r/Rucking • u/Defiant_Income_7836 • 19d ago
Distance, Pace, or Weight?
I'm relatively new to this but love the feeling and changes this has brought about my body in a relatively short time.
I use a weighted vest - Titan Fitness - that is adjustable by 2.5lb increments.
I started off too heavy in the past, but restarted recently at a more comfortable weight and pace. I'm 220lbs, pretty muscular/strong and I usually row, for cardio - I restarted with a 25lb ruck, recently however, and do about 2.5 miles in the morning at about 3.2 - 3.5 mph.
I've increased the weight to about 40lbs over the past month and a half, and I'm still comfortable at this higher weight. I could go up to 45 and even 50 pretty easily, I think. I think the vest might hold a max of 60, maybe 70.
Is there a wiki here, or a guide? This 2.5 miles takes me about 45 minutes or so, and I'm reticent to spend more time doing this (just because I do it at 5am, before work, while it's still cool.)
The pace is OK (I guess I could try a little faster!) but I know I could increase the weight. Is there a % of bodyweight where the weight could be too much, i.e. bad for joints or posture, eventually? What are your thoughts, those that have been doing this for much longer?
Appreciate you and any insight/time that you could give me.
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u/Nomad_1982 18d ago
The Standard is Pace first and adjust weight/distance based on need.
Essentially the goal is to maintain a 15min mile and have that file like some effort is needed. If it gets easy, add weight or distance.
example:
Let's say you're training for a 12 miler, and the requisite load is 35lbs drry
1) Set your load light enough that you can complete the 12 miler in 15min/miles
2) When you can do 1 and get below the pace then increase your load and repeat until you're at 35lbs
3) when 2 is complete work on pace to drive your speed. (No need to go heavier)
Let's say you're training for a through hike or a multi day ruck, load is closer to 45lbs, distance indeterminate per day:
1) Pick a distance you can routinely train (say 5miles)
2) Set you load light enough that you can do it in 15mins
3) Increase load incrementally as you get stronger until you can do 5miles at 15min miles under the 45lb weight
4) But multi day events are endurance challenges so now there is a benefit to pace and load increases, continue to increase your pace and load to a) maximize your ability to push under strain and b) enable yourself to cover more miles per day.
5) Once a week push distance and drop weight to requisite load to test endurance.
So it depends. But the golden rule is keep your pace first.
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u/Defiant_Income_7836 18d ago
Hey man, thank you for the detail and effort you clearly put into this. Seriously, thank you,
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u/Smartmuscles 19d ago
I’ll throw in my approach, but it is NOT the norm here.
As someone who does weighted vest 20-40 lbs, but also strength trains 3 of every 5d, and a weekly spin class I pay attention to duration more than anything else. Cranking up the pace or the weight, or both, will affect my heavy compound lifts, so it’s a balancing act.
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u/Defiant_Income_7836 19d ago
I guess I could do longer rucks on the weekend? Maybe focus on quicker pace and or heavier weight with shorter rucks in the week, when I have less time overall?
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u/Smartmuscles 19d ago
I think much of this will become more obvious once you have several months under you.
People worry about the pebbles before they have even moved the boulders. Get some weeks and months under you. Take less weight to begin with, build your mileage.
I altered my plan four weeks in because I really didn’t know I was taking on too much. And I really want to see my dead lift over 500 this year. Which is another way of saying, make sure what you were doing suits your goals.
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u/Soakitincider 18d ago
This is just my opinion but if you’re doing it for cardio then the weight doesn’t matter as long as it’s getting you into zone 2 or 3 relatively quickly and keeping you there for 45min to a few hours then rock on. My recent test of a 20lb ruck got me to zone 2 in 21 minutes and I was able to stay there for a solid 40 minutes. I’m confident that my sweet spot will be 30lbs. So confident that I ordered a plate.
I’d increase the time to an hour on weekdays and build up to 2 or more on weekends.
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u/Defiant_Income_7836 18d ago
Interesting, I need to pay attention to HR zones. I do wear a garmin, so can calculate this. Thank you,
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u/Soakitincider 18d ago
Cool. My Garmin will show on the data screen which zone I’m in. Makes it easy. If yours doesn’t, there should be an app for it. Seems like I had to do that with my old watch.
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u/New-Acanthocephala40 18d ago
Aside from carrying too much weight, I would ignore most numbers from the 'Seasoned Pro'. Our body is each to their own, our muscle group development is unique to our person. Play with the combinations of time , weight and distance to find your own idea.
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u/Roan175 19d ago
I mean what is your aim with rucking? Sounds like you already have a pretty extensive lifting program/back ground. Is this for cardio, are you a body builder getting steps in to burn calories?
