May 19, 2026

Rucking for a Cause: Using Rucking to Raise Awareness for Arthritis

Rucking for a Cause: Using Rucking to Raise Awareness for Arthritis
Rucking for a Cause: Using Rucking to Raise Awareness for Arthritis
The Rucker’s Edge
Rucking for a Cause: Using Rucking to Raise Awareness for Arthritis
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Travis Chapman from RUCKFWD joins The Rucker’s Edge Podcast to share how rucking became the first form of fitness he could consistently stick with after years of starting and stopping gym routines. He also discusses how he's using rucking to bring awareness and raise funds for a health condition that hits close to home: arthritis.

We discuss:

  • How he discovered rucking through GORUCK
  • His experience progressing from 1-mile rucks to longer challenges
  • The inspiration behind RUCKFWD
  • Why he launched the Ruck Arthritis Challenge
  • Living alongside arthritis
  • Building positivity and community through rucking

This episode is an honest conversation about movement, purpose, consistency, and using fitness to create positive change.

Links & Resources

Notes:

  • Music Credit: 'Play This Game' by Black Rhomb.
  • I'm not a doctor, and this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Please consult with your physician before starting any new exercise or physical activity.
WEBVTT

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Movement is medicine. That phrase came to mind

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multiple times during the conversation with my

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guest this week. It's the idea that the more

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you move, the more you reduce your risk for diseases

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like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

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But movement also helps manage health conditions

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like depression, anxiety, and the condition we

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talk about in this episode, which is arthritis.

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My guest today is Travis Chapman, the founder

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of Ruck Forward and the creator of the Ruck Arthritis

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Challenge. In this episode, Travis shares his

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inspiration behind Ruck Forward. You'll hear

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how he's using the rucking community to raise

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awareness, encourage movement, and support arthritis

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research. We also talk about discovering rucking

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later in life, using movement to improve physical

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and mental health, and what it's like living

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alongside someone battling chronic arthritis

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pain. Welcome to the Rutgers Edge podcast, a

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show all about rucking that is designed to help

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you improve your rucking routine, lose weight,

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and ultimately gain your strength and energy

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back. Each episode dives into the science, stories,

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and strategies behind rucking. You'll learn from

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top ruckers, coaches, health experts, and performance

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specialists who break down what it takes to train

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smarter, recover faster, and stay ready for the

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next challenge. So whether you're new to rucking

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or an experienced rucker that's already logged

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hundreds of miles, this is the show for you.

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I'm your host, Spencer. Thanks for listening

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in. Please enjoy my conversation with Travis

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Chapman from Ruck Forward. Travis, thanks so

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much for joining me here on the Rucker's Edge

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podcast. I really appreciate you being here.

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Yeah, no problem at all, man. This is great.

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Excited you're doing it. It's awesome. So a mutual

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friend introduced us and Kayla and you were just

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on her podcast. Really great episode. And I think

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it's going to be sort of more of the same. I

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really enjoyed hearing your purpose and I want

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to kind of dive deeper into that right now. So

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before we get into rucking specifically, I kind

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of want to talk about your fitness background,

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if you don't mind. What did your relationship

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with fitness look like? I guess like growing

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up and then entering adulthood. Okay. Well, when

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I was younger, I played a lot of different sports,

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some organized, some not. Usually the two big

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ones were football and basketball. I can't say

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I was really great or good at either one of them.

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I mean, I've played, like I said, organized sports

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for a while up until about high school or so.

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And then on the... like just on your own kind

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of thing in the neighborhood, running around,

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you know what I mean? Pick up games, stuff like

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that. Some of the more interesting times were

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actually, you know, I grew up in Maine. And so

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in the winters, obviously it snows and you got

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all that going on. And sometimes we'd go out

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in the snow and you're tackling each other into,

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you know, piles of snow and things like that.

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It was just fun, you know, it was just something

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cool to get outside. And then as I've gotten

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older and, you know, it's one of those things

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where I mentioned this to Kayla, it's like, So

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exercise has kind of been hit or miss with me.

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Like maybe I'd, okay, let's join a gym, you know,

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beginning of the year kind of thing, right? Let's

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go try that. Maybe a couple months maybe at that,

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you know what I mean? And same with like other

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types of just exercise things. And then like,

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you know, a year ago, basically found rucking

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and haven't looked back. Like, I don't know what

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it is about it. Can't exactly put my finger on

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what has clicked, you know what I mean? But it's

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clicked, so. uh, you know, just keep moving forward.

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Yeah. I, uh, I'm sort of that same boat. It's

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like, um, I can't tell you how many times I've

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had a new year's resolution to be like, all right,

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this is the year I'm going to take my health

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back. I'm going to get in the gym. And then by

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early February, just like, what is it? Like 75

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% of the people in the United States that have

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that goal, no longer going to the gym anymore

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and also found rucking and found it to be sustainable.

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And I kind of want to, yeah, let's, let's talk

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about that. So how did rucking into your life?

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Like how did you get introduced to it? Yeah,

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so I found Go Ruck online and I just saw the

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name Go Ruck and I was like, Go Ruck? Like, what

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is this? Not that I hadn't heard of a ruck or

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rucking, but it was more like Go Ruck. You kind

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of go, what is this? And so I looked, immediately

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went on their website, started seeing kind of

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how they are, what they do, what it's about.

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Then I watched a bunch of their videos on their

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YouTube channel because... I was just so intrigued

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by it. I don't know what it was about. And the

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culture, community aspect of it was kind of interesting

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to me that they talk about. And so anyway, so

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I took a look at all that stuff. And then I just

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kind of made up my mind that day, I'm going to

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go rock. And in the past, or in my normal life

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as a job, things like that, I have a... a bag,

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camera bag that's loaded with gear, might weigh

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20, 25 pounds. And depending on the shoot, I

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might be carrying a backpack around like if I'm

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on the road or something. So I have rucked technically,

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you know, before, but never really thought about

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it as like a thing, you know, to go do. And so

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that day I took the camera bag I had, loaded

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it up with gear and it was about 20, 25 pounds.

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And I went out to the spot that I, you know,

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kind of knew was pretty much a mile, a little

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over a mile. And I just rucked that one mile

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and that was it. And I said, yeah, I'm going

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to do this again tomorrow. And so then from there,

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it was pretty much just every day, like unless

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something came up and I couldn't do it, you know,

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I'd just go. And I was using that same gear for

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probably about two months. And the only thing

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that changed was around that time, GORUCK had

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their like winter or Christmas in July sale.

