Physical conditioning: Walking with a ruck

Congratulations! You’ve learned how to walk! 
You’ve picked out boots that work for you and broke them in. You’ve got plenty of socks. You know how to take care of your feet.
Now that the weather is much warmer, it’s time to grab your ruck and learn how to start walking with one on.
I’m going to steal this from Mountain Guerrilla because for free basic information, he can’t be beat. [Ed. Note: We did make a few minor corrections in the quote, but nothing affecting content.]

Start your program with a paltry 25-lb rucksack. If that’s too much, I suppose you could drop the weight to 10-lbs, but in the meantime, I’d suggest seeing your gynecologist for testosterone injections as well…..

Take the 25-lb rucksack out and go walk two miles. Time yourself for the two miles. Repeat, once a week, in addition to your normal running or sprinting PT, until you can do the two miles in 30 minutes or less. Then, double the distance until you are doing four miles in 60 minutes.

At that point, add weight to the ruck, up to 35-lbs, and continue the four mile hikes, until you can do them in the 60 minute time limit. Then, step the weight up to 45-lbs, and repeat. Continue at the four mile distance, with the 60 minute goal, until you’re doing that with 65 lbs.

Once you can do four miles, in 60 minutes, with 65 lbs on your back, add a mile, and continue pushing for the 60 minute time limit. That’s “Checkpoint #1.” If you can do a 12-minute mile for five miles, with 65 lbs on your back, you’re light years ahead of most people. Once you’ve accomplished that, keep trying to exceed the standards though. Push on to doing eight miles in two hours. Then, push to doing eight miles in 1:30.

I believe your goal should ultimately be:

12 miles in 2.5 hours, with 65+ pounds. I’d like to see people pushing the two hour time limit, with 75 lbs or more, but I’d offer that the 12 miles, 2.5 hours, 65+ pounds will put you far beyond what most people in the military, let alone in the preparedness world, will ever achieve, or even bother trying to achieve.

If you are thinking, “Oh, I’ll never hit that because of reasons,” you’re right.
Who cares about your reasons? Get up and get going. Go as far as you can, then push on, and keep pushing. No matter how far you actually get, you’ll still be better off than if you had done nothing. You have a goal and a plan to get there. Use it.
Summer’s almost upon us. Let’s take advantage of sun while we may.
 
 
 
 
 
UPDATE: From the comments, DTG offers this excellent link: https://defensivetraininggroup.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/ruck-training-some-thoughts/
Get over there and read. Then get going!