills with a 21 to 40 lb (about 10 to 18 kg) load 7.5.
The 2022 equation came from 30 young, mostly male soldiers on treadmills. By our arithmetic from its load term, the cost of walking above resting rises about 9% with 10% of your body weight, 22% with 20% and 38% with 30%, at the same speed. Speed matters as much: going from 5.0 to 5.5 km/h costs about as much as 10 kg more in the pack.
In 12 young male recruits at 6 km/h, 0, 15 and 30% of body weight took 30, 36 and 41% of their aerobic capacity, and only 30% raised how hard it felt. US Marine recruits on progressive hikes at 3.9 to 4.5 km/h averaged 113 to 133 beats a minute.
Set the load as a share of your own body weight, not a fixed number of kilograms: in Marine recruits all carrying 15 and 20 kg, women's hearts worked harder than men's, and those loads were about 25 and 33% of the women's body weight against 21 and 28% of the men's.
In 14 older adults, a backpack made steps more variable, and a load that shifted reduced stability, so start lighter and keep the load still. In a survey of New Zealand trampers, many of them over 40 or 50, packs of up to 29% of body weight were common and 74% reported an injury at some point.
Almost all the research is in young soldiers carrying 20 to 50 kg, far more than a fitness ruck. We found no trial of rucking as exercise for the public, so this guide reads the military evidence across and says so.
If you can walk briskly for 30 minutes and feel fine the next day, you're ready (the move page's prerequisite). If not, our walking plan comes first. The NHS describes a brisk walk as about 3 miles an hour, a pace where "you can still talk but cannot sing the words to a song".
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Speak to a GP first if you haven't exercised for some time, or if you have a medical condition or concerns. Get advice first, too, if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, have recently had a heart attack or an operation, or are pregnant or have recently given birth.
If you have a heart condition, follow your cardiac team's advice on how hard to work, and stop for the warning signs above. People with long-term conditions may wish to ask their specialist before starting. With uncontrolled high blood pressure, avoid straining against a held breath; the high blood pressure guide has more.
The NHS says "It's not recommended to start a new vigorous activity in pregnancy, such as running." We found no study of carrying a pack in pregnancy; heavy lifting at work (10 kg or more) was linked with pelvic girdle pain. Our suggestion: don't start rucking in pregnancy and walk instead, and if you already ruck, keep the pack light and ask your midwife.
Osteoporosis Canada notes that a weighted vest "adds loads on your spine, which might not be tolerated well in people with arthritis in the spine or disc injuries", and a pack does the same (our reading). With spinal fractures, ask a physiotherapist before you start (our suggestion). People with long-lasting low back pain used more trunk muscle under a load in a lab study, more so with a lopsided one, so keep the load light and even.
With numb feet from diabetes or another cause, choose low-impact options, wear well-fitting shoes, and check your feet for redness or blisters afterwards; with an open sore or ulcer, do no weight-bearing exercise until your foot team says so.
About a tenth of your body weight, as the move page's cue says, or less, even an empty pack, if that feels heavy. For a 70 kg person that's about 7 kg (our arithmetic).
20 to 30 minutes on flat ground at a talk-but-not-sing pace. Our hill and stair session's range is 20 to 45 minutes with a pack at about 10% of your body weight.
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One or two rucks a week on non-consecutive days to start, with your other walks unloaded (our editorial suggestion). Keep anything heavy (above about 20% of your body weight) or long (over about an hour) to once a week or less. That's our read-across from soldiers: military reviews advise a loaded session only every 7 to 14 days, though that advice rests on an army report we couldn't open, and soldiers who marched 5 or more times a month were injured more often.
Stay under about 30% of your body weight, the site's rule; for fitness, most people never need more than about 15 to 20%. Posture and shoulder comfort changed at 20% in women hikers, and injuries rose above 25% in soldiers. No trial sets a safe limit.
Brisk enough that you can talk but not sing. Slow down when you add weight or climb: half a kilometre an hour of extra speed costs about as much as 10 kg in the pack.
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From our rucking move page's instructions and cues and our hill and stair session; packing high and close and using the hip belt come from load-carriage studies in soldiers. The doses are our editorial starting point.
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The movement on the figure: Rucking (loaded walking)
No study has tested a build-up for civilian rucking. This one is editorial, read across from soldier data, and it follows our hill and stair session's rule: one thing at a time.
