Ruck Strong – What the Word ‘Strength’ Really Means

Opening

“Welcome back to Just Ruck It. I’m your host, Lindsay — and today, I want to talk about a word we all think we understand: strength. We throw it around in workouts, in pep talks, even on bad days when we tell ourselves to ‘stay strong.’ But the more I looked into it, the more I realized… strength isn’t just about lifting heavy or surviving the hard stuff.

It’s about how we handle tension — the kind you feel in your muscles and in your mind. And that got me wondering: what if the word strength already had the key to my question? What does it mean to be Strong?`

Section 1 – The Roots of Strong and Strength

“When we say ‘strong,’ we picture muscles, power, maybe someone hoisting a barbell over their head. But if you’ve ever rucked, you know strength feels different — it’s not just about the size of your biceps, it’s about the way your body and mind hold together when you’re carrying weight over distance. And if you go back—way back—the story behind the word strong matches that feeling perfectly.

The English word strong comes from the Old English strang or streng, which meant not only physically powerful, but firm, steadfast, even severe. It described something that could hold together under pressure.

If we keep pulling on that linguistic thread, we get to Proto-Germanic strangaz — meaning stiff, tight, or taut. Think of a rope pulled so firmly it could carry weight without fraying.

And before that? We land in the Proto-Indo-European root strenk- or string- — words that meant tight, narrow, or drawn together. This is the same root that gave us string, strain, and restrain. All of them have to do with tension — being pulled, stretched, and still holding together.

That’s the part I can’t stop thinking about: this ancient idea that strength isn’t just about size or force — it’s about endurance under strain. The ability to be pulled in one direction, pushed in another, and not come apart. Sound familiar? Because that’s exactly what happens every time you shoulder a ruck and take that first step down the trail.”

Section 2 – How the Meaning Expanded

“Originally, strength was a physical word — it meant you could endure strain, carry the load, take the pull without breaking. But language has this way of stretching, just like that rope we talked about. Over centuries, strength grew beyond sinew and muscle to describe something less visible.

We started talking about mental strength — the focus and grit it takes to keep going when your brain is looking for a way out. If you’ve ever been halfway through a ruck, legs on fire, and told yourself, ‘Just to the next tree… just to the next mile marker…’ you’ve tapped into that same thread.

Then there’s emotional strength — holding steady when life gets heavy in ways you can’t measure in pounds. Rucking has a way of sneaking this in. You head out thinking it’s just exercise, but mile after mile, you’re processing the week, sorting through thoughts, and building resilience with each step forward.

And finally, moral strength — staying true to your values when it would be easier to compromise. It might not seem like rucking has anything to do with this, but every time you follow through on a training goal, or keep a promise to yourself to show up even when it’s cold, dark, and inconvenient — you’re practicing it.

In his book Stronger, Michael Joseph Gross writes that muscle is “the vital, 
in-ex- tric- able and effective partner of the soul.” That line stuck with me because it explains why rucking feels so different from just ‘working out.’ Yes, it builds muscle you can measure, but it also strengthens the parts of you that don’t show up in the mirror — the grit, patience, and confidence that carry you through more than just miles.”

Section 3 – The Prejudice Against Muscle

“For most of history, muscle didn’t get the respect it deserved. In Ancient Rome, the physician Galen warned that building too much muscle could ‘suffocate the soul.’ His belief was that focusing on the body would take away from developing the mind. That thinking stuck around for centuries, creating this cultural split between ‘brawn’ and ‘brains,’ as if you had to choose one or the other.

You still see echoes of it today — especially in how we talk about men and women. Men are often labeled physically strong, women are praised for being mentally strong. And yes, biology plays a role in how muscle develops — things like testosterone levels, muscle fiber distribution, and hormonal differences can affect strength potential. But here’s the truth: when men and women train properly, both can become physically strong. Not “strong for a woman” or “strong for a guy” — just strong.

And the reverse is true, too. Mental resilience isn’t exclusive to women. I’ve seen men on the trail push through blisters, fatigue, and brutal weather with the same determination that a woman holds in every day not to smack someone upside the head. Err I mean the same determination as any athlete.

That’s why rucking is such a great equalizer. It doesn’t care about gender. You can adjust the weight, the pace, the distance, the terrain — and everyone gets the same opportunity to build both physical and mental strength at the same time. Your body gets stronger with each mile, and your mind learns to hold steady under strain. That ancient split between muscle and mind? Rucking stitches it right back together.”

Section 4 – Strength as Managing Tension

“One of my favorite takeaways from Stronger is Michael Joseph Gross’s point that strength isn’t just about how much force you can create — it’s about how you manage that force. He puts it in terms of tension: force without control is wasted.

Think about a stringed instrument. If the strings are too loose, the sound is dull. If they’re too tight, they snap. True strength is like keeping that perfect balance — taut enough to hold, flexible enough to adapt.

