Rucking For Seniors
You’ve probably seen more and more people—yes, even seniors—walking with weighted backpacks or vests. That’s called rucking, and it’s trending for good reason.
For me, it all started back in 2021 on a three-day trek across Catalina Island. The trip was beautiful and full of adventure—but it also absolutely wrecked me. By day three, I had blisters the size of quarters on the bottoms of my feet, every muscle ached, and I found myself questioning my fitness. If I couldn’t comfortably walk with a pack for just a few days, what did that say about my strength and endurance?
That moment lit a fire. I set an audacious goal: in one year, I would hike the John Muir Trail—210 miles of rugged Sierra wilderness—in just seven days. To put it in perspective, most people take three weeks to finish. Two weeks is considered fast. One week is almost unheard of. But I believed if I trained smart, I could do it.
The very first step of my training? Rucking.
At 5:30 every morning, I strapped on a pack, stepped outside my front door, and walked for 30–45 minutes around the neighborhood. Day after day, for three straight months, I built the strength, resilience, and capacity my body would need to carry me through the mountains.
And one year later, alongside three friends, I did it—we completed the entire John Muir Trail in just seven days.
That experience convinced me of rucking’s power. And it’s why today, I want to share with you what rucking is, why it’s becoming so popular, the unique benefits it holds for older adults, how it compares to walking and jogging, and—most importantly—how to get started safely.
JMT 2022, Muir hut
What Is Rucking?
At its core, rucking is simple: it’s just walking with added weight. That weight might come from a backpack, a purpose-built rucksack, or even a weighted vest. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated—just taking a movement we all know and turning it into a surprisingly powerful form of training.
The practice itself isn’t new. For decades, the military has relied on “forced marches” with loaded packs to build resilience, cardiovascular fitness, and toughness.
But the roots run even deeper than that. Anthropologists note that humans are the only primates uniquely adapted to carry heavy loads long distances without a sharp drop in performance. In fact, our very ability to travel with tools, food, or children on our backs may have been one of the keys to human survival.
What’s new is who is doing it. Rucking is no longer just for soldiers or backpackers—it’s now catching on in everyday fitness circles, especially among older adults. I mean, people are even making parody’s of weighted walking:
Why?
Because it’s simple, scalable, joint-friendly, and it checks multiple boxes at once: strength, endurance, bone loading, and daily movement. It also mirrors the kind of lifestyle activity seen in “Blue Zones,” where carrying, walking, and active living are part of everyday life—and longevity follows.
Today, you’re starting to see rucking appear well beyond the barracks. It’s becoming a trend in fitness circles, and it’s particularly promising for older adults. In fact, it aligns closely with practices observed in Blue Zone populations—the longest-lived people in the world—where daily movement, carrying, and walking play a central role in health and longevity.
Why Rucking Is Trending?
Rucking is trending for good reason. It’s…
Accessible. If you have a backpack, you can ruck.
Scalable. Add or subtract weight and time as you progress.
Social. It’s easy to do with a friend or group.
It’s in the zeitgeist. Weighted vests/backpacks are popping up across mainstream fitness and midlife health coverage.
(Personal aside: I once tried to fly with my 35-lb ruck plate. TSA: not amused and they confiscated my weight! Consider this your friendly “don’t pack the plate in carry-on” PSA.)
The Unique Benefits of Rucking for Seniors
1) A Smarter, Lower-Impact Cardio Workout
The main advantage of rucking is that it delivers a cardiovascular workout without the pounding that comes with running. Every time your foot strikes the ground while running, your joints absorb forces of up to eight times your body weight. Walking, on the other hand, is closer to three times body weight.
So even if you strap on a backpack that adds 5–30% of your body weight, the overall stress on your joints still pales in comparison to running. You’re increasing the demand on your muscles and cardiovascular system, but in a much safer, lower-impact way.
This makes rucking a great way to stay in the Zone 2 cardio range—the sweet spot for endurance and longevity. Zone 2 is often described as “hard enough to feel it, but easy enough to hold a conversation.” A simple rule of thumb is to keep your heart rate under about 180 minus your age. For many seniors, running almost always pushes the heart rate well above this range, while rucking tends to keep it within it.
Why does that matter? Once you push past Zone 2, your body starts relying more heavily on carbohydrates for fuel instead of fat.
That’s fine in short bursts, but it comes with trade-offs:
faster glycogen depletion
more metabolic stress
And higher cortisol levels.
Over time, workouts above this threshold can feel exhausting rather than energizing, especially for older adults. Rucking lets you reap the benefits of endurance training—fat oxidation, mitochondrial growth, heart health—without tipping into the red zone.
2)Long-term fat loss
We’ve known for decades that dieting alone rarely works long-term. In fact, as far back as 1959, researchers found that 98% of diets fail within two years—most people gain all the weight back. That’s not a willpower problem, it’s biology. Your body actively fights to restore lost weight by slowing metabolism and ramping up hunger.
This is where weighted vests—and by extension, rucking—get really interesting.
A pilot study followed 18 older adults with obesity who went on a six-month calorie-restricted diet. Half wore a weighted vest up to 10 hours a day, the other half didn’t. Both groups lost about 22–25 pounds in six months. Nothing surprising there.
The fascinating part came later. At the two-year follow-up, the diet-only group had regained virtually all the lost weight. But the vest group? They only regained about half, still weighing ~11 pounds less than baseline. And remember—they only wore the vest for six months. Whatever changes happened in that first stretch seemed to stick.
Even more remarkable was what happened to metabolism. The diet-only group’s resting metabolic rate (RMR)—the calories your body burns at rest—slowed by over 200 calories per day. The vest group’s metabolism? Basically unchanged. In other words, the weighted vest seemed to protect metabolism during dieting, which is one of the biggest reasons they regained less weight.