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So I ended up buying some gear from them. I didn't

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get a bag at that point, but I did get some weights.

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And I took an older camera bag I had because

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I didn't want to ruin the one I was using, even

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though probably from a technical standpoint,

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it was a better structured bag. And put it in

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one of those old bags. And I used that, like

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I said, about two months. And then in September,

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I got a Rucker 4 .0. And switched over to that.

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Man, what a difference. Like, I knew it would

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feel better, I hoped. But when I put that thing

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on for the first time with the weight in there,

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I was like, oh, my God, this is so much better.

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It's crazy, you know? Yeah. It really is. But,

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yeah, and then I've just been doing it ever since.

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And, you know, I mean, I've done a few 5Ks, events,

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things like that. I actually just did this one

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a couple weeks ago out in St. Augustine. It was

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actually a runner walk, and I did it as a ruck

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with, I think I had like 40 pounds. Actually

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had my best time. I really tried to push myself

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on it. I did about like I think it's like 13

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minutes or so a mile, something like that. It

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was kind of crazy. But anyways, it was fun. But

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yeah, I've just been doing that ever since. And

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like I said, the only time it kind of shifts

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is if like something happens and it's just not

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going to work out that day. Then I might say,

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OK, I'm just going to call it a day and be good

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with things, you know. Yeah. But on a quick side

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note. for Kayla's ruck in January, which was

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the ruck 10 times, you pick the date, weight,

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all that kind of stuff. I actually, when I saw

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that in December, I said, I'm going to do this.

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And the way my schedule was lining up, I was

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going to be on the road for almost a week in

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the first week of January. So I said, I'm going

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to start on the first year in Florida, did two

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days of rucking in Florida, two days in Texas,

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two days in Georgia. and then two or three rucks

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back here. And the stuff on the road was back

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in the backpack again. So it was back with camera

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gear in the bag, and I just found a spot that

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looked pretty good. It was about, whatever, one

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or two miles is what I made it into, maybe two

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or three miles. you know, thing, but that one

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was fun. It was, it was a cool one to do just

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because of that, you know, it's like, okay, this

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would be kind of neat to do it somewhere else,

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you know? Yeah. Oh, that's great. So you started

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out going a mile and then how quickly did you

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progress? Did you start going faster? Did you

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start going longer? How did you progress in your

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rucking journey, I guess? Yeah. Yeah. So basically,

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you know, my whole approach to this just as sort

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of a disclaimer for how I'm doing it was. I'm

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going to take this super slow. And the reason

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why is I was worried about if I went out and,

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and everybody tells you kind of in their stuff

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too, like on go rucks page, like they're, you

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know, don't go out with a hundred pounds and

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then wonder why you're injured. Right. Or something

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like that. So I tried to keep it simple, tried

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to keep it in a place where, okay, like for instance,

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just as a quick snapshot, I was with that 20

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pounds for probably about a month. And then I

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had these little weights that I'd kind of throw

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in there. And I moved up to a 30 -pound plate.

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And then by the time, I guess it was like fall,

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maybe around the time I did the first 5K Ruck,

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that was an event, a virtual event. I think it

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was probably around 40 pounds or so, somewhere

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in that range. Um, and then I kept that on for

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probably another two months, you know, as far

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as the pace, the pace, I didn't mess with too

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much. I try to go faster and stuff, but I was

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mostly concerned with either shifting the weight

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or the distance I'd go. And then I did a 5k in

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November. And at that point I was up to 45 pounds

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up at the headquarters and go rock in Jacksonville.

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And it was a 5k, but it was kind of like a scavenger

00:09:00.570 --> 00:09:03.860
hunt 5k. I didn't quite grasp all this until

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I got there. And so if you don't, just a side

00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:10.120
note, if you don't enter the address right, you're

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going to have a hard time figuring out why you

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can't find this thing. And that's what I did

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on one of them. So I ended up walking like probably

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more closer to like four and a half, almost five

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miles to find all these points, you know. And

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so anyways, needless to say, I get back and I

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realize that because I knew I did. I'm like,

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there's no way that was three miles, you know.

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And it got me thinking. I'm going to just try

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and just see how far I go next week with 45 pounds.

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So on that Sunday, I just took the 45 pounds,

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went out and basically did 7 .5 miles. It was

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about a 12K. And then since that time, I've done

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some other challenges like that, whether it be

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like, I'll just go into trails and just do trails

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and see how, you know, see how far I go on that.

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But that's, and now I'm just kind of at a point

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where like. And essentially, I'm back to rucking

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every day, even though after I had read Kayla's

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book, I was doing a break thing for a while.

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And as I kind of told her on her podcast, I said,

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you know, I tried it for a couple of weeks. I

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said, and on those days where I was taking a

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break, I was going nuts. Like, I'm just like,

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I just got to go do a mile. Like, if I just go

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do a mile, even with 20 pounds, I'll be happy,

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you know. And so I shifted it up. And basically

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what I've done now. is i'll have days that are

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purposely like i'm gonna go out and go heavy

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go long that kind of thing and then other days

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where it's like okay like yesterday i'm just

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gonna go do a mile you know what i mean it was

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just one of those days i thought like i'm just

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doing a mile um and that's kind of how i do it

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so that's that's kind of where we're at right

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now but uh that's kind of how it sort of progressed

00:10:38.870 --> 00:10:40.750
oh that's great so it sounds like you're being

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very consistent that you're getting out there

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every day and yeah i'm similar to you if if i

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don't if i don't move If I don't rock, if I don't

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run or move my body in any way, I kind of not

00:10:53.370 --> 00:10:56.870
get stir crazy, but my body needs it. My mind

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needs it. I'm a different person if I'm not doing

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something physical. But let's move on to ruck

00:11:04.529 --> 00:11:07.909
forward. When it comes to ruck forward and what

00:11:07.909 --> 00:11:12.730
that is, that was just an idea I had. A few months

00:11:12.730 --> 00:11:15.429
back, I thought it was a cool idea, the abbreviation

00:11:15.429 --> 00:11:16.990
of forward in there, all that kind of stuff.

