Cheers mate.

Thanks man, that’s such good advice, I will take this onboard. I appreciate the help.

80% controllable - 20% Hard; most people don’t understand easy and go too easy.

Gradual increase. You actually start with an assault pack with stuff like a poncho, water and food for trips to the range. 1.5-3mi At probably an 18min pace. You progress from there

Even Roman soldiers likely didn’t start at a full ‘load out’ and likely had experience and more sturdy bodies just from the fact of life during the times.

To answer your question, that's absolutely an acceptable time. My unprofessional opinion is to build up a mileage base throughout the week with varying weight (and no weight sometimes). Having a larger mileage base through easy workouts will prep you for those longer and more difficult ruck sessions. The rule of thumb is 80% easy and 20% hard. Good luck and have fun!

I use two rucks. For running and lighter weight training I use an Army issue Molle2 large ruck up to about 40 pounds. They are cheap aftermarket but you SHOULD replace the army belt with a marine corp filbe belt, flip the belt upside down, and replace the belt guides and straps with OV innovations aftermarket belts and straps specifically made for the Filbe belt. For heavier weights I use a mystery ranch guide light mt with a mule back and rig weights in the overload shelf. I will use this up to 80-90 pounds.

I wouldn’t say rucking necessarily destroys your knees/feet. If you stretch your stride and constant heal strike, or do a lot of ruck RUNNING, you can fuck your feet up. I have 2 plantar fascia surgeries from doing it incorrectly. Running or rucking high mileage without proper foot support will 100 percent mess you up. I have since switched to using Tread Labs carbon fiber shaped insoles and, while they can be a bit squeaky, that do not compress by any significant amount which keeps your feet, hips, and knees aligned. Don’t stretch out your stride so much that your feet are striking in front of you either, as the weight should be firmly planted over your feet instead of behind them. I would NOT recommend starting heavy, as your bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles need time to adapt. If you have some muscle mass already you can probably start a little heavier (20-30). I ruck up an incline treadmill and stairclimber sometimes approaching 90 pounds, but I only use carbon fiber insoles for this purpose and you need to fully recover before doing it again. Keep in mind I am taking 200mg of testosterone a week so mileage may vary. But even in GoRuck “heavy” they use a 30 pound plate. If you are aspiring to do best Rucker that will take multiple years to train for without completely destroying you body

It’s a bit of misinformation with all the pop-military media out there. Yes, there are elite athletes, but let me tell you the average army recruit is not much more impressive than an average fitness minded ruck or run athlete. The military ego and fitness bravado is a bit much these days

I was only curious how rucking was introduced. I can't do military training!

I was in 20 years ago and went to the non-combat arms basic, they would just tell us what to pack in our rucks and head out. The pace was very slow though, and we probably weren't carrying much more than 35 lbs, dry. We always had 4 quarts of water on us. We didn't always ruck places either, it really depended on what training was called for that day, sometimes we'd ruck out and then get a bus back.

Rucking isnt big outside of combat arms, I ended up in an intel unit in Korea and I think the only time I used my ruck was to walk to the on base liquor store. One morning 4 of us passed by the base sergeant major (the most senior enlisted) on our way back. He was like, "Hooah, soldiers training on the there own is what I like to see." Little did he know the weight in my ruck was 2 cases of beer and 2 bottles of rum. I then went to a unit under the special operations umbrella at Bragg and we rucked a bit more for PT but at most it was like once maybe twice a month. Usually, 35 lbs dry, sometimes with body armor and helmet on top of that. Pace was a little quicker because there were usually a few people at any given time trying to train for Special Forces selection.

Given how many people have knee/back/hip problems after serving, I'd be really carefully modeling your training after what the military does.

In the Marines in the 1990's, there was no starting light. We shoved those Alice packs full of every book, boot and whatever else would cram into the max and headed out. I swear they would keep telling us what else to put in and I didn't think there was room left but they knew what would fit and made sure it was as heavy as possible. I was initially under weight at 6'1" and 132lbs and let me tell you it was hard on me compared to some of the more fit dudes. Ended up gaining 30lbs in 3 months.

In basic training you start light and eventually end up with around 55lb max plus your kit. 35lb 12mi are the class tests typically. When infantry troops get to their unit they usually do 4-6mi once a week with 35lb plus kit. In normal training scenarios the mileage and weight can vary widely.

Oregon canned fruit is amazing. Cherries are great in a pie.

I love rucking & it’s been part of my job for a few years so I have a good amount of training time to get up in weight

Don't forget to include incline.

Good lord.... That's some heavy moving

I’ve done 65lbs for 4 miles at a 15:00 pace all the way to 18.6 miles at 25lbs for a 10:45 pace (running). Both is good, I would mix and match to build a resilient but fast moving ruck

Up that speed, baby. Drop weight or don’t but work on getting faster to walk farther/longer

22-25 minutes a mile.

I think just the upper tier ones

Why not both, also throw in speed and incline and mix your variables

Who knows? One experiments to figure out what works for oneself. These are so many individual variables involved - age, weight, fitness, goal etc

For me, I think time under tension is best, but as others have said, it depends on overall goals. The longer you are under weight though, the more you build to then move up in weight. For instance, I did 6 miles with 30# before I started adding weight. Then I’d add up the weight periodically and do a shorter ruck. I got up to about 110# at 1.5 miles. I do not do that often at all as I don’t think we should do weight like that, but it was part of what I was training for. I typically try to do speed or climbing/elevation before going to weight as it’s just a higher risk of an injury, and depending on the weight, a bad injury!

For my walk to work then back home I’ll do 40# (flattish terrain). For backcountry skiing endurance/hiking training I’ll do #30 (trails, lots of altitude change). Vary my speed on flat ground and find a variety of grades (up and down) on the trails.