This is the first Ruck Report, our monthly round-up for people who walk with weight. From November it covers research, events, gear and community news in one short read. This first issue is all product news, because over the past week we opened a new Learn section on Ruckercise. It answers the three questions we get asked most: what rucking actually is, how much weight to carry, and how many calories a ruck burns. Here is what is new and where to find it.
What launched
- What Is Rucking? A plain-English explainer: where rucking comes from, what it does for your body, how much weight to start with and how to do your first ruck. It ends with a short FAQ.
- Ruck Weight Calculator. Enter your bodyweight and experience level and it gives you a starting load, then rounds down to a Ruck Weight size you can actually buy. It uses the same ranges as our weight chart by bodyweight: about 10% to start, 20–30% for experienced ruckers.
- Rucking Calorie Calculator. Enter your bodyweight, pack weight, pace, time, uphill grade and surface and it estimates your calorie burn for the session and per hour, and compares it with the same walk unloaded.
- A Learn menu. The main navigation now has a Learn section with two columns: Start Here (What Is Rucking, the Start Rucking Guide, the beginner workout plan and the weight chart) and Tools & Training (both calculators and our most-read training posts). The footer has the same links.
How the calculators work
The weight calculator applies a percentage of your bodyweight based on where you are: new to exercise, a regular walker or gym-goer, or already training under load. It never rounds up. If the math says 17 lb, it recommends the 15 lb Ruck Weight, because starting a little light costs you nothing and starting heavy costs you weeks.
The calorie calculator uses the load-carriage equations developed by the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, which account for bodyweight, load, speed and grade. Treat the result as an estimate. Depending on load, pace and hills, a ruck can burn up to 2.5 times the calories of an unloaded walk, but your own number will move with terrain, fitness and how you pack.
What changed in existing posts
- Our oldest guide is now How to Ruck Properly: Gear, Form and Pace. It focuses on technique and points brand-new ruckers to the Start Rucking Guide for their first month.
- The weighted backpack vs. weighted vest comparison and the benefits of rucking post now link straight to the new pages where they are useful.
- The Ruck Weight product page links to the calculator, so you can size before you buy.
What is next
Two more things are on the way. A Gear & Guides blog opens with a buyer's guide to rucking backpacks: what matters, what does not and how to tell the difference. And the Train blog gets a post on the "weighted backpack method" that has been making the rounds on social media, which is rucking under another name. And the Ruck Report returns in early November as a full issue: research, events, gear and Ruckercise news in one five-minute read.
If there is a question you wish the Learn section answered, email support@ruckercise.com. The most-asked ones become the next pages.