00:11:17.110 --> 00:11:18.490
I just thought it was kind of cool, but I didn't

00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:20.590
know what I would do with it. I just was like,

00:11:20.690 --> 00:11:23.110
I don't know what I'd do at this point with something

00:11:23.110 --> 00:11:24.769
like that. And so I just kind of left it alone

00:11:24.769 --> 00:11:28.950
and wrote it down somewhere. And then about a

00:11:28.950 --> 00:11:31.250
month or so ago, maybe a little less now, and

00:11:31.250 --> 00:11:35.870
I thought of the whole ruck arthritis idea. One

00:11:35.870 --> 00:11:38.909
of the things we do, I work for... a company

00:11:38.909 --> 00:11:42.330
that does implants and replacements, you know,

00:11:42.350 --> 00:11:44.370
for people and things like that, knee, hip, that

00:11:44.370 --> 00:11:47.129
kind of thing. And, you know, we always talk

00:11:47.129 --> 00:11:49.149
about these different things like, you know,

00:11:49.149 --> 00:11:51.350
arthritis month, what are we going to post about

00:11:51.350 --> 00:11:52.870
it? You know, what are some different things?

00:11:52.909 --> 00:11:54.529
And for some reason, in one of those meetings,

00:11:54.570 --> 00:11:57.330
it just hit me like, I should tie rucking to

00:11:57.330 --> 00:11:59.289
arthritis and do something, you know, and obviously,

00:11:59.450 --> 00:12:02.149
you know, it was kind of one of those things

00:12:02.149 --> 00:12:05.059
that just sort of hit me. And so as I was thinking

00:12:05.059 --> 00:12:07.960
about all this, it didn't make sense to me to

00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:10.440
just do a website dedicated just to the ruck

00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:13.220
arthritis thing, because immediately I started

00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:15.980
thinking like, well, if this is successful, I

00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:18.039
could do this maybe with other things that I'm

00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.159
kind of passionate about to raise funds for those

00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.509
organizations. maybe I can do this ruck forward

00:12:23.509 --> 00:12:26.409
thing is kind of a resource where like, I'm not

00:12:26.409 --> 00:12:28.409
a professional. I'm not a, I'm, I've only been

00:12:28.409 --> 00:12:31.350
rucking just under a year. Um, so I know for

00:12:31.350 --> 00:12:33.850
me, like people like yourself and other people

00:12:33.850 --> 00:12:35.870
that put things out there, I'm always looking

00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:37.389
for those things to watch, you know, whether

00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:40.389
it's somebody reviewing a bag or some other component

00:12:40.389 --> 00:12:42.129
like that, like, Hey, this is me rucking every

00:12:42.129 --> 00:12:45.070
day. This is why I do it. Right. So ruck forward

00:12:45.070 --> 00:12:48.269
to me right now is I view it as a sort of a resource

00:12:48.269 --> 00:12:51.559
for rucking, you know, and the fact that I feel

00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:54.639
like it's something that will hopefully benefit

00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:58.059
people, get people motivated to go out. And then

00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:01.120
the Ruck Arthritis Challenge is part of that

00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.080
right now, a big part of it, obviously, because

00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:06.740
of the month of May being National Arthritis

00:13:06.740 --> 00:13:10.200
Awareness Month. And so anyway, so that's kind

00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:12.019
of how I'm viewing things right now, because

00:13:12.019 --> 00:13:13.700
like I said, there are some other things out

00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:16.159
there that I started thinking about, like, oh,

00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:18.980
that would be kind of a cool thing to do as a...

00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:21.679
Maybe a fundraiser or something like that. Like,

00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:24.279
just as an example, we got our boxer from a rescue

00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:26.779
here in North Florida. It'd be kind of cool maybe

00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:28.720
to do a fundraiser for those guys. You know what

00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:31.720
I mean? Some kind of ruck or whatever. And so

00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:33.779
that's why I kind of did the ruck forward thing.

00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:36.419
And I just like the idea, too, of just behind

00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:40.620
ruck forward. You're moving forward. When you're

00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:43.399
rucking, you're hopefully leaving maybe any kind

00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:45.419
of negative stuff that's going on behind you.

00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:48.059
It's a good space to kind of clear your head.

00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:52.460
It's nice to just dump stuff or just not think

00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:54.299
of anything. You just want to put some music

00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:56.940
on and just, I'm moving. It's really cool to

00:13:56.940 --> 00:14:00.279
hear people like yourself using platforms to

00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:03.330
create. goodness within their community, whether

00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:05.289
it's a, you know, a rock club doing something

00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:07.929
for Thanksgiving or Christmas or what have you,

00:14:07.970 --> 00:14:10.289
or, uh, green beret fitness, this is the same

00:14:10.289 --> 00:14:12.169
thing. And now I'm hearing, hearing you trying

00:14:12.169 --> 00:14:14.590
to use your platform to, for the betterment of

00:14:14.590 --> 00:14:17.490
your community and, uh, the little piece of the

00:14:17.490 --> 00:14:19.970
earth that you have over there. Um, where are

00:14:19.970 --> 00:14:23.370
you in Orlando? I'm just north of Orlando. So

00:14:23.370 --> 00:14:25.870
the Gainesville area, University of Florida,

00:14:25.990 --> 00:14:28.210
that's basically where I'm at. I'm at the neck

00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:30.870
of the woods. Gainesville. Sorry, LSU fan here.

00:14:30.870 --> 00:14:34.009
No, I'm just kidding. Oh, you didn't. Okay, we're

00:14:34.009 --> 00:14:35.230
going to have to. I should have told you that

00:14:35.230 --> 00:14:37.230
before we started recording. Where's my gator

00:14:37.230 --> 00:14:40.889
hat? But I wanted to get back to something you

00:14:40.889 --> 00:14:43.009
mentioned earlier in the show. You said you work

00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:46.710
for a company that does some, what do they do?

00:14:46.750 --> 00:14:49.970
Joint replacements or what was it that you said?

00:14:50.269 --> 00:14:53.590
So the name of the company is Advita Ortho, and

00:14:53.590 --> 00:14:56.529
basically they do joint replacements. So they

00:14:56.529 --> 00:14:59.070
are providing the instrumentation, the technology

00:14:59.070 --> 00:15:01.269
to the surgeons, and they're the ones actually

00:15:01.269 --> 00:15:05.450
doing everything. And so I've worked with them.