Rucking trains this kind of balance every time you head out. You’re literally managing tension on multiple levels:

• Physical tension: adjusting your straps so the pack rides right, pacing yourself so you can keep form for miles, and keeping your muscles engaged without locking up.
• Mental tension: staying focused when your thoughts start to wander or your brain tries to bargain for a shortcut.
• Emotional tension: staying steady when the weather changes, the trail gets rough, or your body hits a wall.

This is why rucking is more than just ‘walking with weight.’ It’s a constant conversation between your body and mind — figuring out how much strain you can take, when to push harder, and when to ease off just enough to keep moving forward.

And here’s the best part: once you learn to manage tension under load, that skill doesn’t stay on the trail. You carry it into work deadlines, family challenges, even those weeks when life feels heavier than your ruck. Strength, in this sense, becomes more than muscle — it’s your ability to stay tuned under pressure.”

Section 5 – Strength Across a Lifetime

“One of the most inspiring parts of Stronger is when Michael Joseph Gross shares the work of Dr. Maria Fiatarone Singh. In one of her studies, she worked with nonagenarians — people in their 90s — who had lost much of their mobility.

One woman in the study was 96 years old and could barely lift her own arms. After ten weeks of carefully structured resistance training, she was walking again with the help of a walker. She kept training until she was 103.

That story stopped me in my tracks because it crushes the idea that strength is only for the young. The truth is, our bodies are capable of building muscle and resilience at any stage of life — we just have to train them consistently and intelligently.

Rucking fits into that perfectly. It’s low impact, adjustable, and scalable. You can start with a light pack and short walks, then gradually increase weight or distance as your strength improves. If you need to slow down or adapt, you can — without losing the benefits.

I’ve seen ruckers in their twenties flying down the trail with 50 pounds, and I’ve seen ruckers in their seventies doing steady miles with ten. Both are building real strength. Both are managing tension and strain. And both are proving that strength isn’t a number — it’s a process you can commit to at any age.”

Section 6 – Strength as Freedom to Act

“In Stronger, Michael Joseph Gross talks about the ultimate prize of strength being the freedom to act. And that hit me hard, because for so much of my life, I didn’t have that freedom — not because someone took it away, but because I gave it up.

If I’m being honest, I spent too many years choosing the sofa over the trail. Choosing rest not because I’d earned it, but because I didn’t want to put my body or mind under stress. I avoided hard things. I told myself I couldn’t, so I didn’t. And somewhere along the way, that became my default setting.

But closing in on half a century woke me up. I realized that every year I waited was another year I’d have to fight even harder to get back what I’d lost. So I strapped on a ruck — and I started.

This past year has been extreme hard work. Not just physically, but mentally. My body had to relearn how to handle load. My brain had to stop treating discomfort like danger. And somewhere along the way, I noticed my internal voice changing. It went from I can’t to I can. And now, even if the answer isn’t always I can, my mind says let’s try.

That shift is everything. Because when your first instinct is to try, you’ve already opened the door to possibility. That’s freedom. And for me, rucking unlocked it.”

 Closing – Recap, Reflection, Challenge, Ending

“So today we followed the thread of strength all the way back through history — from the Old English strang, to the Proto-Germanic strangaz, to the ancient root string- that meant tight, firm, and able to hold together under strain. We saw how the meaning expanded from muscle to mental, emotional, and moral resilience. We looked at how prejudice once tried to split ‘brains’ from ‘brawn,’ and how rucking proves those strengths belong together. We talked about managing tension, about building strength at any age, and about the freedom strength gives us to act. And I shared what that freedom has meant in my own life.

For me, this year has been a reminder that strength doesn’t happen by accident. You have to put yourself under load — physical, mental, and emotional — and then give yourself the chance to adapt. Rucking has done that for me in ways I didn’t expect. It’s made me stronger in my legs, sure. But it’s also strengthened my patience, my resilience, and my belief that I can do hard things. Even when I’m not sure if I can, my default now is, ‘Let’s try.’

This week, I want you to notice when you’re under strain — not just in your workouts, but in your daily life. Ask yourself, ‘Am I tuning my string, or letting it go slack?’ And if there’s something you’ve been telling yourself you can’t do, try it anyway. Not to prove anyone wrong, not even to prove yourself right — just to see what happens when you choose to lean into the load instead of avoiding it.

If today’s episode resonated with you, do me a favor — Tag us @JustRuckingIt or share it with a friend, leave a quick review, and head over to JustRuckIt.substack.com where I post bonus stories, challenges, and reflections each week. That’s the best way to help grow this community of ruckers who are getting stronger together.
 
Because strength isn’t just how much you can carry — it’s how you carry yourself when the weight gets heavy. Life is rucking wonderful… because every step builds strength you can’t see until you need it.”