What Is Rucking and Is It Good for Your Heart Health?
We all know that cardiovascular exercise is important for both your overall health and your heart health. But unfortunately, knowing something is good for us doesn’t always translate into doing that thing. This is often true with cardiovascular exercise.
There are many reasons why people don’t get enough cardio workouts:
- They’re often time consuming, and they may not fit into your busy schedule
- If your typical cardio routine involves outdoor workouts, you may find that it’s harder to get these workouts in during the cold weather months
- Certain cardio workouts, such as running, can be hard on your body and be challenging to do, especially if you experience joint pain
- You may simply find cardio workouts to be unenjoyable and lack the motivation to do them
Whatever your reason for failing to get enough cardiovascular exercise, the outcome is the same – you may be increasing your risk for heart health issues down the road. But what if you could get this important cardio exercise without the typical rigors of a cardio workout? This may be a gamechanger for you, as it has been for so many people who have embraced rucking as part of their exercise routine.
What Is Rucking?
Rucking has become an increasingly popular form of exercise in recent years. The name comes from the term “rucksack,” which is the military word used for a backpack. As the name implies, rucking has evolved from a common military training practice used to get soldiers acclimated to traveling long distances with a heavy pack on their back.
The concept behind rucking is incredibly simple – it involves walking a set distance while carrying a weighted pack on your back. In addition, there’s no gym membership or expensive equipment needed. All you need to start rucking is:
- Supportive walking shoes (good sneakers will be perfect)
- A backpack
- Weights
While they make rucking-specific packs, you don’t need one to go rucking. A good quality backpack that you use for day hikes will work fine as well. Just keep in mind that backpacks are roomier than rucksacks, so the weights you place in there are more likely to shift around. You can prevent this by wrapping your weights in a towel or small blanket.
While dumbbells or kettlebells are ideal to use with rucking, they aren’t essential. If you don’t have these weights at home, you can simply use a few heavy objects. Just make sure you know how much weight you’re placing in the pack to prevent injuring yourself by carrying too heavy a load.
There are three components to the physical workout you experience from rucking:
- The amount of weight you carry
- The number of miles you walk
- The length of time you spend rucking
You can vary these components to achieve your desired workout. For example, if you aren’t able to carry heavy weight on your back, you can walk longer distances for more time at a lighter weight to achieve the same cardiovascular workout. Conversely, if you’re short on time and can only go for a short ruck, you can increase the weight you carry to get a better workout.
Heart Health Benefits Associated with Rucking
Rucking is an excellent form of cardiovascular exercise that offers a variety of important heart health benefits:
- Elevates your heart more than walking
- Provides comparable cardiovascular effects as jogging with less impact on your body
- Increases your stamina and endurance
- Provides a comparable calorie burn as jogging
If you experience joint pain, rucking provides a great low-impact alternative to running. It puts less stress on your joints and allows for longer cardio workouts with less risk of injury. In addition, studies have shown that consistent rucking can lead to improvements in your overall cardiovascular fitness. One study found that a 10-week load carrying program improve the oxygen intake for participants.
Additional Benefits of Rucking
Improved heart health isn’t the only positive associated with rucking. You’ll also experience a variety of other benefits, including:
- Improved strength and muscle tone – Your body has to work harder to maintain balance and stability when you carry a heavy load on your back. This will increase muscle activation, helping you build muscle and improve overall strength.
- Improved posture – Rucking builds core muscles and trains you to walk with better posture.
- Increased endurance – Carrying weight while you walk boosts your endurance much more than when you walk without this additional weight.
- Improved bone density – Weight-bearing exercises such as rucking improve your bone density, which is critical for your health as you age.
- Improved mental health – Exercise, especially outdoor exercise, has been found to have a powerful impact on mental health.
Tips for Safe Rucking
Rucking is an easy way to introduce additional exercise to your routine that will improve your heart health. But it’s important to do it properly to prevent injuries. The following tips will help you ruck safely and effectively:
- Start with a light load – Your body needs to acclimate walking while carrying heavy weights. If you overdo it right away, you’re more likely to get injured. Start with light weights and gradually work your way up as you build muscle. Most people start rucking using 10% of their bodyweight.
- Be conservative with initial distance and speed – It’s best to start out rucking a shorter distance at a more leisurely pace until your body acclimates. Try walking for a mile at a moderate pace. If this feels too easy, you can increase your speed and distance accordingly.
- Listen to your body – As you progress, you’ll be able to increase your weight, distance and speed. Always pay attention to your body before increasing any of these variables, and only do so if you feel like you’re reaching diminishing levels of improvement out of your current regimen.
- Use proper gear – This will become increasingly important as you increase your weight load and ruck for longer distances. Make sure you have comfortable, supportive footwear and a backpack that properly supports your body when it contains heavy weight.
South Denver Cardiology Associates Can Help You Maintain Optimal Heart Health
At South Denver Cardiology Associates, we’re committed to helping you achieve and maintain optimal heart health. Sometimes, we accomplish this by providing you with useful information on new activities you can try, such as rucking, that will improve your heart health. However, we also fulfill this commitment to you through the robust services we offer. These include:
- Medical Fitness Gym – Work with exercise specialists who will help you create an individualized fitness plan to improve your heart health
- Nutritional Consulting – Work with one of our nutritional experts to develop a heart healthy diet
- Medical Weight Loss Clinic – Our registered dieticians and exercise physiologists will work with you to shed excess pounds and maintain a heart healthy weight
- Diagnostic Testing – We can help you identify and treat any potential heart health issues in their earliest stages
- Preventive Cardiology – Our Preventive Cardiology Clinic will work with you to proactively manage your heart health and prevent serious issues from developing
Contact us today to schedule an appointment. South Denver Cardiology Associates serves patients in Denver, Littleton and the surrounding areas.
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