00:15:05.950 --> 00:15:08.250
actually going back over 10 years when i was

00:15:08.250 --> 00:15:10.110
at a production company before i started working

00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:13.570
for them directly as an employee and so i've

00:15:13.570 --> 00:15:17.149
seen over the years like numerous uh testimonial

00:15:17.149 --> 00:15:19.690
videos that we've done or heard about patients

00:15:19.690 --> 00:15:24.220
that had arthritis got a joint replaced you know,

00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.100
kind of one of those wish we had done it sooner

00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:28.600
kind of moments, right, is usually what you hear

00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:31.179
because they're in that pain, they're struggling

00:15:31.179 --> 00:15:32.940
with it every day, can't do what they'd normally

00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:34.559
do, even if it's just as simple as literally

00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.480
getting up out of a chair or getting into a chair,

00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:39.539
you know, something like that. And it was kind

00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:41.379
of funny because when we were talking about the

00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:44.200
arthritis month thing, one of the things I said

00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:46.700
in one of the meetings we had, because I'm, you

00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:48.120
know, I'm just like, you know, like anything

00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:50.620
you're throwing ideas around, it's like, you

00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:54.070
know, maybe we could do a preventative thing,

00:15:54.129 --> 00:15:56.690
you know, and getting people not to get an implant,

00:15:56.889 --> 00:15:58.649
you know, like not say don't get one, but like

00:15:58.649 --> 00:16:00.490
get yourself in a position where hopefully you

00:16:00.490 --> 00:16:02.769
don't need to do this, you know, because at the

00:16:02.769 --> 00:16:05.809
end of the day, it's all done. You're feeling

00:16:05.809 --> 00:16:07.970
better when it's done. Typically there, you know,

00:16:07.970 --> 00:16:09.750
hopefully everything goes well for that patient,

00:16:09.789 --> 00:16:12.549
but you know, if you don't have to do those things,

00:16:12.610 --> 00:16:14.509
I mean, at the end of the day, it's probably

00:16:14.509 --> 00:16:17.110
better for you. But yeah, seeing some of these

00:16:17.110 --> 00:16:19.710
people and listening to their stories over the

00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:22.980
years, there's always those moments where you're

00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:26.779
just like, wow, holy cow, I'm so lucky that I

00:16:26.779 --> 00:16:28.779
can move around and do the things I'm doing.

00:16:29.100 --> 00:16:32.000
And one of the other things my brother said that

00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.259
was kind of interesting, kind of tying it back

00:16:34.259 --> 00:16:37.460
into this, is he said, because one of the things

00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:40.860
I got thinking about is he's like, you're a few

00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:42.960
years older than me, and you've been out here

00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.440
doing this thing. And he's like, you know, we're

00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:47.600
not getting any younger. And he's like, you know,

00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.360
how many years do you have left that you can

00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:52.399
start that momentum of the movement and going

00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.320
and doing that where if I wait another five years

00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:57.799
or whatever it is, am I going to be able to do

00:16:57.799 --> 00:16:59.320
it? You know what I mean? If I don't start now.

00:16:59.379 --> 00:17:01.399
So he, I thought that was an interesting perspective

00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:04.919
on it because honestly, I wasn't really. necessarily

00:17:04.919 --> 00:17:07.000
thinking about that when I started doing it.

00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:08.559
And even as I've done it, you know, I'm glad

00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.539
I'm doing it. Um, but it was kind of like, that's

00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:13.619
a, that's an interesting point. And, and like

00:17:13.619 --> 00:17:14.859
I mentioned, I think I mentioned this earlier,

00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:17.759
but like the idea of, you know, if you can do

00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:20.240
some of these things, even if it's doesn't have

00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.640
to be rucking, but it'd be awesome if it is,

00:17:22.700 --> 00:17:24.799
um, you know, just getting out there with 10

00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.660
pounds or nine pounds or whatever it is, and

00:17:27.660 --> 00:17:30.039
just doing that mile or half a mile, and then

00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:33.519
just slowly ramping it up, you know, Could somebody

00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.119
that's prone maybe to arthritis, some form of

00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:39.799
arthritis, slow that symptom coming on? Slow

00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:42.279
that pain coming to their system because they're

00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:46.279
moving. And that's something you hear a lot.

00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:48.200
People talking about the more you're moving,

00:17:48.380 --> 00:17:51.359
sometimes that can help with some of these things.

00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:54.059
Sure. Yeah, I unfortunately have arthritis in

00:17:54.059 --> 00:17:55.779
my ankle. And I have family members that have

00:17:55.779 --> 00:17:58.839
arthritis too. And speaking with my rheumatologist,

00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:00.680
one of the first things he said is like, honestly,

00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.160
move. The term movement as medicine is not phony

00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:07.480
baloney stuff. At my age, fortunately, I'm young

00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:10.180
enough, like you're alluding to, my body is at

00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:12.599
a stage where it's like if I keep moving, it's

00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:16.240
actually a good thing for that condition. Obviously,

00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:18.180
you don't want to do it too hard because you'll

00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:22.079
probably create a flare -up. But yeah, just start

00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:25.200
slow and start... When I started rucking, I walked

00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.000
first. I was like, I'm not adding 50 pounds just

00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.380
going out for the first time. I walked for the

00:18:30.380 --> 00:18:32.759
first, I don't know, month or so, and then gradually,

00:18:32.819 --> 00:18:35.759
like I mentioned before, I added weight until

00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:37.599
I'm finally out of weight that I'm really happy

00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.259
with. With Ruck Forward, are you trying to target

00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:42.640
anybody specifically, or are you just casting

00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:45.720
a wide net to see who's willing to participate?

00:18:46.059 --> 00:18:48.819
Well, the way I approached the challenge was

00:18:48.819 --> 00:18:51.380
that I got thinking about it, too, because I'm

00:18:51.380 --> 00:18:54.700
like, the whole ruck, arthritis was just something

00:18:54.700 --> 00:18:56.720
i thought was a cool name obviously there's some

00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:01.279
implied things there um and you know as i was

00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:03.339
talking to people about it i said you know but

00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:05.380
i you don't have to rock it i don't care what

00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:07.140
you do if you want to run it if you want to walk

00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:10.039
it that's great and when it comes to the the

00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:12.859
rucking side of things the way i view that is

00:19:12.859 --> 00:19:15.619
like you know you may or may not have an interest

00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:18.440
like this just happened literally yesterday um

00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:22.390
you know my brother He's up in Maine still. And

00:19:22.390 --> 00:19:24.910
he's been following me on Instagram. So he's

00:19:24.910 --> 00:19:26.289
seen the whole rucking thing, what I've been

00:19:26.289 --> 00:19:29.990
up to. And he said to me, he said, I was kind

00:19:29.990 --> 00:19:31.930
of interested in it. He's like, but I just didn't

00:19:31.930 --> 00:19:34.250
know if I wanted to do it, that kind of thing.

