Getting Older, Getting In Shape, and Rucking.

[Sam Gamgee]

Figured I'd chime in with another update and some thoughts in case anyone is still interested in this topic. It would be fun to know if anyone actually started rucking because of this discussion. I started because of a podcast a while back.

I've got a solid month of rucking behind me now. I'm on my second bag and it works much better than the first. I'm carrying right at around 45 lbs, and by the end of my 30-minute walk I do begin to feel it.

I've noticed that it really matters how I have the pack cinched up: even a slight bit more tightness on one shoulder strap makes the load carry way different and will end up fatiguing a different part of my body. Very strange, and something I'd not have suspected. I've only had my neck start hurting once and that was because (I think) I had the left strap too tight and threw off the balance. As soon as I loosened the pack and took it off, the pain left.

One consistent thing, though, is my shins hurt a bit while I'm rucking. I'd not have suspected that some weight on my back would put such strain on my shins. Again, after the load is removed it goes away and no lasting soreness lingers.

I can absolutely see the benefit/advantage of using weight plates (like GoRuck sells) in a pack rather than just loading it up with sand and a cinder block like I have done. The weight plates will ride up high in the pack and stay very close to the back, where the loose weight I have in mine has to be fitted carefully in order to work. Now that I know I'm going to stick with rucking, I might just invest in one of the high-end GoRuck packs with plates, but that will be an over $500 investment that will have to be mulled over for a while. I've already spent about $300 on bags experimenting with all this stuff. For now what I have works fine.

All said, I really do enjoy this exercise and want to keep it up, along with my morning weight-lifting. I'll also add that getting in shape at 48 after decades of the Standard American Diet (SAD) washed down with copious quantities of beer is, dare I say, a bit of a bitch. If you're younger and haven't yet added the 30 lbs or so of dad-bod, do yourself a favor and don't. It's not nearly as much fun taking it off as it was putting it on. I'm seeing some progress but it's slow going. Very slow going.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

If rucking is to carry weight, then I think I'd look to a weighted vest rather than a backpack. Better center of gravity and less stress on your back. If I was backpacking, that wouldn't work. I don't know anything about rucking (had to look it up), but I love me some backpacking. In another life, I lived on a trail.

Oddly enough, my back is the last place I feel stress from rucking. In fact, I don't feel it at all on my back.

 

[JRW11b]

I've been taking long walks for years. It has health benefits but I find the mental/spiritual benefits to be where the real payoff is. I work indoors and love getting outside for my lunchtime walks. It helps keep me sane.

I've recently decided to go to the next level and try to really get in shape. I'm almost 50 and don't mind the hard work: the mentality that brings with it the willingness to follow through is finally there after all these years. When I was younger I was too distracted to stick to much of anything.

I've been lifting weights faithfully for a few weeks now and am seeing some gains. Mostly, I can tell I'm getting stronger. The hardest part is staying off sweets and beer once I get home at night. I love beer but it doesn't love me back.

I'm about to up my game with a legit rucksack. I've done some research and, while expensive, it seems like GoRuck is the way to go. They have a sale going on right now so this weekend I'm going to take the plunge and place an order. My parsimony has its limits.

Anywhere else here into rucking?

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Go Ruck owner here. You'd think i would've had enough if rucking after spending time in the Army as a light infantryman. I realized walking with weight on my back is something I strangely missed. Every time I take my little ones for a walk, on goes the ruck. Even when solo, it's a grest way to clear my mind. Hope you find it enjoyable.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

Yet another update and yet another bag: enter the GoRuck Rucker 4.0 20L. This is the bag I should’ve bought in the first place. Larger than both my previous bags, fits much better, and carries the weight a lot better. I think I will stick with this one. Not cheap but it’s a lifetime purchase.

 

[Home Brewing Piper]

This is the way.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

View attachment 227489
This is the way.

That’s a GoRuck, isn’t it?

 

[Home Brewing Piper]

Yes. I replaced the patch with a YouTuber's I follow. I have reflective bands for night rucks.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

Yes. I replaced the patch with a YouTuber's I follow. I have reflective bands for night rucks.

Cool. Which model of bag is yours?

 

[Home Brewing Piper]

It's the Rucker 4.0 25L with hip belt. I highly recommend it. I bought two 30lb plates for it. I did 1.5 miles with the two plates a couple of times but it was pinching nerves in my neck. I wasn't quite ready for 60lb!

I will typically keep the 30lb plate in it and then add barbell plates to get to 40 or 45lb.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

It's the Rucker 4.0 25L with hip belt. I highly recommend it. I bought two 30lb plates for it. I did 1.5 miles with the two plates a couple of times but it was pinching nerves in my neck. I wasn't quite ready for 60lb!

I will typically keep the 30lb plate in it and then add barbell plates to get to 40 or 45lb.

Nice. I don’t have any plates but have some homemade sand bags and bricks that add up to somewhere between 45-50 lbs. The plates would be a more comfortable load to bear but, man, they are so expensive. I might get some at some point, but for now my stuff works well enough for my purposes.

Best wishes in your rucking adventures.

