Ep. 195: Ruck & Roll: The Complete Guide

It started as a training technique to prepare soldiers to carry their gear long distances—and lately, civilians are praising its health benefits too. The hashtag #rucking currently has 23 million views on TikTok, and the versatile activity has been covered by experts like Peter Attia and Michael Easter.

Here, get the rundown on rucking and whether it’s right for you, with Move Host Dr. Andrew Miners (above, left) and BackFitPro CSO Dr. Stuart McGill, (above, right) the world’s leading back pain expert.

LINKS

• If you want to learn more about your physical fitness or get help with your back pain, email fitness@medcan.com or call 416.350.5900.
• Check out Dr. Stuart McGill’s website, BackFitPro.com.
• Read Dr. Stuart McGill’s book, Back Mechanic: The Step-by-step McGill Method to fix back pain
• Read Michael Easter’s book, The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self, mentioned by Dr. McGill in this episode.
• Read this article in the New York Times: Rucking: The Full Body Workout and All You Need Is a Backpack
• Get more information from GoRuck.com’s Rucking White Paper.

INSIGHTS

0:42 Meet Dr. McGill, the world’s leading back pain expert.

01:35 Rucking as a military training technique

03:10 Ancient history and the science of walking

05:57 Is rucking bad for back pained people?

07:02 Why so many beginning ruckers do it wrong

07:15 Rucking is great for this one back issue

09:11 Michael Easter and The Comfort Crisis

09:54 The many benefits of rucking

10:54 What’s the ideal weight to ruck with?

14:09 Is it dangerous to carry a heavy bag every day?

17:03 Want to ruck? Here’s how to start.

18:59 How to pick the right gear for you

22:58 Unrealistic goals can be counterproductive to your fitness

25:47 Dr. McGill’s resources for back pained people