00:19:34.490 --> 00:19:37.630
And so yesterday, or the day before, he had watched

00:19:37.630 --> 00:19:40.369
the interview with Kayla. And I wake up yesterday

00:19:40.369 --> 00:19:42.710
to a bunch of messages from him. And I'm like,

00:19:42.750 --> 00:19:46.069
uh -oh, what is going on here? And he's like...

00:19:46.840 --> 00:19:49.140
Hey, I'm doing this rucking thing. He's like,

00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:51.359
I went on your site. I bought the patches. He's

00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.259
like, uh, Bree and I, that's his wife. He's like,

00:19:54.259 --> 00:19:56.779
we're going to do this. And I'm like, holy cow.

00:19:56.900 --> 00:19:59.180
I was just like shocked, you know? And I said,

00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:00.680
you know, this is what I'm talking about. Like,

00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:03.559
this is my brother and it is my, you know, it's

00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:05.579
obviously family, but it's still the fact that

00:20:05.579 --> 00:20:07.339
he, you know, cause he said to me, he said, you

00:20:07.339 --> 00:20:09.539
know, I watched the interview and he's like,

00:20:09.579 --> 00:20:11.019
I gotta be honest with you, man. He's like, I

00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:13.339
was really inspired by what you had to say. And

00:20:13.339 --> 00:20:15.079
he's like, so I just said, you know what? I'm

00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:17.069
going to go do it, you know? And so hopefully,

00:20:17.250 --> 00:20:19.069
you know, he'll get out there and he'll get after

00:20:19.069 --> 00:20:21.210
it and have fun with it. Because the biggest

00:20:21.210 --> 00:20:24.130
thing for me is like if, yeah, even if you're

00:20:24.130 --> 00:20:25.809
just getting outside and walking, you know what

00:20:25.809 --> 00:20:29.190
I'm saying? You're getting something. And especially

00:20:29.190 --> 00:20:31.170
with arthritis, just to throw that in the mix

00:20:31.170 --> 00:20:33.690
here, you know, when I look at some, like some

00:20:33.690 --> 00:20:35.930
of the posts I've been doing are also kind of

00:20:35.930 --> 00:20:38.089
like, I'll call it a wellness thing, but I'm

00:20:38.089 --> 00:20:39.950
not like a doctor or anything. So it's just stuff

00:20:39.950 --> 00:20:42.329
I'm seeing as far as factoids for rucking or.

00:20:42.809 --> 00:20:45.549
you know, maybe something interesting about arthritis

00:20:45.549 --> 00:20:48.250
that is an awareness thing. And just like, I

00:20:48.250 --> 00:20:50.349
think I posted one the other day about like bone

00:20:50.349 --> 00:20:53.829
density, you know, is something you get gain,

00:20:54.009 --> 00:20:55.690
I guess, through rucking, you know, it helps

00:20:55.690 --> 00:20:58.470
to keep that. And, you know, you kind of wonder

00:20:58.470 --> 00:21:00.789
with people that have arthritis, you know, if

00:21:00.789 --> 00:21:02.690
they had maybe when they were a little younger,

00:21:02.750 --> 00:21:04.890
started doing something like this, you know,

00:21:04.890 --> 00:21:07.890
could that have helped prevent? the onset of

00:21:07.890 --> 00:21:10.190
maybe some of the symptoms they're getting, delayed

00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:14.349
that a little bit maybe. So that's why some of

00:21:14.349 --> 00:21:16.049
the posts I've been putting up aren't just like

00:21:16.049 --> 00:21:18.190
me out there rucking and that kind of stuff,

00:21:18.269 --> 00:21:19.690
but there's also some of these little things.

00:21:19.829 --> 00:21:21.309
And then I like to have fun. Like today I put

00:21:21.309 --> 00:21:24.109
up a song where I'm replacing rock with ruck,

00:21:24.130 --> 00:21:26.410
that kind of thing. So just stuff that kind of...

00:21:26.670 --> 00:21:29.529
is fun for me to do. So I'm hoping that by doing

00:21:29.529 --> 00:21:32.170
that, that maybe that will also widen the net

00:21:32.170 --> 00:21:33.910
a little bit. But, you know, as of right now,

00:21:33.970 --> 00:21:35.569
it's probably going to be mostly people interested

00:21:35.569 --> 00:21:37.069
in rucking are going to be the first people to

00:21:37.069 --> 00:21:38.750
look at it. Probably I'm guessing if they're

00:21:38.750 --> 00:21:41.730
like searching rucking or if it pops up. But

00:21:41.730 --> 00:21:43.910
yeah, I mean, Hey, you know, just get outside

00:21:43.910 --> 00:21:46.210
is really the biggest thing. I agree. I mean,

00:21:46.210 --> 00:21:47.970
that's, that's, that's so great that your, your

00:21:47.970 --> 00:21:50.930
brother, you, you, you hooked somebody like that's,

00:21:50.930 --> 00:21:52.829
that's one of the best feelings, especially someone

00:21:52.829 --> 00:21:55.920
that you, you know, care about and it's like

00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.599
yes we're doing it this is great yeah he literally

00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:02.099
made my day yesterday it was it was funny because

00:22:02.099 --> 00:22:05.539
i it later in the day i think i did a post about

00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:07.960
it but i mean just to expand on it just a touch

00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:10.420
it was like i just kept thinking about it and

00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:13.200
it just blew me away because one totally unexpected

00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:16.579
did not see that coming at all you know and,

00:22:16.579 --> 00:22:18.759
uh, and hoping to see more of it. You know what

00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:20.359
I mean? If people get out there and do their

00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:23.000
rucks and post about it, tag us, whatever I'll,

00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:24.839
you know, I'm probably going to be just doing

00:22:24.839 --> 00:22:26.880
a lot of resharing and things like that, because

00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:28.720
why not? I mean, that's the whole point in my

00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.960
opinion to kind of let, Hey, this, this person

00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:32.640
decided they go do it. You know what I mean?

