Is Rucking bad for your back?
If you’re leaning forward while rucking to compensate for the weight on your back, you may be adding stress to your lower back. Rucking isn’t bad for your back if you have proper form. Make sure your pack is light enough for you to be able to carry it upright. When rucking, focus on keeping your hips under your shoulders, and when you stand, the total load should align with your hips and shoulders.
When I started rucking, my lower back was pretty uncomfortable toward the end of the hike.
Rucking is a safe and fun form of exercise, but like with anything, if you have the wrong form, it can lead to problems.
Probably the most common pain people feel after rucking is a “pinch” in their lower back—that’s what I was going through. The second most common is soreness in the knees.
But if you take a few precautions, you won’t experience either.
Since I started rucking, I’ve learned a lot about how to prevent that “pinch” in your back, plus how to avoid any long term issues you might bring on from rucking.
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Is Rucking Bad For You?
Short answer: no, rucking isn’t bad for you. But even safe workouts can be dangerous when you don’t have the right posture or technique.
The good news is that it’s easy to find out if your rucking posture is off, and it’s also a simple fix.
You may need to change your gear, but you may also be able to fix any problems in your posture with a simple 5-minute look in the mirror.
Does Rucking Hurt Your Back?
Rucking can cause lower back pain if you have what’s called “trunk lean.”
Trunk lean is when you load up the weight on your back, and to compensate, you lean your torso forward.
When you lean forward, you’re relieving your abdomen muscles, but you’re putting the burden of the load on your lower back. This graphic below shows it well:
When your torso is pitched forward, your hips and knees aren’t able to help absorb the weight of the load.
It might come as a surprise to you, but the types of straps on your pack are really important in minimizing the amount of compression you have in your back after a long ruck.
Your ruck sack should fit snug on your back (and not leave space in the middle of your back). The straps should be padded and around 3” (or 8cm) wide.
There was a really interesting study done that showed some evidence that flexibility in pack straps can increase the amount of compression in the shoulders, back, and neck. So if your pack has any elastic in the straps, you may want to switch before doing any long rucks.
It’s best to have relatively inflexible shoulder straps. Another great way to reduce flexibility in the straps is to get a pack with hip pads and a chest strap that connects the two shoulder straps.
I’ve personally found that my back issues were caused by posture. I don’t always ruck with a pack that has hip pads and the chest stabilizing strap.
Try this: load up your ruck sack and look at yourself in the mirror. It may also help to take some selfie-style photos in the mirror to analyze your posture.
Look head-on, and also turn to either side.
If you’re pitched forward at all—that’s what could cause lower back pain.
Everyone has a different gait (the way we walk) and a different posture. For me, I need to tuck in my butt to get my hips under my shoulders, and I need to spread my shoulders open to push out my chest.
When I load up 20 or 30 pounds and start my ruck, I often consciously adjust my posture because it’s still not perfect. Periodically throughout my ruck, I’ll check in and see if I’m leaning too far forward or I’m letting my shoulders “roll” inward.
So find the weak spots in your posture (if you have any). Then note what body-mechanics you need to focus on to ensure your head, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles are all in vertical alignment.
This is going to be your #1 method to prevent back pain when rucking.
Does Rucking Hurt Your Knees?
I’ve also heard a lot of people struggle with knee pain from rucking.
I almost never run while I have weight on my back. I might do a light jog every once in a while with a backpack if it’s cold outside or I want to get my heartrate up faster. But if I’m doing any weighted running for fitness, I prefer a weight vest.
Even then, I maybe do 3-4 hill sprints once a month with the weight vest—not much running at all. Probably like 2 minutes of weighted running per month.
Personally, I don’t see how the benefits of weighted running outweigh the risks. If you’re a spry 20-something, you might not experience any issues, but I’m into my 30s now and I have a much greater focus on preventing injury. I work out 6 days a week, and if I’m hurt and can’t use that outlet, it seriously affects the quality of my life. So I’d rather play it safe and stay consistent.
So that’s my top recommendation to avoid knee pain—don’t run with weight on your back. Sure, get your running in—I like sprints, but I turn to rucking as my main form of lower-intensity cardio.