Each step changes one thing, after the pattern of a US Marine programme that went 10, 15 then 20 kg, each first for 30 minutes and then for 45. Repeat any fortnight that leaves your feet, back or shoulders sore the next morning.
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About 5 to 10 minutes, or about 1 to 2 kg, no more than once a week, and only when your last ruck left nothing sore the next morning (our editorial suggestion, following our hill and stair session's rule to add load or time in small steps, never both at once).
Twice a week, as our hiking training workout does. In a review of 10 soldier studies, strength plus aerobic training at least 3 times a week for 4 weeks or more improved carrying a load, and adding progressively heavier loaded walks did most (an effect size of 1.7).
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Reviews and lab equations agree that a pack's energy cost rises with its weight, your speed and the slope, and faster than in proportion as it gets heavier: light loads add little, heavy loads a lot. The equation was built in 30 young adults, mostly men, carrying up to 66% of body mass on treadmills, and checked against 7 older data sets.
Across 54 studies, a backpack increased forward lean, ground forces and step rate and shortened the stride.
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After a US Marine recruit programme brought in a periodised loaded-hike build-up, 39% were injured against 58% before (risk ratio 0.68), and stress fractures fell from 8% to 3% of injuries. A British infantry school's step-by-step loaded training went with injuries falling from 34 to 38% to 21 to 22%. Australian infantry who started 25 to 30% lighter had fewer complaints but the same number of medical visits. These are before-and-after or platoon comparisons, not trials of individuals.
In 831 infantry soldiers, loads over 25% of body weight (odds ratio 2.09) and marching 5 or more times a month (2.11) went with more injuries, and per mile marching injured 1.8 times as often as running. In 1,206 young trekkers, a heavier pack for your body weight went with injury. A single hard march without recent practice injured about a quarter of 335 soldiers.
In Army recruits, 11 weeks of loaded marching raised aerobic capacity by 8.9%, against 11.9% for running. In soldiers, training that included progressively heavier loaded walks improved carrying a load most.
We found no trial of rucking as exercise for the public. The nearest is a 12-week trial in 48 working women walking 30 minutes 3 times a week: those whose vest was built up by 2% of body weight a week to 8% did no better for bone markers or fitness than those walking without it, and both groups got fitter.
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In 10 women carrying 25% of body weight, packing the heavy items high cost less oxygen than packing them low. Keeping the load close to your body costs the least energy.
A load-carriage review advises using the hip belt whenever you can, to take pressure off the shoulders. In 30 people carrying 20% of body weight, the belt made it feel easier and steadier, though measured sway didn't change.
A lopsided load made the trunk muscles work harder, more so in people with back pain. Carry the weight in the middle of the pack, not in one side pocket.
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A sturdy backpack with padded straps and a hip belt, weight that can't shift (wrapped plates, books or bottles of water), and shoes you've already walked in. A dedicated rucksack helps but isn't needed (our suggestion).
In soldiers, blisters are the commonest load-carriage injury: 35% of injuries on a 20 km march with 46 kg, and 48% on a 161 km march. Back and foot problems come next, and most injuries are to the legs and feet.
Heavy loads make blisters more likely. In Marine recruits, a thin polyester sock under a thick wool or polypropylene sock meant fewer blisters, but a review of 11 trials found little good evidence for socks, antiperspirants or barriers, and moderate support for paper tape on hot spots. The NHS says blisters often heal within a week and not to burst them yourself.
In military recruits, stress fractures cluster in the first weeks of training, mostly in the shin and the second and third bones of the foot. A 2025 review of 70 studies found no robust evidence that heavier loads themselves raise the rate; doing too much too soon does. Shock-absorbing insoles probably reduced stress fractures in recruits (a Cochrane review), a read-across for light civilian loads.
Back problems were 23% of the injuries on a 20 km march with 46 kg, three to five times a fitness ruck. We found no study of back pain from light civilian rucking. Our back pain guide places rucking as a later step, after brisk walking.
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The load at the knee rose most with heavier packs on a 40-minute march in recruits, and the thigh muscles tired. If your knees ache on hills or stairs, keep the pack lighter, take shorter steps downhill and see our knee pain when hiking guide (our suggestion).
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The Royal Osteoporosis Society counts walking as low-impact and asks for moderate impacts such as jogging or skipping for bone. Osteoporosis Canada says there is "little to no evidence" that wearing a weighted vest during walking will increase bone density.