00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:34.960
I think that's, that's cool. So sorry, I didn't

00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:37.140
mean to step on you. No, no, that's, that's excellent

00:22:37.140 --> 00:22:40.960
information. And you mentioned, um, the challenge,

00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:44.039
ruck arthritis before we get into that and to

00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:46.329
the challenge. Um, I kind of want to just, I

00:22:46.329 --> 00:22:48.930
want to understand why you chose arthritis awareness.

00:22:49.069 --> 00:22:52.730
I saw a post, I think that you put out on Instagram

00:22:52.730 --> 00:22:57.369
saying how few rheumatologists there are. Can

00:22:57.369 --> 00:23:00.349
you kind of expand like why you chose arthritis

00:23:00.349 --> 00:23:02.410
awareness and what you found out through some

00:23:02.410 --> 00:23:05.230
research that you've been doing? Yeah, so basically

00:23:05.230 --> 00:23:09.990
my wife has rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

00:23:10.230 --> 00:23:12.690
And I do have other family members that have.

00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:16.880
arthritis as well. But she was kind of the motivation

00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.579
behind the idea of that, obviously, because we

00:23:20.579 --> 00:23:21.880
live with it, you know, we've been living with

00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:25.559
it for a while. And basically, you know, just

00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:28.339
going back, so like, you know, she was diagnosed

00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:31.279
several years ago with it. And she could still

00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:33.380
kind of like get around, she obviously did stuff,

00:23:33.380 --> 00:23:35.259
you know, we'd go out, go to the beach, do different

00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:38.079
things, you know. And then about a year ago,

00:23:38.750 --> 00:23:41.130
What they think happened was she had kind of

00:23:41.130 --> 00:23:44.170
a flare up from maybe both the conditions at

00:23:44.170 --> 00:23:46.470
one time where it just took her down. Like we

00:23:46.470 --> 00:23:50.630
were in and out of the ER for a bit. And then

00:23:50.630 --> 00:23:53.890
we went to see her rheumatologist and, you know,

00:23:53.910 --> 00:23:56.829
tried to get her squared away. Since then, you

00:23:56.829 --> 00:23:58.549
know, she's tried a few different medications

00:23:58.549 --> 00:24:01.630
to help with the pain. And she's definitely gotten

00:24:01.630 --> 00:24:04.329
better, you know, in terms of like. She still

00:24:04.329 --> 00:24:06.210
has pain and stuff, but she's not nearly as bad

00:24:06.210 --> 00:24:09.190
as she was like a little over a year ago. And

00:24:09.190 --> 00:24:12.670
so when I think about all that stuff, and like

00:24:12.670 --> 00:24:14.670
I said, when this idea just kind of came to me

00:24:14.670 --> 00:24:17.630
about the whole ruck arthritis idea, I said,

00:24:17.650 --> 00:24:19.750
yeah, this is what I'm going to do. And so in

00:24:19.750 --> 00:24:22.049
looking some things up, like just as an example,

00:24:22.269 --> 00:24:27.170
the one rheumatologist for roughly every 11 ,000

00:24:27.170 --> 00:24:29.529
patients here in the US, that was a fact I got

00:24:29.529 --> 00:24:33.740
when I called basically the university of florida

00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:37.339
their research department for arthritis and i

00:24:37.339 --> 00:24:39.440
got this woman who has arthritis on the phone

00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:42.980
and she was telling me this you know and i was

00:24:42.980 --> 00:24:44.460
just kind of floored you know because that was

00:24:44.460 --> 00:24:46.160
another thing like early on that just kind of

00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:48.240
popped into my head like oh my god like that's

00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:50.059
insane you know because you're you're thinking

00:24:50.059 --> 00:24:52.059
well they're just you know are they lazy in this

00:24:52.059 --> 00:24:54.099
office is this why we don't hear from that doctor

00:24:54.099 --> 00:24:55.519
or is this you know you have those immediate

00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:57.900
kind of things yeah and then you start to realize

00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:01.859
They're just inundated, you know. And so anyway,

00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:04.400
so I, you know, put all that together. And then

00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.420
when I started thinking about the ruck and this

00:25:06.420 --> 00:25:08.779
idea of doing the ruck, it just kind of made

00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:10.579
sense. Like I was kind of stealing one here from

00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:12.599
the canines where they do, you know, the whole

00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:17.619
9K for canines. You know what I mean? And so

00:25:17.619 --> 00:25:20.339
I said, we'll do, you know, a one miler for that

00:25:20.339 --> 00:25:23.740
one rheumatologist, you know. We'll do the 5K

00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:25.259
for the month of May because that's when the

00:25:25.259 --> 00:25:28.440
awareness month is. And then the 11. is for the

00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:31.819
11 ,000 patients roughly that are suffering with

00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:34.259
this every day. And that'll be kind of the three

00:25:34.259 --> 00:25:36.920
things you can do. Pick any day you want. Go

00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:39.019
out as many times as you want. Just post about

00:25:39.019 --> 00:25:43.240
it. Have some fun posting with it. But yeah,

00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:45.900
that's really what kind of motivated that, I

00:25:45.900 --> 00:25:48.220
believe. Like I said, it's just thinking about

00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:52.849
watching her and what's going on with her. knowing

00:25:52.849 --> 00:25:55.529
that like looking at her, you know, sometimes

00:25:55.529 --> 00:25:58.289
in other people that I know might be in that

00:25:58.289 --> 00:26:00.609
same condition, it's not like they've got like

00:26:00.609 --> 00:26:03.349
a cast, you know, or some sign on that says I'm

00:26:03.349 --> 00:26:04.910
in pain right now, you know, because she doesn't

00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:07.490
always voice it to me or say something, you know,

00:26:07.490 --> 00:26:08.970
it's not like a thing where it's always in your

00:26:08.970 --> 00:26:11.289
face. And so it is kind of like, you're always

00:26:11.289 --> 00:26:13.470
reminding yourself of that too, you know, when

00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:15.430
you're doing different things, because the thing

