A Few Benefits Of Rucking

Us humans have been doing this particular activity since the dawn of man as hunter/gatherers. Military men and women have done Rucking in order to keep them in shape so they can be as tough as they need to be when all hell breaks loose. A few benefits that everyday people can have when they practice this bad ass type of training....

1. Unbelievable Endurance & Work Capacity

Not the same as weight training as it aids in building endurance while fatigue is at the bare minimum. The overload for Work Capacity helps build a foundation that gradually progresses as you get stronger just like in the gym. Even the late Louie Simmons was a huge advocate for Work Capacity which included multiple variations of loaded carries, sled pulls and other things.

2. Wicked Awesome For Posture

Believe it or not, adding weight can help aid in building a better posture when it's done properly. It strengthens our muscles that are responsible for keeping us upright. This allows the body to stay in that position much easier when removing weight.

3. Powerful Calorie Burn

With recent studies done by the Compendium of Physical Activities, by rucking its possible to burn up to 650 calories within an hour, a massive 300 more calories than just regular walking. If you were to do about 5 hours a week of rucking, that's 3250 calories burned (nearly the equivalent to losing a pound a week alone). 

4. Let The Sun Shine Bright

Being out in the fresh air is always a huge benefit. It lowers stress, weighs down the cortisol levels and heightens Vitamin D and Testosterone Levels. As us guys age, maintaining and balancing our testosterone becomes more crucial. 

5. It's Safe & Pretty Easy To Do

Screw jogging since it's more exhausting than Rucking is. In fact, it may be even more enjoyable and can be done with better consistency. We all know regardless of your goals, consistency is the key along with eating right (I didn't say diet, just eating right meaning better but not completely depriving yourself). Another added benefit is that rucking is actually safer on the joints than regular jogging. 

Where do you start? Well, a good foundation would be to start with wearing about 10% of your bodyweight (say for a 200 lb man, it be a 20 lb Vest or Backpack). Work your way up little by little. Hell, I'm only using a 40 lb vest when I go out on my rucks. You don't need to go around looking like you're carrying a piano on your back, gradually build up until it feels more than enough to walk with. Very few people will ever use more than 100 lbs to ruck with. The only two people I know of who walked with 300 lbs was Bud Jeffries & Steve Justa. You don't need to push it that far, even on a hike, 50 lbs would be more than enough for most people. It's tough as it is and it can give you the workout of your life. If you could go a good distance with 100% or more of your bodyweight, that's pretty damn impressive and shows some serious strength and conditioning. 

Grab the Kensui Weight Vest to progressively load up using weighted plates. The smallest loadable is up to 80 lbs. The heaviest is loadable to 300 lbs. Save yourself a few bucks by using my Discount Code POWERANDMIGHT at checkout to get 10% OFF your order. If you order the 300 lb loadable, this saves you close to a whopping 25 bucks. Have a wonderful day and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Take A Walk To Get Stronger

           Walking is the simplest thing in the world. You put one foot in front of the other and you’re off. Walking is both a mind and body tool. You can lose weight by walking, you can build great ideas from walking and you can get stronger both inside and outside from walking, walking while training is a powerful tool as well. A course called Muscle Reminders has one part on how to exercise as you walk. Another great tool is Lifeline USA’s PowR Walk Pro where you use cables for your arms as you walk an alternative to using little dumbbells. There’s always a way to make yourself strong as you walk.

            The one exercise I’ve been experimenting with lately is the farmer’s walk. This exercise consists of one or 2 objects that you pick up and start walking with whether it be kettlebells, dumbbells, gripping a sand bag in each hand or whatever. I like to use buckets because it’s cheap and easy to set up. You can get a bucket at just about any hardware store as big as you need it. I got my buckets at Wal-Mart for about 5 bucks each and they’re huge. I feel it up with water and a rock/stone I have around the yard. I get it set up and grip the handles then pick up and start walking around the yard. The weight comes out to 123 lbs. total and it’s brutal.

            To make the farmer’s walk more of a challenge, I use my Fat Gripz and attach each one to the handles. Now this makes things more brutal and it will get you breathing hard quick even more than if you just used the handles. Imagine picking up that much weight with the handles being thicker and needing to grip harder just to keep from dropping them. Some use a little pipe to attach and that’s great too if you want but I like the fat gripz because they’re available right there.

            Building mighty hands while walking is pretty bad ass in my book. This helps build your grip like crazy especially if you’re in sports or a weightlifter/strongman or whatever you’re into. Grip strength is essential for overall development and when you use thicker handles your body goes into overdrive and you can be breathing harder faster than usual. You don’t need weights but if you got em, go for it but using simple tools can also be beneficial and can cost you far less money and still get more bang for your buck. Take a walk on the wild side and utilize it to build strength, get in great condition and develop stamina like a madman. 

The PowR Walk Pro From Lifeline USA

Walking is one of the best exercises you can do, it helps you think, you can do it anywhere and its one of if not the best exercise for your overall health. I love to walk around places whether at a park, the mall or hell around the harbor from where I use to live. You build a sense of awareness and you find things about yourself from walking that you normally don't find from other exercises. Now what if we took walking to a whole new level and it not only would it help you get in shape but to give you the workout of a lifetime.

I'm talking about the PowR Walk Pro from Lifeline USA. Its a cable attachment that comes with a handle and a foot strap that will get you off and running or should I say off and walking LOL. This device may look easy and you may think its no big deal, well my friend that's where you need to rethink what you're doing here. Its far beyond what you think it is. This thing alone can cut your walking in half like a knife to butter. There are 2 levels of resistance and when you get it you will start at level 1 which is the Gray cables. They may not seem much but once you start walking with these puppies you will feel it immediately. The second Level of resistance is the Gold cables. This ups the ante and works your tendons and ligaments like you wouldn't believe.

This can help you burn off calories and get fit like never before. Now with regular walking you're mostly just working the legs but with the PowR Walk Pro, you will be working your entire body from your neck to your toes. Some people who walk take up to 10 pound dumbbells with them to get some resistance going but this thing is far better and more convenient as you can put them into a little bag when you order the product. To me its one of the best things I've ever used and I've been doing exercise for over 14 years. This will work the upper body like crazy and at a good clip you can burn up to 3X the amount the calories as oppose to regular walking. You don't need to more then a couple miles maximum but how far you can go is up to you.

I normally do 20-30 min. of walking with this thing and after that I'm spent. The first few minutes I'll just walk and do the standard cross-country skiing walk and after a few of those I would do a set of curls or lateral raises and at certain points during the walk I would hold the cables at chest level and see how long I last carrying them in an isometric fashion. There are many ways to use this thing and when you see Bobby Hinds or the other members of Lifeline USA on the DVD that comes with it, you will see first hand that you don't need long term cardio and you can either use it on a walk or use it at home anyway you choose its going to suit you the way you want. Its fun, its portable and its one of the best products to help you get a fitter you and a stronger individual.