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

I never thought I'd be a part of this conversation. I scrolled past this thread so many times because I've never cared to work out (my job takes care of that).
But I find myself here at 30 years old, quit drinking, changed jobs, and am now getting a belly.
I've started on a diet and am even starting to run. I'm entertaining adding a little workout routine post-run each day, I just have no clue what I'm doing.
It's been a wake up call. I never thought I'd have to change my habits or diet, always skinny as a rail and just eaten whatever (primarily a very balanced diet).
Aging is something I truly loathe now.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I found that going up a hill, down, and repeat X number of times with weight in a pack or vest to be a great leg workout. I used to live by a park with 30-40ft grassy mound and would do that. I wasn't the only one, because there was a worn path to the top.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

I never thought I'd be a part of this conversation. I scrolled past this thread so many times because I've never cared to work out (my job takes care of that).
But I find myself here at 30 years old, quit drinking, changed jobs, and am now getting a belly.
I've started on a diet and am even starting to run. I'm entertaining adding a little workout routine post-run each day, I just have no clue what I'm doing.
It's been a wake up call. I never thought I'd have to change my habits or diet, always skinny as a rail and just eaten whatever (primarily a very balanced diet).
Aging is something I truly loathe now.

I’m quite a bit older than you, and if it makes you feel any better, I don’t really know what I’m doing either.

Somewhere along the way I figured I’d stop watching YouTube videos about the perfect diet/workout and just start lifting weights, etc. I’ve been taking long walks for years but that was mostly for some solitude and to get outside the shop on my lunch breaks

I’ll tell you how it’s gone for me so far:
I’ve been lifting weights pretty faithfully for several months. I barely look any different but I am stronger. I feel better, have more energy, sleep better, and I’m in less of a mental fog than I was. As far as getting ripped or looking like one of those guys that works out all the time, I’m not sure that what I’m doing will ever produce that. Those guys must work way harder than I do, or they know some stuff I don’t.

I still drink some beer, eat ice cream, and don’t “count carbs or calories.” I know that stuff *works* but I also know it isn’t sustainable. I’ve never seen one person stick with all that stuff, so I’m not going to bother with it. YMMV.

I say just begin somewhere. If you feel pain, you are probably doing it right. If it’s too easy you probably aren’t doing it right. Somewhere in the middle of that is what’s likely sustainable for the great majority of us for the long term.

 

[Navy Chief]

I need to get my pack out and start doing this again. I have allowed myself to become way too lazy since I had shoulder surgery last year and I can definitely tell.

 

[daveinlax]

I listened to a lifestyle podcast that had some pipe related content until rucking took over most of the content. I’ve found over the decades on pipe boards that smoking/pipe collecting is usually the first vise eliminated from a newly healthy (or finding love) lifestyle.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

I listened to a lifestyle podcast that had some pipe related content until rucking took over most of the content. I’ve found over the decades on pipe boards that smoking/pipe collecting is usually the first vise eliminated from a newly healthy (or finding love) lifestyle.

Granted, I don't really smoke that much (I've had one pipe this week) but I don't think pipe-smoking would ever interfere with me getting in better shape. My three-scoops-at-a-time love of ice cream, though - that's a different story.

 

[SBC]

I listened to a lifestyle podcast that had some pipe related content until rucking took over most of the content. I’ve found over the decades on pipe boards that smoking/pipe collecting is usually the first vise eliminated from a newly healthy (or finding love) lifestyle.

To decrease the chances of my Hodgkin's recurring, I've been shifting to a mostly Whole Food Plant Based diet, and I've had to consier alcohol and tobacco in this regard as well. What I've decided is that 6 days a week of exceptionally healthy practices should cover for 1 day a week of less healthy enjoyments; so, I intend to eat bacon and ice cream and drink beer and smoke pipes on Sundays, after church. I don't see why a "healthy lifestyle" has to exclude a celebratory Sunday.

 

[Home Brewing Piper]

Nice. I don’t have any plates but have some homemade sand bags and bricks that add up to somewhere between 45-50 lbs. The plates would be a more comfortable load to bear but, man, they are so expensive. I might get some at some point, but for now my stuff works well enough for my purposes.

Best wishes in your rucking adventures.

I rucked for 6 years with just an old surplus ALICE pack and barbell plates that flopped all over and were not the most comfortable to carry. I just bought the GoRuck bag and plates last October. They are definitely expensive but WAY more comfortable.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

I rucked for 6 years with just an old surplus ALICE pack and barbell plates that flopped all over and were not the most comfortable to carry. I just bought the GoRuck bag and plates last October. They are definitely expensive but WAY more comfortable.

I might spring for some at some point, but for now I'm about $500 into bags alone!

 

[OverMountain]

Make sure what ever you buy there is a quality hip belt to transfer weight off your shoulders and back and onto your hips. I find sternum strap use beneficial too.

Army rucks aren’t the best for this, not sure about the product you shared.

You want to wear the pack in a way that allows you to remain upright and not hunched in the neck or back. This allows you to breathe more easily as well and prevents muscle fatigue from poor activity posture. (Muscle fatigue can make it easier to injure your back- the “margin of safety” between the pack weight and your ability to stabilize your spine decreases with fatigue)

Adjusting the shoulder straps so that pressure is not pulling down on your neck or cervical spine is clutch to good rucking posture.

Start off with light weights before moving up into the higher weights.

Some joints are “squish” lubricated by squishing synovial fluid out of the soft tissue. (Walking beneficial to improving joint function). Over doing it however can shorten your time to enjoy rucking as you age through deterioration of your spine, joints, etc.

I’d recommend talking to a doc/PA if the opportunity presents itself and you are starting a new physical activity for their advice.

I love hiking/rucking too. The Army made it suck, but a light pack and a single track in the woods will do ya good.

And…don’t forget your pipe