00:26:15.430 --> 00:26:17.990
I've learned probably more so in the last year

00:26:17.990 --> 00:26:21.730
is to just kind of You know, are you OK to do

00:26:21.730 --> 00:26:23.430
this? Do you want to do this? You know, that

00:26:23.430 --> 00:26:25.089
kind of thing. There's a lot more checking in

00:26:25.089 --> 00:26:27.369
on things. Or if we're out doing something already,

00:26:27.609 --> 00:26:29.970
are you OK to do this? Do you want to do the

00:26:29.970 --> 00:26:31.450
other thing or do you want to wait? Like, what

00:26:31.450 --> 00:26:32.970
do you want to do? So there's a lot of that kind

00:26:32.970 --> 00:26:36.069
of stuff that has changed a bit, too. So but

00:26:36.069 --> 00:26:37.630
yeah, that's what kind of brought this thing

00:26:37.630 --> 00:26:41.930
on. And like I said, we have the patches, you

00:26:41.930 --> 00:26:43.509
know, because in the rucking community, that's

00:26:43.509 --> 00:26:45.390
kind of a big thing is the whole patch thing.

00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.539
I love getting patches. I think they're cool.

00:26:50.919 --> 00:26:54.140
Coincidentally, if people are aware, we're using

00:26:54.140 --> 00:26:56.339
the same company that does Go Rucks patches.

00:26:56.660 --> 00:26:58.740
That's the company we're using for ours, so the

00:26:58.740 --> 00:27:01.039
quality will be right on par with what you'd

00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:02.700
get if you've gotten a Go Ruck patch before at

00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:08.900
an event. They were great. I'll just throw this

00:27:08.900 --> 00:27:11.180
out there. You get a couple other goodies in

00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:15.079
your bag when it shows up. We've got some sticker

00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:19.609
of the patch. the ruck forward sticker, this

00:27:19.609 --> 00:27:21.230
other little version of it. So those will be

00:27:21.230 --> 00:27:23.430
in there when we ship out patches to you. Awesome.

00:27:23.549 --> 00:27:26.869
Yeah. You mentioned something about, yeah, people

00:27:26.869 --> 00:27:29.089
with arthritis or other conditions that are,

00:27:29.089 --> 00:27:31.849
you know, quote unquote, like invisible. Yeah.

00:27:31.890 --> 00:27:33.369
You don't, you don't know what people are going

00:27:33.369 --> 00:27:34.609
through. You don't know how much pain they're

00:27:34.609 --> 00:27:36.130
experiencing. You don't, you don't know where

00:27:36.130 --> 00:27:38.569
they, you know, how much they slept last night

00:27:38.569 --> 00:27:41.269
because the sheet was on their foot, you know?

00:27:41.450 --> 00:27:44.849
Oh yeah. That's real. Yeah. It's, it's, it's

00:27:44.849 --> 00:27:47.259
tough. It's tough. More with Travis in just a

00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:48.960
moment, including how to complete the challenge

00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:51.480
yourself. But first, if you know a fellow rocker

00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:53.400
that has arthritis, please consider sharing this

00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:55.380
episode with them. It might provide them some

00:27:55.380 --> 00:27:57.519
encouragement that there's a community here trying

00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.819
to bring awareness and help fund research for

00:27:59.819 --> 00:28:02.819
that condition. Thanks. So you mentioned the

00:28:02.819 --> 00:28:08.400
1, 5, and 11K. How do people sign up for it?

00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:11.099
What do they need to do? Do they have to track

00:28:11.099 --> 00:28:14.460
their rock to submit data to you or just sign

00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:17.599
up via the website? Now, basically what I'm asking

00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:20.119
people to do is, you know, you go on the website,

00:28:20.420 --> 00:28:22.799
you purchase a patch, you know, once you get

00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:25.059
the patch, you know, pick whatever distance it

00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:26.660
is you want to do. If you want to do it a few

00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:29.940
times, go ahead, you know, and then just go out

00:28:29.940 --> 00:28:32.779
there, do the stuff, do a post, hold up the patch,

00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:37.359
put it on, hashtag Ruck Arthritis. And then,

00:28:37.380 --> 00:28:39.940
you know, after the end of, you know, probably

00:28:39.940 --> 00:28:43.220
May or so, we're going to take that. all those

00:28:43.220 --> 00:28:45.339
funds that were raised from those patch sales

00:28:45.339 --> 00:28:47.859
and donate that to the university of florida's

00:28:47.859 --> 00:28:51.500
foundation for arthritis research but the biggest

00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:53.980
thing is you know just Feel free to purchase

00:28:53.980 --> 00:28:56.779
a patch, go out, do a ruck, do a walk, you know,

00:28:56.779 --> 00:29:00.240
post about it, hashtag it. And that's really

00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:02.279
it. You know, I'm trying to keep it pretty straightforward.

00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:04.400
I'm sort of borrowing a little bit from like

00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:06.460
what Kayla did with her challenge, where it was

00:29:06.460 --> 00:29:08.599
like, just pick 10 days, a wait and a distance

00:29:08.599 --> 00:29:11.259
and go, you know, this is a little different

00:29:11.259 --> 00:29:13.480
because we're tying some specific distances to

00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:16.059
things, but that's really it. I mean, that's

00:29:16.059 --> 00:29:17.920
the, that's kind of the gist of it right now.

00:29:18.339 --> 00:29:20.619
I was trying to keep it because everything was

00:29:20.619 --> 00:29:23.960
kind of last minute. as simple as possible for

00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:25.940
everybody to participate in it. You know what

00:29:25.940 --> 00:29:27.839
I mean? I think because the more people we can

00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:30.200
get out there doing it is great. And then two

00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:33.019
talking about it, you know, so I really like

00:29:33.019 --> 00:29:35.599
that framework for the challenge. It's, it's

00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:38.980
open for pretty much. every fitness level yeah

00:29:38.980 --> 00:29:42.180
any you don't have to have any experience rucking

00:29:42.180 --> 00:29:44.240
you can do it whenever you want throughout the

00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:47.279
this month there's no time constraint so if you

00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:49.380
got time in your schedule fit it in and just

00:29:49.380 --> 00:29:52.880
and get out there yeah exactly so where do you

00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:55.079
see ruck forward going from here do you have

00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:57.599
other challenges in the future that you've planned

00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:01.160
yeah i think moving forward you know it's one