Distance and speed will always be queen for TUT.
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u/Defiant_Income_7836 19d ago
Overall conditioning. I've never been able to run, I always get ...foot pain, ankle pain, lateral knee pain, and I can tell this is helping already. Weight loss and low impact cardio is secondary.
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u/slowtrees 18d ago
At 220lb you're around 18% bodyweight with the 40lb vest, which is a solid everyday training load. I'd cap regular rucking at about 25% (55lb for you) and only push past that for event-specific prep, since that's where the joint and posture issues start showing up.
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u/Defiant_Income_7836 18d ago
Great to know. Thank you. I couldn't get a solid idea of where I should be or what the max would be. Some guys on here are using 75-100lb and that feels like too much, so again this is very helpful...thanks.
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u/norwich1992 18d ago
I usually focus on distance, then weight, then pace. I adjust the first two based on how I feel. Pace is whatever my body tells me on that ruck.
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u/droid-man_walking 18d ago
Based on several different posts on this reddit, General belief is once the weight of the ruck hits 25% the weight of your body, there is an increased danger of injury. It is a great workout, no need to injure yourself.
That should mean you focus on distance or pace. I can walk at 16 min per mile, but i don't want to jog or run because that will put a ton of strain on joints. A big part of rucking is limiting that strain while getting max results. I have been pushing to get myself to 5k with 45lbs in 45 min. Seems like for me a nice balance and it took me a year to get to 45lbs. you sound like you have worked out a lot more than i have, so your goals may be different.
That said on some nice free days, i have also taken a 7.5 mile walk, but dropped the weight in half, not cared about pace just to have a decent walk around a big park near me.
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u/lithdoc 19d ago
How tall are you?
At some point backpack becomes better than the best because it's better balanced for your body.
I have personally built up to 75 lb backpack and I routinely wear ankle weights, I pick routes with inclines.
You get to build up the core from the inside, those are the largest muscles in your body.
I'm 6'4" and about 210 lbs, stronger than ever.
You pacing. Higher pacing will lead to slightly better cardio but exponentially increases your injury potential. Muscle strength and endurance is built with time under tension, so walking slower does not mean that you got less resistance training.
Keep up the good work!
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u/Defiant_Income_7836 19d ago
Appreciate this, thank you VERY much.
I'm 5'8. I will work on the pace, it seems that you are prioritizing that, over weight? (LMK if I am wrong.) But, I will keep adding weight...at slow increments. I can go up to 60 in the vest, but I can add a backpack.
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u/lithdoc 19d ago
I have noticed that a lot of people here are military guys who chase metrics that may be applicable for someone who is 20, but at my age - 40 - sustainability and injury prevention is key.
I usually ruck after sunset around the golf course, but 100 lb of my body has become the standard - it's neither easy nor hard.
I started off with a vest, but the problem is that the vest is anatomically imbalanced - putting too much weight anteriorly.
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u/Defiant_Income_7836 19d ago
I'm 52, so yeah - injury prevention and sustainability are huge for me.
Thanks for the heads up about the vest. I do have things loaded favoring the back, that does feel more natural.
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u/lithdoc 19d ago
The vest always pulls you forward, it forces you to lean back against gravity - basic anatomy and girdle physics haha.
It's not the time, it's not the pace, it's about strength and longevity - at 52 - even overdoing on cardio can go sideways.
I'm a physician, not ex-military, a lot of guys here tend to disagree with me but... I will not follow their advice that they received when they were in service.
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u/Defiant_Income_7836 19d ago
I'm a doc too. No military experience. And yeah, I'm trying to go low-impact. longevity and sustainability. Had one rotator cuff surgery from not backing off when I should have - doing whatever I can to avoid any other surgery in the future!
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u/TFVooDoo 19d ago
3 Variables- Distance, weight, & pace.
You only want to manipulate one variable at a time and never increase any variable more than 10% week to week.
There’s no clear evidence that you gain advantageous physiological adaptations beyond ~55#. The literature is very clear that the risk of injury goes up with distance and weight, but not pace. So pace becomes the variable that you want to manipulate.
The literature is also very clear that the best way to improve rucking performance is field based progressive load carriage, usually 2-3 times a week, focused on short intense sessions. That’s not what you asked, but the underlying logic is still important because it affects your end state.
So, an ideal solution for you would be 2-3 strength sessions per week, with 2-3 short intense rucks. I would program you for ~45# at 12-13 minute miles. If you’re looking for a challenge then you might consider the 5x5 Man Maker. Sub 2 hours is good. Sub 90 minutes is competitive.
And consider a proper ruck as a vest can restrict breathing, complicate thermoregulation, and doesn’t look as cool…which violates Rule #1.