5 ways to know if there is too much weight in your rucking backpack

5 ways to know if there is too much weight in your rucking backpack

In addition to being a fun workout style and training method, rucking is also a sport that can be challenging for people of all ages and physical fitness levels. Of course, the instant something becomes a formal sport, diehard, overachieving athletes immediately begin looking for ways to stretch the boundaries of their training to gain an advantage over their competitors… or to impress their friends.

When it comes to rucking, one of the quickest, easiest and potentially dangerous ways to make workouts more challenging is to increase the weight in your backpack to levels that will literally leave you staggering. While challenging yourself is an important component of rucking, challenging the vertebrae of your spine to maintain their original shape is strongly discouraged.

With physical safety and overall training proficiency in mind, here are five ways for you to know if there is too much weight in your rucking backpack.

1. You haven’t started with 10 percent of your body weight.

As a general principle, ruckers are commonly advised to begin their rucking activities with no more than 10 percent of their body weight added to their backpacks, with an absolute maximum of 20 pounds added to their backpacks no matter how much the person weighs. While people transitioning to rucking from other sports might consider themselves to be accomplished athletes who are instantly ready for more weight, it is still best to start the rucking process with the advised level of weight simply for the sake of establishing familiarity with having weight in a backpack before progressing the workout to more challenging levels.

Just for purposes of comparison, day campers who take to hiking trails are advised to never carry backpacks that exceed 10 percent of their body weight, while overnight campers are told never to carry more than 20 percent of their body weight in their packs. Moreover, several hospital systems that offered an opinion on the subject of a safe amount of weight to put in backpacks have suggested never lugging around more than 10 percent of your body weight in a backpack. So, for what it’s worth, the starting point for backpack weight within the rucking community is affirmed by multiple third-party sources.

2. You haven’t worked your way up to the weight.

Despite its foundation in walking, running and hiking, the weight-bearing nature of rucking certainly qualifies it as a clear form of resistance training. This means certain principles of weight training also apply to it, including the fundamental rule that novices should begin with a weight that is moderately challenging, and then carefully increase the training weight to accommodate advancements in muscle strength and endurance.

Soreness may be a reliable gauge of muscle exertion, but a level of soreness that results in misery is never encouraged in rucking, nor is it a healthy way to indoctrinate rucking rookies. In order to maintain rucking safety and maximize the enjoyment of the activity, start with a light weight in your backpack, and then work your way up to a comfortably challenging weight. That way, rucking will seem like less of a chore, and the likelihood that you’ll embrace it as a daily fitness hobby will increase.

3. You’re carrying more than 60 pounds.

Since rucking has its roots in special forces training, it is important to keep in mind what special forces operatives have to say about the amount of weight they carry around on missions. While US Navy SEALs may be forced to carry up to 60 pounds during their missions, the SEAL motto of “light is right” applies specifically to the efficiency enjoyed by those who carry as little gear as they need during their missions.

With this in mind, the weight SEALs carry in their packs during standard missions typically ranges between 20 and 40 pounds, which means there really isn’t that much of a point in trying to exceed what the top American fighting forces are preparing to carry into combat. This means it is probably safe to think of 60 pounds as an absolute weight ceiling no matter what you weigh, and to do your best to make your rucking workouts as challenging as possible while keeping the weight in your backpack at 60 pounds or less.

For the overwhelming majority of ruckers, training with 60 pounds in a backpack will be downright dangerous, so don’t even consider adding this amount of weight to your backpack unless you have comfortably completed several workouts with less weight and gradually elevated your workload to the 60-pound weight figure.

4. You can’t maintain an upright posture.

There is a big difference between toting around a crippling amount of weight in your backpack, and technically hauling it around properly. Whether or not your rucking technique is proper has a lot to do with your ability to maintain the appropriate, upright posture while you ruck. Stabilizing your core muscles and remaining upright ensures that the strength-building benefits of the ruck are transferred to the appropriate muscles instead of placing undue pressure on joints that aren’t designed to handle such a sustained amount of pressure.

It’s okay if you arch your back a little when you ruck, right? Actually… no, not at all. Even a slight arch in your back will cause the weight in your backpack to press down on the joints and tissue of your lower back. Frankly it doesn’t do any favors for your knees or ankles either. So, if you find yourself looking at your feet out of necessity, and not because you’re checking for safe places to step, your back is probably suffering because of it, and you should lighten the weight in your backpack.

5. You can’t reasonably lift the weight by yourself.

If you’ve ever been certified as a scuba diver, you know just how much attention is paid to the process of donning the buoyancy compensator devices (BCDs) once they have the standard air cylinders connected to them. This is because the cylinders weigh between 30 to 35 pounds on their own, and several injuries have been experienced by scuba divers while suiting up. Whenever possible, scuba divers are instructed to use the buddy-donning system, where a diver’s assigned buddy lifts the weighted BCD vest directly up to their buddy using the proper, prescribed technique.

With this principle in mind, consider how often you intend to ruck on your own, and the potential dangers you might face before, during and after a rucking workout through the simple act of lifting the weight onto your back and then removing it. For many ruckers, training buddies are not plentiful, meaning the responsibility for safely donning the weight falls squarely - and literally - on a rucker’s lone set of shoulders. Therefore, if the weight is a challenge for you to lift onto your back before the workout even begins, you probably shouldn’t be using it during your rucking session.

Monthly Ruck Challenges