But if your knees are hurting from rucking and you’re not running, then you may have an issue with the insoles of your boots.
Do you have flat feet?
Most boots have decent arch support, but people with flat feet often need to add their own orthotic insert to get the level of arch support needed.
An easy way to check your arches is to step on a damp towel, and then step on a blank sheet of printer paper.
If you can see the entire outline of the bottom of your foot, then you have flat feet. If there’s a major taper toward the middle of your foot (most often the interior portion), then you have foot arches.
Keep in mind that you’re rucking to lose weight and are a bit more heavy than you’d like to be, that extra weight can cause some initial knee pain.
If that’s the case, focus on your posture, consider adding inserts into your boots, and ruck with a lighter weight in your pack.
My philosophy is: do the exercise that’s most fun and enjoyable. You may want to get in shape super fast, so loading 50 pounds in the pack seems like a good idea. But if your knees are hurting the next day and you have to skip next week’s ruck, then you’ve overdone it.
Consistency beats intensity. Or as the SEALS say: “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
How to Minimize the Risk of Injury While Rucking
Carry an Appropriate Load
If you’ve never done a ruck before, I recommend starting with 10% of your body weight, especially if you’re concerned about the risk of injury. I’m 200 pounds, so I’d start with 20 pounds in my sack.
Depending on how my back and knees felt after rucking with 20 pounds, I’d add 5% (10 pounds for me) on the next ruck.
Right now, I ruck with 50 pounds on anything 3 miles or fewer, but I’ve also spent a lot of time adjusting my posture and I’m pretty physically fit. I may adjust the weight I carry based on the distance I’m rucking. When I did my first 12-mile ruck, I carried 25 pounds.
Again, that may seem light to some, but for me, the 12-mile ruck was just another day and I’m not looking to limp around all Sunday and destroy my legs so I can’t push myself in the gym on Monday.
To see how much you should ruck with, check out the rucking weight calculator below:
[calculator has 2 inputs and 1 output. Inputs are: Level (beginner, athletic, and ruck master). Those translate to 10%, 20%, and 30% of weight), Your Body Weight)
Correct Rucking Posture
Focus on your posture when rucking. Again, I highly recommend you observe yourself in the mirror with your loaded rucking weight on your back. That’ll show you if you experience trunk lean or not.
Spend the time to consciously note where your posture needs work. For me, that’s tucking in the hips and pushing back my shoulders. For you, it could be totally different.
Once you know where your posture needs development, set a timer during your ruck for every 10 minutes. When you hit 10 minutes, take note of your posture—are you leaning forward or falling into that bad posture you tend toward? Correct your posture and keep moving.
Get the Right Equipment
The right rucking bag is critical if you plan on rucking often. I ruck at least once a week (usually on Saturdays). So for me, investing in a great backpack is absolutely worth it.
I’d say it’s still worth the investment if you only go once or twice a month. Because a hurt lower back is terrible, and I never want to mess around with that.
My favorite rucking bag is the GORUCK Rucker 4.0. The main thing I look for in a rucking bag is that the bag sits firmly in place on my back, which the Rucker does a great job of.
Plus, the straps have excellent padding and I also like that the hip pads can easily be tucked back if I don’t want to use them (though I normally do when I’m rucking with 50-60 pounds).
I use the GORUCK Ruck Plates too to dial in the amount of weight I’m putting on my back, and when I use the Plates with the bag, the weight is automatically distributed well, so I don’t have any tilt to one side or another.
All-in-all, it’s a bit pricey for a bag and some weights, but I ruck often enough to where the investment was totally worth it—especially considering it’s my back and knees on the line. And since I’m in my 30s, I’ve learned I’m not invincible anymore.
If you’re looking for a different bag, just make sure that there’s no elastic in the shoulder straps, and that the straps are at least 3 inches or 8cm wide with padding. That’ll help your shoulders and core carry much of the burden so you’re less inclined to trunk lean.
5 Stretches to Relieve Lower Back Pain from Rucking
I always spend 2 or 3 minutes decompressing my spine after a ruck. It’s really easy to do, and just a little decompression helps a lot.
I also squat heavy, so I’m used to decompression exercises. Here are some of the easiest stretches you can do after a ruck to relieve lower back pain.
