Welcome back to Just Ruck. I'm your host, Lindsay, and today we're gonna dive into one of the most common questions I get. How much weight should I carry in my ruck? Now, it sounds like I've asked this question before and answered it, but in the shows of the past we've talked about types of weight, how to pack your weight, and minimal weights. But today we're gonna talk about Max Load, and here's the honest answer. It depends on a whole bunch of things, your goals, your body, your experience, and whether you're training smart or just trying to prove something on how much you should carry. When I started, I carried about 10 pounds, and that felt plenty. About a year later, I've competed with 30, and now I train regularly with 40. That progression wasn't fast and it's not supposed to be. It took consistency. Injury free miles and learning when to push and when to pull back. So this episode is for anyone who's been wondering or that you're carrying too much, too little, or just want a smarter way to approach training. We're gonna break it down to see what the research says where the military guidelines help. Or maybe they hurt. And how to find your sweet spot without wrecking your joints. And if you've ever thought, should I go heavier or is this too much stick around'cause we're gonna weigh it in. I wanna talk about one of the easiest ways to mess up wrecking, picking the wrong weight. I mean, rucking is simple. You just throw weight in a pack and walk. That's it. Just because it's simple doesn't mean you can't screw it up, and usually people screw it up in one of two very predictable ways. All right guys, we're gonna start with you dudes. You tend to load up like you're prepping for battle. 30, 40, 50 pounds. Day one, like I get it. The ego shows up a little early on the trail. But here's the thing, rucking isn't about showing off. It's about showing up. Again and again. And if you're wrecking your knees or your back trying to prove something, you're not gonna last long enough to see the benefits. And ladies, you're not off the hook. You often go too light, 10 pounds, maybe five, but never budging from that. And while, yeah, that's better than nothing. You're also leaving a lot of progress on the table. If the pack weight isn't challenging you, it's not changing you, and you deserve to feel strong under load. So don't sell yourself short in the same deal. If you're fluffy instead of fit, you've got more to love on your frame. That's cool. Me too. But that doesn't mean you need to be rucking with the recommended one third of your body weight. That might actually put you at 60 or 70 pounds, and that's just not necessary. It's risky. All right. One of my favorite guys, Michael Easter, the author of the Comfort Crisis. Now he breaks it down. Yeah. Okay. One third of your body weight is the max recommended cap, but even that's pushing it for some folks. So if you're overweight, forget the weight math. He suggests using a height based cap. Instead. Now I'm gonna put this chart in the show notes and a link to his page. But the gist of things in, for a height based cap, if you're five to five, two, never go above 45 pounds. If say, if you're like five, six to five eight, never go above 55 pounds. And for us tall folks that are like six five, never go above 75 pounds. And that is the ceiling weight, not your start weight. So whether you're a muscle bound tank or a fluffy work in progress, like most of us, the key is to find what he calls the goldilock zone. It's the just right for where you are right now, heavy enough to give you a legit workout, but Not so much that you're limping home and ice in those joints. Progress happens in the space between comfort and chaos. Too easy. Your body just coasts too heavy. Your body breaks. All right. I wanna talk about how the military approaches load carriage and why that doesn't always translate to what the average Rucker or weekend hiker should be doing. The military has studied this stuff to death. Why? Because carrying heavy loads over distances is part of the job, and they have found a few hard truths along the way. And the first one, more weight equals more injuries. Decades and centuries of data. This is showing that regularly rucking with more than one third of your body weight, actually dramatically increases the risk of overuse injuries. Think stress, fractures, lower back issues, joint breakdown, and not the kind of, I earned pain that you want. Guess what? They are still doing it. Soldiers carry often upwards of 100 pounds on deployment. That's not for fitness, that is for survival. Body armor, ammo, comms, gear, food, water, it's adding up, but that kind of weight is gonna come at a price, and that's why military injury rates tend to be significantly higher than among civilians who r recreationally. One comprehensive review of physical conditioning for military load carriage found that injury risk actually drops when soldiers ruck two to four times a month. Weight is added progressively. Recovery periods are built in, and strength and cardio are part of a broader program. In fact, a study out of Australia showed that the most effective improvements came from training that focused on intensity first, followed by frequency, then distance, not the other way around. And here's the kicker. Even the military knows that there's a point that no amount of training can compensate for too much weight. You can build up to carry more. There is still a cap and pushing past that just guarantees injury. So unless your job involves missions or firefights, you don't need to train like a soldier. Instead, you wanna train for life, health and adventure, not for war. So let's take some lessons. Structure your training. Respect recovery and don't try to haul the whole garage around just because it looks badass on Instagram. So we've talked about the military, but let's focus more where the rest of us live in the world of weekend, treks short through hikes and building up to the big stuff out, trashing our bodies along the way. And that's where I am right now. I'm currently training for a 30 mile hike with 4,000 foot of elevation gain. That's a solid challenge, but it also gives me a chance to test my gear, my endurance, and my mindset. My pack for this trip, 35 pounds. That's not ultralight. It's not stripped down to some perfect internet approved base weight. It's the gear that I need to be safe, prepared, and comfortable. Food, water, sleep