Walking with a vest built up to 8% of body weight did no better than walking without it for bone markers in 48 women over 12 weeks. A vest worn 2 hours a day didn't help strength or bone markers in 62 older adults. In the INVEST trial of 150 older adults losing weight, a vest worn about 7 hours a day didn't prevent hip bone loss.
A vest worn during jumping or strength exercise maintained or improved hip and spine bone against doing nothing (small trials; 9 trials pooled). Adding a vest to exercise didn't beat the same exercise without one in the one trial that tested it.
Shin bone density rose over 8 weeks of US Army basic training in 1,605 trainees, but the training included running and strength work too, so the marching can't be singled out.
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Brisk walking first, then a light pack on the flat, then hills and stairs. Our hill and stair session gives stair climbs as 6 to 8 climbs of 30 to 60 seconds, walking down slowly between them, and rucking as 20 to 45 minutes with a pack at about 10% of your body weight.
Twice a week on non-ruck days, as our hiking training workout does: step-ups 8 to 12 each leg, single-leg calf raises 12 to 20 each leg, tibialis raises 2 × 15 to 20, farmer's carries 2 × 20 to 30 m (or a walk with your loaded rucksack), side planks 2 × 20 to 30 seconds and bird dogs 2 × 8 each side. Suitcase carries, 2 carries of 20 to 30 m each side, train your trunk for an uneven load (our loaded carry workout).
3D demoStep-upBeginner · A step
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall
3D demoTibialis raiseBeginner · No equipment
3D demoFarmer's carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoSuitcase carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoBird dogBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg standBeginner · A wallCalf and quad stretches, 30 seconds each side, as our hill and stair session ends.
The commonest mistake, and the reason for the one-thing-at-a-time rule. Start at about a tenth of your body weight.
A pack that swings or hangs low costs more energy and drags on your shoulders. Pack it high, tight and close.
Then your shoulders take all the weight. Do it up on your hip bones.
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A heavy bag on one shoulder made the trunk work harder in a lab study. Keep the weight central.
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Blisters. Wear shoes and socks you've already walked in.
More marching sessions went with more injuries in soldiers. One or two rucks a week is enough at first.
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Not a beginner step, and we found no study of civilian ruck running (our view).
The hill and stair session is the only one with a loaded walk; the hiking training workout builds the legs and trunk; the walking workouts come first if you need them.
Stair or hill climbs with the walk down as recovery, then a loaded walk with your rucksack, building towards the hills, pack and days of your trip.
40 minBeginner5 movesA step, Something with weightA 35-minute strength workout for hikers: step-ups, lunges and calf raises for climbs, slow step-downs for descents, single-leg hinges, carries and balance.
35 minBeginner13 movesA wall, A stepA 25-minute carry workout with dumbbells or kettlebells: farmer's carries, suitcase carries on each side and an overhead carry, with a safe pick-up first.
25 minBeginner7 movesA kettlebell, A dumbbellA 50-minute walk with hills, outdoors or on a treadmill slope: brisk on the flat, slower on the climbs, building from gentle slopes to about 6%.
50 minBeginner5 movesCardio machine, A stepA steep treadmill walk that builds over weeks to the 12-3-30 settings (12% incline, 3 mph, 30 minutes), with a warm-up, a cool-down and stop rules.
40 minIntermediate3 movesCardio machine, A wallA 30-minute step-up workout at home or in the gym: step-ups, split squats, step-downs and calf raises on one step, with the height set to your level.
30 minBeginner9 movesA wall, A stepA 25-minute walk with short faster bouts: notice your heart and breathing speed up, then settle. A gentle way to get used to the feelings of effort.
25 minBeginner5 movesCardio machine, A wallA 40-minute walk alternating 3 minutes fast and 3 minutes easy, five times over: the interval walking tested in Japanese trials, built up from three rounds.
40 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine, A wallBalance practice in 10 minutes: tandem stance, single-leg stands, marches, heel walks, tree pose and floor transfers.
10 minBeginner7 movesA wall, A bench or boxThe walking plan is the base before a pack; a 2-day plan covers the strength side.
A free 8-week walking plan for beginners: build to 150 minutes of brisk walking a week, with intervals, hills and two short strength sessions.