Why might this happen? Researchers point to two mechanisms:
Hormones like leptin. When you lose fat, leptin drops, hunger rises, and metabolism slows. Weighted loading may offset some of that effect.
The “Gravitostat” hypothesis. Your bones aren’t just scaffolding—they’re sensors. Specialized cells called osteocytes detect gravitational load. Add more weight—through body mass or a vest—and these cells send signals to the brain that influence appetite and energy use. Think of it as your skeleton telling your metabolism, “We’re heavier than we look—don’t downshift.”
The big takeaway: this small study suggests weighted vests (and by extension, rucking) may help in two crucial ways:
Maintain weight loss longer by preventing complete rebound.
Preserve resting metabolism, the largest part of daily calorie burn, even after dieting ends.
Now, this was a small pilot study, and more research is needed. But combined with animal studies and other human trials, it builds a strong case that simply adding external load—through something as accessible as a ruck—might be one of the simplest, most powerful ways to tilt the odds in your favor.
3) Discomfort Builds Resilience
Another underrated benefit of rucking is that it’s uncomfortable. In a world where comfort is the default, that’s a good thing.
Think about it: our cars and homes are temperature-controlled, Netflix rolls into the next episode before we even pick up the remote, groceries arrive at our doorstep with the tap of an app. Life has never been more convenient. Yet comfort, when taken too far, can rob us of the resilience that comes from struggle.
Rucking pushes back against that. Adding weight to your walk feels unnecessary, even silly at first. It makes you want to quit sooner. But leaning into that discomfort—even just a 20- or 30-minute weighted walk—teaches your body and your mind to adapt. Over time, that small act of choosing the harder path builds toughness, discipline, and grit. It’s a reminder that growth rarely happens inside your comfort zone.
4) Hidden Strength Training
Rucking doesn’t just train your heart—it trains your muscles too. Carrying extra weight strengthens your hips, quads, calves, and postural muscles with every single step. Lab studies confirm that adding a backpack increases the joint moments at the hip, knee, and ankle, essentially asking your lower body to produce more force each stride—without the pounding impact of running. In other words, every ruck is a subtle strength session in disguise.
5) What About Bone Density?
Finally, let’s talk bones. One of the big questions is whether rucking can improve bone mineral density in seniors. The research here is mixed.
A five-year study combining weighted vests with low-impact jumps showed participants were able to maintain hip bone density, while the control group lost it.
A 32-week program of weighted-vest walking plus strength training improved strength, balance, and self-efficacy, with some signs of bone benefit.
On the other hand, a 12-month randomized controlled trial of older adults with obesity found that walking with a weighted vest did not prevent hip bone loss during intentional weight loss.
So the verdict? Rucking may help bones, but the load has to be sufficient. It’s probably most effective when paired with other bone-targeted movements like step-downs, light hops, or traditional strength training.
Different Types of RuckSacks
One of the first questions people ask is: “Should I ruck with a backpack or a weighted vest?” The truth is, both have their place—it depends on your preference, your goals, and your body.
Personally, I prefer a backpack. I’ve been using a GoRuck pack for the last three years, and it’s about as comfortable as carrying 35 pounds can be. It sits snug against my back, doesn’t bounce around, and distributes the load well across my hips and shoulders. For me, it feels natural—like an extension of all those years hiking with a pack in the mountains.
My wife, Nicole, swears by her weighted vest. She likes that the weight is centered around her torso, leaving her arms free and her posture more upright. A vest can feel more balanced since the load is distributed on the front and back, and it doesn’t put the same stress on the shoulders as a backpack might.
Here are a few things to consider when choosing:
Backpack Pros:
Easy to adjust the weight (just add or remove plates, books, or sandbags).
Feels more like “real life” carrying (groceries, luggage, hiking packs).
Comfortable for longer walks if you have a high-quality ruck with padded straps and a hip belt.
You can throw in additional items, like wipes in case you need to number 2! Walking does sometimes get things moving…
Weighted Vest Pros:
Keeps the load close to your center of mass.
Frees up arms for natural swinging.
Less shoulder strain for some people.
My advice: Start with a light weighted vest and then move to a Ruck Sack.
At the end of the day, the best option is the one you’ll actually use consistently.
How to Get Started Safely with Rucking
Before you strap on a pack and hit the streets, here’s the number one rule: earn the right to ruck by first building a walking habit.
If you’re not consistently walking 30 minutes a day, 3–4 days per week, for at least a month, don’t add weight yet. Jumping straight into rucking without a walking base is a quick way to irritate your plantar fascia or Achilles tendon. Walking first builds the foundation your joints, muscles, and connective tissues need.
Once you’ve got that base, here’s how to layer in rucking the safe way:
Start Light. Add just 5–10 pounds to your backpack (roughly 5% of body weight). For many, that’s a couple of books or a small weight plate.
Ramp Up Slowly. Increase your load by about 5% of body weight each month. This gradual approach gives your bones, ligaments, and tendons—the slow adapters—time to remodel and strengthen. (Muscles get stronger fast, but connective tissues need patience.)
Stick to 30 Minutes. Three or four sessions per week is plenty in the beginning. You don’t need marathon rucks to get the benefits.
Wear Supportive Shoes at First. Resist the urge to dive into barefoot shoes plus weight—that’s almost guaranteed to light up your arches and fascia. Once you’ve built tolerance, you can slowly transition if minimal shoes are your goal.
Listen to Your Body. Soreness is fine. Sharp, nagging pain is not. Dial the weight or distance back if something feels off.
Think of rucking as an investment in your future strength and resilience. The slower you ramp up, the longer you’ll be able to do it—and the more benefit you’ll see.
Happy Rucking!
-Dr. Matt