Bench Unloader
Find a park bench, or even the bed of your truck—really any flat surface that’s roughly at hand-level.
Put your hands on the bench, flex your core and tense your shoulders, and then put your weight onto your arms. I find this easiest if I supinate my hands (the inside of my wrists facing away from my body).
Slowly untense your core and let your spine de-load. It can be uncomfortable if you untense your core too quickly, so just go at whatever pace feels right for you.
Let your back decompress as long as you can until your arms get uncomfortable or your form starts to weaken. Take a little break and then do it again.
Dead Hang
If you see a pull up bar or any sturdy overhead beam you can hang from, grab onto it and hold like you’re about to do a pull up.
And just hang there for as long as you can.
To me, this feels so good. Same as with the bench unloader: untense your core slowly and feel each disc of your spine decompressing.
I’ll often hang for 30 seconds, take a little break, and then hang for another 30 seconds. This is also great for your shoulders.
Captain Morgans
Kneel down and bring one leg out to the side. Push your hips forward and hold the stretch for 10 seconds. I find it helpful to put my hand on my lower back while doing this.
Captain Morgan stretches help release the tension between your glutes, hips, and lower back. You might not realize it, but lower back pain can come from too much tension in the hips (rather from the top down).
I don’t always do this stretch after a ruck, but if my back is a bit stiff, I’ll throw it in.
Pack Inversion
If you’re really feeling sore in your lower back, throw your pack on a bench and lay down on it so that your hips are higher than your torso, head, and legs.
You should be in a “V” shape, and you should be stable on your pack and the bench.
Once you’re stable, focus on relaxing all your muscles. As you relax your shoulders, core, and legs, your back will begin to decompress.
For this one, stay relaxed for about 10 minutes. This allows your spine to decompress and also gives your erector muscles a chance to fully stretch and loosen.
This stretch is great to do every time if you can, but if I’m honest, I almost never do it because it takes too long. I’m much more partial to the Bench Unloader and the Dead Hang.
But if you can’t do either of those, or if you’re feeling a lot of lower back pain, then try the Pack Inversion stretch. You might even catch a nap while you’re at it.
Rock Backs
Get on all fours, grab something solid out in front of you with one hand, and rock your hips backward so that you feel a stretch through your entire back. Hold that position for 10 seconds, rock forward, and then switch hands and repeat.
I do these three or four times per week in the gym, but not so much directly after rucking. But they’re one of my favorite back stretches and they help a lot in loosening your traps and lats, which are also getting a lot of work during your ruck.
Ruck Safely
Rucking is safe. I think it’s the safest exercise I do (when I compare it to weight lifting and HIIT sprints on the track).
Of course, you can always twist an ankle while you’re out rucking, so you should definitely wear good boots when out on the trails to minimize that risk.
But ultimately, if you keep good upright posture, you’re not putting too much pressure on your back or knees.
I’d avoid running with weight on your back to spare your knees, and I’d invest in a great rucking backpack if you plan on regularly rucking for exercise.
Just do a few decompression stretches when you finish your ruck, and you’ll be ready to ruck again the next day.
FAQs
Is rucking every day bad for you?
If you’re starting to feel pain in your back or knees, you should ruck less often. However, rucking every day with an appropriate amount of weight, the right gear, and good posture is not bad for you.
Is rucking bad for your joints?
No, rucking isn’t bad for your joints, unless you have poor posture. Start rucking with 10% of your bodyweight in your pack and see how you feel. Also, avoid running with weight on your back. If you’re rucking with 20% or less of your bodyweight, your joints should have no trouble as long as your posture is solid and your gear isn’t too loose.
Is rucking bad for your hips?
If you have trunk lean, or you tend to lean forward when you add weight onto your back, then you can develop a hip flexor strain. To avoid this, monitor your posture and make sure your shoulders are open with the pack on your back, and your hips are directly below your shoulders. If your hips are feeling sore after a ruck, rest until they’re fully healed.
William Barton
I ruck to build strength and endurance. Since I've started rucking, I've used this amazing hobby to see trails across the US. But nothing beats a ruck near my home in North Carolina.
Build your strength and endurance in only 8 weeks with my rucking transformation guide.