6 training days40 minBeginner5 days a weekA free 30-day walking challenge for beginners: five walks a week, from 10 to 25 brisk minutes, with rest days and a step target built on your own average.
5 training days25 minBeginner2 days a weekTwo full-body strength sessions a week: the minimum that meets health guidelines, with every set, rep and rest, and an 8-week progression.
2 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week exercise plan for over-65s: strength and balance three times a week, short balance sessions and daily walks, based on falls-prevention trials.
3 training days40 minBeginnerIf you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise.
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For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; severe difficulty breathing; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining, or comes with numbness or weakness, difficulty speaking or loss of vision. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Call NHS 111 (in the US, your doctor or an urgent care centre) if you're suddenly more short of breath than usual, or have chest pain with feeling sick or a heartbeat that races, skips or flutters.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
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Stop straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, the NHS says, and contact 111 if your symptoms worry you or don't go away.
A dull ache in your muscles for a day or two after something new is normal. Joint pain that's sharp, gets worse during a set or lingers into the next day means switching to the easier option, and seeing a GP or physiotherapist if it carries on (our plans' rule). Our muscle soreness guide has more.
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Pain in one spot on the shin or a foot bone that you can point to with a fingertip, worse with impact and later present at rest or at night: a possible stress fracture. Stop running and jumping until it has been checked.
One spot on a foot bone that hurts with every step and later at night: a possible stress fracture.
Go to A&E: severe pain after an injury, which can mean a broken bone, or you cannot put any weight on the leg. A stress fracture can become a complete break if you keep loading it.
Same day: a sudden snap or pop at the back of the heel or calf, or a feeling of being kicked there, then walking flat-footed and being unable to push off, stand on tiptoe or climb stairs. It could be an Achilles tendon rupture or a broken heel bone. Go to A&E or a minor injuries unit, or contact NHS 111.
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Go to A&E (accident and emergency) if you've injured your knee and it has changed shape, it becomes very swollen very quickly, you felt a pop or snap, you can see bone sticking out, or it's bleeding heavily. Don't drive yourself: ask someone to take you, or call 999 if the pain means you can't move your leg to get there.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: you cannot move the knee or put any weight on it, or it is very painful, badly swollen or has changed shape.
You hurt your knee and cannot take 4 steps, or you are 55 or over and have injured it: get it checked the same day for a broken bone.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: the knee locks, gives way or clicks painfully. Painless clicking is normal.
See a GP: If knee pain doesn't improve within a few weeks.
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Get help from NHS 111 if a blister is very painful or keeps coming back, or looks infected: hot and filled with green or yellow pus, with red skin around it.
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Heat exhaustion brings tiredness, dizziness, a headache, feeling or being sick, heavy sweating with pale, clammy skin, cramps, a high temperature and intense thirst. Move to a cool place, drink and cool your skin: you should start to feel better within 30 minutes. To prevent it, the NHS advises more cold drinks, especially when you're active, light, loose clothing, avoiding the sun between 11am and 3pm, and avoiding extreme exercise.
The NHS says to call 999 for signs of heatstroke: still being unwell after 30 minutes of resting somewhere cool, being cooled and drinking; a very high temperature; hot skin that isn't sweating; a fast heartbeat; fast breathing or breathlessness; confusion and lack of coordination; a seizure; or loss of consciousness.
A pack traps heat against your back: on hot days, ruck early or late, carry water and drop the load (our suggestion).
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Our suggestion, from the military reviews, which list "rucksack palsy" and nerve injuries among load-carriage injuries: numbness, tingling or weakness in an arm or hand while carrying a pack means taking the pack off, loosening the shoulder straps and using the hip belt. If it hasn't gone by the next day, or you can't grip, see a GP.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
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Same day (GP or NHS 111): back pain and you feel hot, cold, shivery or generally unwell, or severe pain that starts suddenly or is getting worse quickly.
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Call 999 or go to A&E: leg pain with numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble starting or controlling peeing, not knowing when you need to poo or losing control of it, sciatica in both legs, or weakness or numbness in both legs that is severe or getting worse. These can be signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital as soon as possible.
Pain, tingling or numbness spreading below the knee that isn't settling after a few weeks, is getting worse or stops your normal activities: see a GP.
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Sudden new back pain after a minor fall, lift, cough or sneeze, from 50 or past the menopause, or if you take long-term steroid tablets; or height loss, a curved spine or a change in posture: see a GP. It can be a spinal fracture.
