Rucking 101: The Low-Tech Strength Habit Kayla Girgen Swears By
Somewhere between "just go for a walk" and "hit the gym for a real strength session" sits a habit most women over 40 have never tried: rucking — walking with a weighted pack on your back. Functional dietitian and certified personal trainer Kayla Girgen, author of the book "Ruck Fit," joined Erin on this week's episode of Fuel with Erin to explain why it deserves a place in your routine, and how little it actually takes to start.
What Rucking Actually Is
The term comes with some debate about definitions, which Kayla addressed head-on. "The purists will say that a weighted vest isn't rucking, because the ruck is actually the backpack," she said. "But I would say yes — if you're walking with weight, you're rucking." For most people, the distinction is far less important than the practice itself: adding external load to a walk to increase the demand on your muscles, bones, and cardiovascular system without the impact of running.
The benefits, according to Kayla, stack up across several categories at once: "It helps body composition, so it can help you burn fat and build muscle. It's not a replacement for strength training, but it can help create a weight-bearing stimulus. It's great for mental health... bone density, posture." That combination — a metabolic effect, a musculoskeletal effect, and a mental health effect, all from one low-impact activity — is part of why it's gotten attention as a practical option for women who don't necessarily want another high-intensity workout to squeeze into their week.
How Kayla Found Rucking
Kayla's own introduction to rucking wasn't through a fitness trend — it came out of a genuinely hard period. "I heard about it on a podcast," she said. "Michael Easter was getting interviewed. He was talking about his book, Comfort Crisis, at the time... this was mid-pandemic." Rucking became a go-to for her mental health, which reflects something Erin has emphasized on the show before: movement isn't just about body composition, it's a legitimate tool for mental and nervous system regulation — one that doesn't require a gym membership, a class schedule, or expensive equipment to access.
How to Actually Start
The single biggest barrier to trying most new fitness habits is the perceived cost and gear requirement. Rucking has almost none of that, by design. "When I started, I grabbed an old backpack, I took a ten-pound dumbbell, wrapped it in a bath towel, and put that in," Kayla said. Erin echoed the same point: "You could get fancy and buy one of the nice backpacks or weights and get crazy with it, but you really don't need to."
That's a meaningfully different entry point than most strength-adjacent recommendations, which often come with an implicit list of equipment to buy before you can start. With rucking, the backpack already in your closet and a dumbbell you may already own are enough for your first session.
Fitting It Into an Already-Full Life
Rucking's other practical advantage is how easily it folds into an existing routine rather than requiring a new one. It doesn't need to be its own dedicated workout block; a loaded pack turns an already-scheduled walk — a dog walk, a lunch break, a walk to run errands — into a session with more return on the same amount of time. For women already juggling work, kids, and aging parents, that kind of stacking matters more than any theoretical benefit on paper.
The Takeaway
Rucking sits in a useful middle ground: more demanding than a casual walk, more accessible than a structured lifting program, and, according to Kayla, helpful for body composition, bone density, posture, and mental health. You don't need Kayla's book, a rucking-specific backpack, or a plan to get started this week — you need a backpack you already own and something heavy enough to wrap in a towel.
Hear the full conversation with Kayla Girgen — including her full blood sugar and CGM masterclass — on the Fuel with Erin podcast. Kayla’s book "Ruck Fit" is available on Amazon, and you can find her at @kaylagirgenrd on Instagram.
