TOPLINE FITNESS Rucking
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Online Another day, another TikTok fitness trend – but this is one I can get behind because (a) it’s free, (b) almost everyone can do it and (c) it’s not silly. Rucking has racked up 23.8 million views, and Google searches have soared 250 per cent in the past year.
Bottom line
It’s basically going for a walk wearing either a backpack containing weights or a weighted vest.
Battle line
Marching while lugging kit has long been part of military training, but rucking has been popularised as a fitness activity by Michael Easter since his 2021 bestselling book The Comfort Crisis.
Timeline
Rucking, Easter argues, mimics our ancestors’ actions: trekking across tundra with slain reindeer slung across their shoulders rather than slumping at a desk for eight hours. Canadian longevity expert Dr Peter Attia, author of Outlive, is a rucking fan, alongside A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake.
Get in line
Easter believes that rucking is an activity most of us can practise (even if it does sound quite millennial and macho):
‘If you can walk, you can ruck. It’s cardio for people who hate running and lifting; for people who hate the gym.’ (My father-in-law was weighting rucksacks and stomping about in his local woods well into his 70s.)
Clothes line
Beauty brand founder Liz Earle, 60, goes rucking wearing a natty pink weighted vest from her local sports shop. ‘It adds extra resistance to my walks and workouts to help build up endurance,’ she told her 139k Instagram followers recently.
Waistline
Rucking can burn three times more calories than your normal walk. GP Dr Gemma Newman, author of Get Well, Stay Well, says: ‘The extra weight means you’re having to expend more energy to move, so your heart is going at a higher rate, which improves cardiovascular fitness.’ When I try, with a 5kg black weighted vest (€32, decathlon. ie), my health tracker
tells me it ups my half-hour lunchtime stroll from ‘moderate’ to ‘hard’.
Adrenaline By the end, I can feel my heart beating faster but I’m not out of breath or sweating, like I would be after a half-hour run. I just make a mental note not to wear the weighted vest in crowded places: it’s easily mistakable for an explosive device.
Lifeline ‘The extra weight provides more resistance against your muscles so they have to work harder,’ Dr Newman explains. It can also improve your bonemass density. This means that it’s great for all older women, as after the menopause bone density plunges, which can lead to osteoporosis.
Buy line Special rucking backpacks with weight plates are sold in stores, but equally you could just put a few bottles of water in a rucksack – or try walking back from the supermarket with your groceries on your back. Personally I preferred using a weighted vest as the mass was evenly distributed across my front and back. The cheapest I could find was a green and black number from RPM Power (€24.99, rpmpower.com). At 5kg, it’s a good starting weight for smaller women.
Toe the line Experts advise initially carrying five to ten per cent of your body weight. As you improve, add more, walk for longer or go up hills. Avoid too much pressure on your joints too quickly: if your knees start to hurt, you need to stop.
Laughter line Messaging about rucking is a misspelling disaster waiting to happen – so when texting anyone inviting them to take part in this new weight-bearing activity with you, be careful.
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