A lump in the groin, or groin pain with coughing or straining (a possible hernia).
Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia (a lump in the groin or tummy) and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel sick or are being sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused.
Call 999 or go to A&E now if you have a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of the thigh, in the groin) and very bad tummy pain, you feel sick or are being sick, you cannot fart or poo, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. It may be strangulated, which is an emergency. Don't drive yourself.
Heavier packs do cost more energy, and faster than in proportion, but injuries rose in soldiers carrying more than a quarter of their body weight, posture and comfort changed at 20%, and speed and hills add as much cost as weight. A lighter pack walked a little faster, or up a hill, is a better workout for most people.
Back problems were common on heavy military marches, with loads far bigger than a fitness ruck, and no study has looked at light civilian rucks. Keep the load high, close and even with the hip belt done up, and build up slowly.
Brisk walking is about 4.8 METs and backpacking about 7.0, about one and a half times as much. By our arithmetic from the 2022 equation, a pack of 10% of body weight raises the cost of walking above resting by about 9% at the same speed. Hills and pace add more than extra weight.
Walking is low-impact, adding weight to walking didn't change bone markers in a 12-week trial, and a vest didn't stop hip bone loss during weight loss in older adults. Osteoporosis Canada finds little to no evidence. For bone, strength and impact training do more.
It's low-impact for bone, but in soldiers marching injured more often per mile than running, and marching 5 or more times a month doubled the odds of injury. Blisters and stress fractures come from doing too much too soon.
No trial has set a safe limit. Our ceiling is about 30%, and injuries rose above 25% in soldiers; for fitness there's no need to go near it.
Loaded marching raised aerobic capacity a little less than running over 11 weeks in recruits (8.9% against 11.9%). In 350 recruits, swapping running for weighted marches went with fewer leg and knee injuries, though the overall difference (37.6% against 46.6%) wasn't significant. Choose the one you'll keep doing.
Walking briskly with a loaded backpack, high and snug on your back. It comes from military ruck marching, and it turns a walk into harder exercise: hiking with a heavy pack counts as vigorous activity in the US guidelines.
About a tenth of your body weight, or less if that feels heavy: about 7 kg for a 70 kg person. Stay under about 30%; most people never need more than 15 to 20%. In soldiers, loads over a quarter of body weight went with more injuries.
20 to 30 minutes on the flat, at a pace where you can talk but not sing. Our hill and stair session builds to 45 minutes, and our example build-up reaches an hour once a week after about 8 weeks. Add time or weight, never both at once.
One or two rucks a week to start, with your other walks unloaded (our suggestion). Soldiers who marched 5 or more times a month were injured more often, and military reviews advise heavy loaded sessions only every week or two.
Yes: it makes walking harder for your heart, lungs and legs. Loaded marching raised aerobic fitness by about 9% in 11 weeks in recruits, a little less than running. We found no trial of rucking in the public.
More than walking, but not three times more. Brisk walking is about 4.8 METs and backpacking about 7.0, and a pack of 10% of your body weight adds less than a tenth to the cost of walking at the same speed, by our arithmetic. Our calories burned calculator does the sum if you enter a MET value, such as 7.0 for backpacking.
Not shown for light loads. Heavy military marches bring back and knee problems, but those loads are much heavier than a fitness ruck. Keep the pack high, close and even with the hip belt done up, and stop for pain that spreads down a leg.
Don't count on it. Walking is low-impact for bone, and adding weight to walking didn't change bone markers in a trial. Strength training and impact work such as heel drops or skipping do more, as our osteoporosis guide sets out.
Either makes walking harder; a vest spreads the weight front and back, and a pack sits behind you. Their energy costs differ a little and both have been modelled. Neither has been shown to build bone on its own.
Running raised fitness a little more in recruits. Rucking is easier on the legs for many people, and recruits who swapped running for weighted marches had fewer knee and lower-leg injuries. Choose the one you'll keep doing.
A sturdy backpack with padded straps and a hip belt, weight that can't shift (wrapped plates, books or bottles of water), and shoes you've already walked in. A dedicated rucksack helps but isn't needed.
Don't start in pregnancy: the NHS advises against starting a new vigorous activity. Walking is fine. If you already ruck, keep the pack light and ask your midwife; we found no study of carrying a pack in pregnancy.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