system, layers, first aid. I'm not out there to prove how little I can carry. I'm out there trying to enjoy a hike and come back in one piece. But let's rewind for a second because this isn't my first time. And I recently found an old photo from a trip I did back in the nineties in hol nostalgia. And kind of cringe. I had no clue what I was doing when it came to pack weight. In the photo. I had to have been clearing, carrying well over 50 pounds, and it wasn't even good weight. I had on jeans, a heavy coat, a full two person tent, bulky cotton sleeping bag, massive tarps, full one pound propane tank camp stove that could double as an anvil. That pack was a monster, but I was in my twenties and I probably didn't even notice my knees were young. My back still had warranty coverage, and honestly, I didn't know any better. And fast forward to today. I'm pushing 50 and I'm gonna tell you my joints, they have opinions, loud ones, and if I wanna keep doing this for next 10, 20, 30 years. I'm gonna have to be smart on how I train and what I carry and how I recover, and that is where that research comes in. A study on long distance hikers found that those that kept their pack weight under 20% of their body weight with an absolute cap of 30 pounds had significantly better results. They had the highest completion rates of the Appalachian Trail at 40%, the lowest injury rates at just 19% reported back, hip, or shoulder pain and better performance. As in more miles per day and less struggle. Now, compare that to folks who carried heavier loads, especially those mimicking a like a military standard, and their outcomes were not nearly as good, more injuries, slower progress, and very few completions. That's just the truth. Just because somebody can carry 60 pounds doesn't mean they should. Especially if the goal isn't survival, it's sustainability. And now I'm not saying everybody needs to go ultralight and buy new gear tomorrow. I'm not doing that either. Not until, well, I know This is a lifestyle that I want and I'm sticking to it long term, but I am intentional. I mean, every item in my pack has to earn its ride. I've trained into that 35 pound pack weight gradually, not by dumping weight on, and just hoping for the best. So here is my message for you. If you're getting into rucking planning a long hike or thinking about a through hike, I want you to know your body, what could fly in your twenties is probably gonna wreck you in your forties. And be honest about your fitness. I mean, don't train like a soldier if you don't recover like one. And remember, comfort isn't weakness. It's strategy because the goal is to go further, not just harder. And every pound you carry should have a purpose. And every mile you hike should be building you up, not wearing you down. All right, you've listened to all this and you're standing there and you're staring at your ruck and you're like, oh, cool beans, man. So what am I actually supposed to put in this thing? I wanna break it down for you. If you're just starting out, keep it simple. For most women, 10 20 pounds a great place to start. Get guys 20, 30 pounds, gets the job done, and listen, this should feel challenging, not crushing. I want you to push yourself while you're out there, but if you can't hold a conversation while you're rucking, that's your sign to take a little bit of the weight out. You're not trying to prove something, you're trying to build something. Now, if you've been at this a while. You got a little more wiggle room, but here's the rule of thumb. Stay under 30% of your body weight unless you're specifically training for something that demands more like a ruck race, A through hiker military prep. And don't forget to mix it up. Alternate light, moderate, and heavy weeks just like lifting your muscles. Need a variety and rest. And a couple of pro tips. Use a modular setup plates, bricks, water jugs, whatever. That way you can dial it in depending on the day. And don't forget to add terrain instead of weight. A solid hill will humble you faster than an extra five pounds. And also, don't forget to train your posture, your core, your glutes, your upper back. It's all gonna matter. A strong frame makes carrying weight feel easier and helps prevent injury. Okay, time for my favorite part. We're gonna take everything that we talked about and put it into motion in this week's challenge. It's very simple, but it's gonna tell you a whole hell of a lot. I want you to weigh yourself. No judgment, don't panic. It's just a number. It's gonna help you work smarter, and I want you to calculate 30% of that body weight. This is the max ceiling of your R weight. And remember, if you're on the fluffy side, be sure to check out the show notes for Michael Easter's height cap guide. Now I want you to go weigh your actual pack and no cheating. Weigh exactly what you carry, including the extras, water snacks, first aid kit, dog gear. It's on your back. It counts. This is where it gets important. If you're just starting out, especially if you're carrying more body weight right now, you should not be pushing that 30% number to start with. Maybe start with 10% and work your way up. In fact, 10 to 15 pounds might be plenty, and carrying extra body weight already puts more demand on your joints, your feet, your cardiovascular system. So give yourself a little grease and scale smart. Let your pack weight grow as your stamina and strength do. That's the smart play. Hey, lose a pound, add a pound right now if you're carrying under 10% of your body weight, but it feels good, great. Stick with it or bump it up a little if you're ready. If you're at that 20% weight and it's feeling a little rough. Reevaluate. Lighten your load, shorten your session. If you're in that 20 to 30% range, really tune in how your body responds during and after. Make small adjustments. Take something out, switch to a lighter water load, add five pounds. Whatever you do, just be intentional. And this challenge is not about the numbers, it's about awareness. Know your numbers. Listen to your body. Progress comes from Rucking Smart. So snap a photo of your ruck load out or your scale if you're brave enough. And tag just ruck it. Let me know what you're carrying and how it's going. And while you're at it, subscribe and share and let others know about this show too. And remember, life is rocking wonderful when your weight fits your purpose, not your ego.