No Rucking for a Week? How to Protect Your Fitness During Medical Rest

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Here's a scenario for you. You've been put in

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the work, your rucks are consistent, your body's

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feeling strong, but then a doctor tells you no

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physical activity for a week. That's exactly

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what I just went through. And it has me thinking,

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how do you rest without losing momentum? In this

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episode, I'm walking you through exactly how

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I'm handling a medically forced week off of rucking.

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I'll talk about what matters, what doesn't, and

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how to return in a way that protects your recovery

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and your long -term progress. You're listening

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to the Rucker's Edge podcast, a show all about

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rucking that is designed to help you improve

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your rucking routine, lose weight, and ultimately

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gain your strength and energy back. Each episode

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dives into the science, stories, and strategies

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behind rucking. You'll learn from top ruckers,

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coaches, nutrition experts, and performance specialists

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who break down what it takes to train smarter,

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recover faster, and stay ready for the next challenge.

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So whether you're new to rucking or an experienced

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rucker that's already logged hundreds of miles,

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this is the show for you. I'm your host, Spencer.

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Thanks for listening in. This is going to be

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a quick solo episode for you today. I'm in the

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middle of recovering from a sinoplasty surgery.

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Basically had a deviated septum that was severe

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enough that warranted correcting with surgery.

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During the prep appointment, my doctor explicitly

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told me no strenuous activity for a week. So

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no rucking, no running, nothing. Not even what

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I would call a light recovery ruck. I was a little

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disappointed, but totally understood. And I definitely

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don't want to mess anything up that the procedure

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corrected. So I started focusing on what I can

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do in the meantime. I don't want to lose progress

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I made with rucking or my fitness. I mean, not

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that sitting on the sidelines for one week would

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set me back that much, I guess. But I have found

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myself asking, you know, how do I protect my

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fitness and come back stronger when I can after

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the seven -day break? So that's what this episode

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is about. And quick disclaimer up front, I'm

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not a doctor. This is just what I'm doing during

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Medical West. Your doctor's instructions override

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everything I say here, always. This is just my

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experience and what I'm focused on. So let's

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get going. Let's start out by thinking about

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how long a seven day break actually is. Is it

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really going to move the needle that much with

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my fitness? Probably not. I mean, research shows

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aerobic fitness usually only starts to dip after

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about a week of complete rest. And even then

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the drop is small and it comes back pretty quickly

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once you restart your activities. The strength

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loss over a single week is pretty minimal. And

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honestly, a lot of people come back feeling better

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because their body finally gets recovery. I've

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talked about the importance of building recovery

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into your workout program on a previous episode.

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I think it was episode five. So if you're interested,

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go back and give that episode a listen. But in

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my opinion, the real danger isn't the week off.

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The real danger is it's doing too much too soon.

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You're straining too much and kind of resetting

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the healing clock. But what should you do during

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medical rest on a week off? First thing, sleep.

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If you do nothing else, do this. Sleep like it's

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your job. Sleeping is when tissue repair happens,

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inflammation drops, hormones normalize, and your

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nervous system resets. Here are your rules. Eight

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to nine hours in bed, cool dark room, ideally

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the same bedtime and wake time each day. After

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sleep, the second thing, nutrition. Eat to heal,

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not to diet. In my case, I'm not necessarily

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trying to eat healthier or change anything about

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my diet. I feel like I already eat a pretty balanced

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diet. I'm continuing to eat a healthy balance

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of protein, carbs, and fats, but I am cutting

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back on added calories like snacks between meals.

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After nutrition, third thing, hydration. Definitely

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maintain a healthy level of fluid intake. While

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healing up and taking meds, proper hydration

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remains vital. Next up, mobility. And only if

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you're cleared to do so by your doctor. If your

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doctor says no physical activity, Take that literally.

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But if you're cleared for gentle movement, do

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some stretching. I talked to my doctor. She said

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gentle stretching is fine. So I've been doing

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ankle circles, some neck mobility, shoulder rolls,

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and some other just light general stretching.

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While stretching, you definitely do not want

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to strain too hard. You don't want to break a

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sweat. You don't want to feel like it's a workout

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vibe. If you feel an uncomfortable amount of

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discomfort, stop. This is just maintenance. You're

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not trying to... improve your fitness here. And

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lastly, breath work. Do some breath work. Focus

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on your breathing. If you wear a fitness tracker

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or a smartwatch, cycle through some of the breath

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work activities. Do a few a day. I'm doing two

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a day. Well, I'm doing two a day when I remember

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to do them. It's just not something that I normally

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do, so sometimes I'm forgetting to do them, but

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these breath works should be light. And on my

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Garmin, there's a few that I like. There's one

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called Relax and Focus. It's a quick five -minute

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one. There's also another longer Relax and Focus,

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but the five -minute one works for me. It's using

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the box method, so you inhale for four seconds,

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you hold that breath for four seconds, you exhale

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for four seconds, and then you hold your breath

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again for four seconds. The other breathwork

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activity I like to use is tranquility. It's at

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night, and it's about 12 minutes, and it progresses

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to longer lengths of breaths and really calms

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you down. It helps with your sleep. Doing breathwork

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can help with your stress levels, sleep, and

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your recovery. It also makes returning to cardio

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smoother. Okay, so that's what I'm doing while

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I'm on medical rest. Now let's go over how to

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approach your first ruck back. Before we do,

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I want to take a quick break and say, if you're

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enjoying the show, please consider texting it

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to a fellow rucker that is temporarily sidelined

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or planning to be sidelined in the future. Sharing

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this episode will help the show grow and help

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them to return to rucking without skipping a

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beat. All right, so let's roll into your first

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ruck back. How do you come back the smart way?

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When you get cleared for physical activity again,

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here's the rule I think we should be following.

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Your first session back should feel too easy.

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Because if you do too much too soon, you could

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erase the recovery your body has made over the

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last week. And then, you know, now you're going

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to be off longer trying to make up for that recovery.

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This is what I'm doing. About 70 -75 % of your

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weight. Do a shorter distance and a slower pace.

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Cap at about 20 -30 minutes. You should finish

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thinking, man, I probably could have done more.

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But, I mean, that's the goal. You don't want

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to go out trying to... trying to break a record,

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not coming off of medical rest. If you're taking

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recovery time built into your plan, maybe so,

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but not off medical rest. You don't want to undo

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any work your body did repairing itself. So quick

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recap. If you're out for medical reasons, don't

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try to maintain fitness with sneaky workouts.

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Sleep is your number one training tool. Eat a

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healthy, balanced diet. Do some breath work.

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And when you return, return at about 70%, 75%.

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Cap your rock times at... 20 to 30 minutes and

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build back to where you were. That's how you

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come back stronger. At least that's how I'm planning

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on coming back stronger. Well, that's it for

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today. Short and sweet. If you've been enjoying

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the show, make sure you subscribe to it in your

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favorite podcast app so you're notified of new

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episodes. In next week's episode, I sit down

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with Kayla Gergen. She's a registered dietitian

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and a certified personal trainer. And she's also

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the author of RuckFit, a book that was just recently

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released about a month ago. We sit down and have

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a chat about glucose, continuous glucose monitors,

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and, of course, Rucker. All right, that's it

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for today. Thanks again for listening to this

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episode of the Rucker's Edge.