Many people wonder what’s a good rucking pace. After all, ruckers are always looking for ways to improve and get better at rucking. After all, rucking is a great way to burn calories.
Part of improving is knowing that your pace is good for your goals.
So what determines a good rucking pace? How important is a good pace to your overall progress?
How can you improve your pace if you’re not happy with it?
These are all questions we’re going to take a look at today in this article.
Let’s get to it.
How your rucking pace affects your progress
There is a wide range of speeds that people can go at when rucking. Different speeds make sense for different conditions and where you are in your rucking journey.
The pace you choose should depend on your personal experience with rucking, how conditioned your body is and what terrain you are training in.
Additionally, your rucking pace you should should depend on your goals.
If you are new to ruck training, you should start with a moderate pace. Gradually increase your speed as you get more comfortable and your body gets used to the movement.
If you have been rucking for some time, it is advised that you maintain a high pace when training.
You could also be using rucking to help with different kinds of events.
For example, if you’re training for a long distance race, then walking would be a good pace to start with.
If you’re training for an obstacle race, then going at a moderate or hard pace would be better as it will prepare your body for obstacles like hills and climbs.
Some people prefer to train at a very low pace while others enjoy faster paces. It all depends on what type of conditioning level your body has and what type of terrain will be encountered during the event.
So what’s a “good” pace?
So what’s a good pace for rucking?
While your rucking pace will be determined by a lot of different factors, a good pace is around 11-15 minutes per mile.
You can be anywhere within that range and you’ll be doing well for yourself.
Remember that it’s not always about the pace, but the volume. If you have a great pace, but you’re only going a short distance, you’re not getting the best benefits of rucking.
Let’s look at at how you should determine your rucking pace.
How to determine your rucking pace?
This one is going to seem like a no-brainer. It’s actually quite straightforward.
For the most part, go with what’s comfortable for you.
This is especially true if you’re going on a flat or slightly shifting elevation.
However, “comfortable” doesn’t use the traditional definition here. What you’re looking for is something that’s manageable, something that allows you to get distance in without getting too burnt out.
Overtraining is real and can be incredibly detrimental to your progress, your ability to properly recover, and your quality of life when not rucking.
Another thing to keep in mind is that comfortable or manageable is affected by how many times a week you plan on rucking.
That’s something you’re going to have to determine first and that’ll help inform whether the pace you’re at is good and how you should improve.
Don’t be discouraged if your pace, especially when starting out, is much higher than the 11-15 minute pace stated above.
Let’s talk about how you can improve that pace.
How can you improve your rucking pace?
The answer to this question is one you may not want to hear, but one where the answer is rock solid.
That answer?
Time.
You have to put in time for rucking to be able to give you all the benefits. As you put in more time and more miles, your pace will increase.
If anything, don’t even bother with checking your pace in the beginning. What you really care about is distance. Try to get in 3-4 miles every time you go for a ruck.
You’ll notice that your pace will just flat out increase the more you ruck.
Volume is more important in the beginning.
Conclusion
If you’ve made it to the end of the article, you’ve got a good pace in more than one way.
Hopefully this has helped answer some of your questions. But the best solution is to get out there and get rucking.
Your pace will improve and you’ll be thanking yourself down the road.
Good luck!