My New Favorite Way To Do Cardio
This exercise changed the way I do cardio and has made a huge impact on my fitness
In this edition of Momentum you’ll learn about my new favorite cardio workout and how you can do it too.
I used to think that lifting weights was enough cardio for optimal health. I was wrong.
Over the past few years I’ve been exploring different cardio modalities to make sure I am getting in my minimum dose of 150 minutes of cardio per week.
I trained and ran a half marathon. Fun experience, will not be doing it again.
I got back into mountain biking. Fun, but very weather dependent.
I got an indoor spin bike. Gets the job done, but not fun at all.
About a year ago I found a new exercise (well, new to me) that I have been really enjoying. I’ve been able to do it year round and it combines two of my favorite things: being out in the woods and exercise.
Last year I started rucking.
What is Rucking?
Rucking is walking or hiking while carrying extra load usually in the form of a pack, or rucksack, or weighted vest.
It seems like most rucking has a military origin. Folks in the military would use rucking as a practical form of training so they are capable of carrying heavy loads for long distances.
From the GORUCK website…
Rucking is the action of walking with weight on your back. Walking with a weighted rucksack (aka backpack) is a low impact exercise based on military training workouts.
There are two types of rucking that the community talks about: urban rucking and hiking.
Hiking involves being in the great outdoors while wearing a rucksack or vest and brings with it other challenges like uneven terrain and the additional benefits of exercising outdoors in nature.
Urban rucking is when you walk on paved roads or through town while wearing a rucksack. This also confers many of the same benefits to the body.
Getting Started with Rucking
In general I recommend all exercise along the same parameters.
First, meet the minimum guidelines for physical activity for both cardio and for strength.
Next, align with your goals.
Rucking can be an excellent way to get your cardio in. While it is definitely more of a challenge to the muscles and joints than regular walking or hiking I am not sure if it actually is enough to meet the strengthening guidelines.
Now, to get started you can just put some weights in a backpack and go for a hike or a walk.
I got started by using a 35 pound weighted vest and hiking about 3 miles once a week hiking at about an 18 minute/mile pace.
This load, intensity, and duration for me proves to be a solid cardio workout. Here’s my HR data from yesterday’s ruck.
My goal for my cardio is to be between 117 and 139 BPM. An average of 130 BPM over about 70 minutes is perfect and almost half of my weekly cardio goals.
Get your own cardio-prescription here.
I don’t think there’s any hard and fast rule as to how heavy to go or how much to start but in general I recommend starting gradually, as you would with any new form of exercise.
Start with something lighter, maybe in the 20-40 pound range and go for a hike on terrain that is reasonable for you and see how you feel!
You can always go up in weight, duration, and intensity. But, if you start out too intense and get injured its a hard way back.
Remember, avoiding the “too’s” of exercise is the best way to prevent injury from training.
What Gear Do You Need?
You can start really simply just with what you have in the house.
I started with a weighted vest because its what I had and it worked great.
Now, some rucking purists will say that a weighted vest doesn’t count because the weight is evenly distributed and not solely on your back like a rucksack would be and I think that is something they sell just to sell a rucksack. A weighted vest works fine.
You can use any good backpack you have and load it up with a few old textbooks or water bottles or anything to make it heavy and then go for a walk!
If and when you want something more legit and the ability to load up even heavier, than I would recommend something from the company GORUCK.
Now, you can of course not get the big-name brand and get something like this from Amazon but I know that GORUCK has a lifetime guarantee for all of their products. And that’s worth the money to me.
You’re Ready to Go
Get something heavy and get out there!
Rucking has been a really fun and effective way for me to train and make sure I am meeting my cardio goals.
You can get started really simply by just filling up a backpack and going for a hike or getting all the gear from the best company.
I think you’ll enjoy this!