Question for some of you adventure race guys or those who’s jobs require exertion with weight (infantry, firefighters, police, etc). What is your take on backpack running.
When I was in the Army (infantry) we ran and then we ‘hiked’ for days with our rucks, but only once as part of prep for a school do I remember running with the ruck.
As a wildland firefighter I ran for conditioning and spent days on broken terrain doing manual labor with rucks. But the only time I ran with a ruck was 100lbs for 1 mile for time entrance quals.
I had good condition when I was doing these things. I had no sport injuries but that was years ago. I hate every cardio exercise there is but running a mile I can stand before ADD kicks in and I start wanting to throw myself in front of cars to aleve the boredom.
So I was wondering if ruck running (say starting with 35lbs and working up to >100lbs over time) for a mile, while getting my heart racing and my lungs gasping, is something anyone outside of Army Rangers have used successfully as a training mode.
Yes I could get a vest. But they ain’t cheap and I have the rucksack already. Just curious about any personal experiences. I mean working up to a 300lbs mile carry (exaggeration for illustration) would give your cardiovascular system a bit of a tickle I imagine.
IMO running with a ruck is not a great idea if you don’t have to. The pounding on your joints simply would not be worth the gains. I think you’d be further ahead to find a steep incline/stairs/hill/mountain etc. and climb it at a really stiff pace than to run. If your ruck is heavy enough, the incline is steep enough and the pace is brisk enough you can tickle your cardiovascular system pretty quickly without actually breaking into a run. If said incline is outdoors with, like, scenery and nature and such it provides the added bonus of helping to alleviate the soul-crushing boredom you describe. Failing that, step ups onto a box will get the job done, but the boredom factor is high. Running to cover with a ruck because people are shooting at you is one thing, but as regular “just because” cardio, I can’t see it.
I’m also getting that walking doesn’t concern (it seems) you guys as much, and obviously hikers do it all the time. So brisk mile walks with heavier poundages in the ruck might get the same generalized health effect but not crap my joints to hell?
I should take up a sport.
I’m just that guy with 4 kids, job, school, and various drama, pretty typical. Yet I can always seem to squeeze in time to walk a mile so I just wanted to try and get the most bang for my buck since prowlers and yoke-walk devices aren’t in the budget.
I’m having problems running with my bodyweight as it is so putting on added weight would be disaster. I think running with a ruck is for youngsters and I would just leave the added weight work for hiking and not running.
As an infantry soldier I went 140lbs and was quite fine at running.
After I got out I was about 10lbs heavier when I fought fire and with my short legs was the slow kid on the crew (thank god carrying heavy packs and steep hills are an equalizer when working with long limbed cardio-gazelles.
After busting out a heavy duty perma-bulk couple of years and getting a little over 190lbs, running became pure hell. It was always boring (the terror of thinking that max squat or bench is going to kill you always keeps things interesting when lifting) but I could tell big silverback gorillas and/or squatty fireplugs were not meant to be distance runners.
I can only imagine how hard it is on the guys running while 210+. But stair climbs, sprints, and loaded carries seem a little easier on the body frame. I’ll go slow and heavy, no running.
Mainly all my cardio endurance tests consist of helping buddies move their houses anyway. All I need is cardio like strongman contest cardio and general low key health benefits.
I just got back from a 40 mile backpacking trip with some serious elevation gain; throughout the trip I hiked through streams for several miles and up hills that felt like I was walking on the beach. This is what I consider fun and why I exercise in the first place. Of course, I also go lite. I want to keep my pack weight down as much as possible. But since I had to hike up hill for a couple of miles with 3 liters of water plus my tent and sleeping bag. I go for the lightest gear possible. I’ll probably switch to a tarp setup soon. This still puts me carrying around 20-30 lbs when counting food.
It comes down to what your goals are and why you are working out. I go to the gym to perform better on my backpacking trips, not to look good naked. Being big and backpacking don’t mix too well. But being strong and having strong cardio allow me to enjoy my trips, rather than feel pain afterwards. I don’t want to be big; just strong.
[quote]pulphero wrote:
Yes I could get a vest. But they ain’t cheap and I have the rucksack already. Just curious about any personal experiences. I mean working up to a 300lbs mile carry (exaggeration for illustration) would give your cardiovascular system a bit of a tickle I imagine.[/quote]
A lot of the science for heavy loaded carries is from the perspective of the soldier. Researchers wanted to know about energy usage for soldiers moving from one point to another.
The heart rate and energy usage increase linearly with amount of weight added to the body.
I started with the 84 lb X Vest and built up to 7+ mile walks with hills for endurance as well as some power walks and hill repeats.
Just recently advanced to the V-MAx 150 vest and it is quite a bit more challenging. I power walk about 1.1 miles but I have to stop and rest for a few moments to alleviate shoulder compression from the heavy gear.
Abdominals definitely getting built in a whole new way. Smashes calves easily. Definitely metabolic benefits.
-Stronger feet
-Calves
-Abdominals
-Upper back endurance
-Cardiovascular
Definitely has carryover. I feel like I have more energy throughout the day. 1.1 mile power walk with 150# vest and hills is a serious workout. 20-30 mins max so far feeling comfortable in the vest. I’d rather improve my mile time than add more distance.
I myself and training for the Army (starting ROTC in the fall) and have taken up ruck marching, not running. Like the others have said, ruck running is a good way to get injured, that’s why I march, as I’m sure you have done many times before while you were in the Army. Since I had never done it before, I started out with 20 lbs. for 30 minutes. Every 2-3 weeks, I add 5 lbs. and 5 minutes.
By the end of the summer, I’m going to be at 40 lbs. for 60 minutes. So far, it’s worked out pretty well for me. Just my two cents.
Anyway, weight load marching is a good way to condition but I wouldn’t recommend running unless you have a specific need to run with heavy weight, and if you do run with weight I recommend you run on a softer surface or you keep the distance relatively short and stop as soon as your form breaks down. At work I alternate between marching cross-country and hill sprints. I avoid shuffling unless I have to to meet a timing.
Marching on roads/flat surfaces sucks and tends to produce repetitive stress injuries. It’s also boring as fuck. Marching off-road builds stronger stabilizers in the knees/hips/ankles and undulating terrain constantly varies the movement of your body so it’s not repeating the exact same motion step after step. Running hills (sprint up/walk down) builds your calves, Achilles and shins and will allow you to push off with more power on flat terrain.
Start slow, finish fast. Keep your stride short and quick. Listen to your body.