Events are what we train for. You do not need one on the calendar to ruck with us, but having a date circled changes how you show up on a Thursday night. Here is how we would get someone from their first ruck to their first start line.
Where to start
GORUCK's own guidance for beginners is a good place to begin: 10 to 20 pounds, a pace of 17 to 20 minutes a mile, one or two rucks a week if you are new to exercise and three or four if you already train. Add weight 5 pounds at a time, and do not carry more than a third of your body weight [1]. Treat those as a sensible convention from people who do this a lot, not as lab science.
At our Group Rucks the target is under 20 minutes a mile, and you carry whatever you like, including nothing. Start there.
The one rule that prevents most injuries
Change one thing at a time. Add distance or add weight, never both in the same week. Military research on load carriage keeps arriving at the same conclusion: build gradually, because too much volume too fast is what gets people hurt [2]. The injuries it lists are the ones you would guess: blisters, stress fractures, sore backs and knees, and pinched nerves from shoulder straps [3].
A simple six weeks
- Weeks 1 and 2: two rucks a week, 2 to 3 miles, 10 to 20 pounds. Learn how your feet, shoulders and pack feel.
- Weeks 3 and 4: same weight. Stretch one ruck to 4 miles. Add a third short ruck if you feel good.
- Weeks 5 and 6: add 5 pounds. Keep the weeknight rucks at 3 miles and take one longer weekend ruck of 5 to 6 miles.
If anything hurts in a way that is not ordinary tiredness, drop the weight and hold that week again. Nobody gives out a prize for the fastest progression.
A ruck workout to try
Research on getting better at carrying loads found the biggest gains when people combined three things: strength work, cardio, and actually carrying the load [4]. A ruck with some PT in the middle covers all three in under an hour.
- Ruck one easy mile to warm up.
- Take the ruck off and do four rounds: 10 squats holding the ruck at your chest, 10 push-ups, 10 overhead presses with the ruck, and a 100 yard carry with the ruck held in front of you.
- Put it back on and ruck a mile home at a brisk pace.
What the events ask of you
GORUCK Challenges are team events led by a cadre, and they are long rather than fast. GORUCK describes its tiers roughly like this: a Light runs 2 to 3 hours and 3 or more miles, a Basic covers 7 to 10 miles over about 5 hours, a Tough runs 10 to 12 hours and 15 to 20 miles, and a Heavy goes past 24 hours and 40 miles [5]. For a Basic, the listing we checked requires a 30 pound plate if you weigh over 150 pounds and a 20 pound plate if you weigh less, plus water and a reflective ruck [6]. Standards change, so read the page for your own event.
Spartan races are obstacle races measured by distance. A Sprint is 5K with 20 obstacles, a Super is 10K with 25, and a Beast is a half marathon with 30 [7]. The Hurricane Heat is different: a team endurance event that runs for a set time, 4, 12 or 24 hours, instead of a set distance [8].
How to train for one
- Pick the event first, then work backward. Give yourself at least 8 to 12 weeks for a first one.
- Train with the weight the event requires. Our Team Challenge Rucks expect you to have done exactly that, and to hold under 18 minutes a mile for at least 3 miles.
- Practice being a teammate. GORUCK events are finished as a team, carrying shared weight. Come to a Team Challenge Ruck and find out what that feels like before event day.
- Break in your shoes and socks on long rucks. Feet end more events than fitness does.
- Back off in the last week. You cannot get fitter in seven days, but you can show up tired.
Then do what the club has always said. Set a goal, find an event, sign up, train, and go get it.