00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:04.640
of those things where i i look at some of these

00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:07.880
other possible ideas out there like i know just

00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:10.500
as an example there's like a rheumatoid arthritis

00:30:10.500 --> 00:30:12.599
i think it's either day or month coming up in

00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:16.039
the fall and i believe there's one other arthritis

00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:18.319
maybe it's world arthritis day i think that's

00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:20.900
coming up as well in the in the fall as well

00:30:20.900 --> 00:30:23.819
so i may do a variation of this then you know

00:30:23.819 --> 00:30:27.299
and and do something for it um and like i was

00:30:27.299 --> 00:30:29.220
mentioning earlier when it comes to like you

00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:31.349
know the boxer rescue You know, there might be

00:30:31.349 --> 00:30:33.849
some other things like that that I may just decide

00:30:33.849 --> 00:30:35.869
to do it. I think what it'll come down to is

00:30:35.869 --> 00:30:39.430
just how well do we kind of pick up steam here

00:30:39.430 --> 00:30:41.849
with things and getting the word out on this

00:30:41.849 --> 00:30:44.789
one and how successful is it? And then from there,

00:30:44.829 --> 00:30:46.710
kind of determining that. And then on the other

00:30:46.710 --> 00:30:49.450
side of it, as far as like that doesn't necessarily

00:30:49.450 --> 00:30:51.869
have anything to do with saying doing a challenge

00:30:51.869 --> 00:30:55.490
is like I was mentioning with the whole putting

00:30:55.490 --> 00:30:57.529
out little factoids, you know, about rucking.

00:30:58.250 --> 00:31:01.069
um having some fun with it you know just throwing

00:31:01.069 --> 00:31:03.329
ruck in there maybe you know maybe putting out

00:31:03.329 --> 00:31:05.410
even some posts where hey here's a playlist i

00:31:05.410 --> 00:31:08.710
love to listen to when i rock you know um and

00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:11.509
uh doing those types of things because i feel

00:31:11.509 --> 00:31:13.970
like there's such a it's just such a cool community

00:31:13.970 --> 00:31:16.089
because like the events i've been to at go ruck

00:31:16.089 --> 00:31:19.289
uh over in jacksonville everyone's great you

00:31:19.289 --> 00:31:21.170
know like you talk to the people from go ruck

00:31:21.170 --> 00:31:24.029
or just people that are there and everyone's

00:31:24.029 --> 00:31:26.150
just one willing to help out. You know what I

00:31:26.150 --> 00:31:27.890
mean? If you had like, when I went to that one

00:31:27.890 --> 00:31:29.730
in the fall, I had some questions and they were

00:31:29.730 --> 00:31:31.250
right on it, you know, like, yeah, yeah, this

00:31:31.250 --> 00:31:33.410
is what, you know, this is how you do this, you

00:31:33.410 --> 00:31:36.369
know, and being very helpful. And I, so I kind

00:31:36.369 --> 00:31:38.450
of feel like, you know, the ruck forward thing

00:31:38.450 --> 00:31:40.450
is, is hopefully going to kind of become like

00:31:40.450 --> 00:31:43.369
that resource, maybe that. It's just supplementary,

00:31:43.369 --> 00:31:47.230
rather, to, you know, people out there doing

00:31:47.230 --> 00:31:49.430
it that might be new to it, you know. And the

00:31:49.430 --> 00:31:51.829
other thing that I'm currently doing on the website,

00:31:52.069 --> 00:31:55.230
like, for instance, you know, on the Ruck Forward

00:31:55.230 --> 00:31:58.029
page where you can read about what this is, down

00:31:58.029 --> 00:31:59.750
at the bottom, you know, I put out a promotion

00:31:59.750 --> 00:32:01.769
any time I talk about Girl Ruck to whatever it

00:32:01.769 --> 00:32:04.390
is I'm talking about, you know. Same with...

00:32:04.670 --> 00:32:06.970
Uh, when it comes to like Kayla's book, you know,

00:32:06.990 --> 00:32:08.910
I put that down at the bottom as a good resource

00:32:08.910 --> 00:32:11.890
for people to look into, you know, um, same with

00:32:11.890 --> 00:32:14.069
like Jocko Wallink's book, you know, discipline

00:32:14.069 --> 00:32:16.369
equals freedom. That's another big one. More

00:32:16.369 --> 00:32:18.170
than likely Rucker's edge is going to end up

00:32:18.170 --> 00:32:20.650
in there as well. Just so you know, cause I mean,

00:32:20.690 --> 00:32:22.990
same with me promoting that stuff on my channel.

00:32:23.069 --> 00:32:25.190
Cause I just feel like, you know, like some of

00:32:25.190 --> 00:32:27.329
these things, you know, like for instance, Jocko's

00:32:27.329 --> 00:32:29.109
book, I mean, I wish I had read that years ago,

00:32:29.150 --> 00:32:31.940
but, uh, you know, it's. it's just one of those

00:32:31.940 --> 00:32:33.759
things. It's just another resource, you know?

00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:36.519
And I feel like anyone that's interested, you

00:32:36.519 --> 00:32:38.539
know, in doing this kind of activity or, you

00:32:38.539 --> 00:32:40.980
know, going out there and trying it, it's like,

00:32:40.980 --> 00:32:43.079
go ahead and take a look at a few things. You

00:32:43.079 --> 00:32:44.460
know, like when my brother was talking to me

00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:47.000
yesterday about it, I told him, I said, go to

00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:50.039
their YouTube page and just kind of look around,

00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:52.180
you know, just titles may catch your attention.

00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:54.319
They've obviously got a lot of the, I'll just

00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:56.839
call it basic stuff in there. Like, you know,

00:32:56.839 --> 00:32:59.019
this is how you, you know. how you should rock,

00:32:59.079 --> 00:33:00.819
you know, you put the bag on, cinch it tight,

00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:02.799
you know, that kind of stuff. And then I said,

00:33:02.819 --> 00:33:04.440
there's just some really cool videos on there,

00:33:04.460 --> 00:33:06.339
like about the Normandy rock they did. I think

00:33:06.339 --> 00:33:08.880
it was last year, um, which I thought was, that

00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:10.539
was one of those first videos I watched and I

00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:13.779
was just blown away. Like, wow, this is so cool.

00:33:13.859 --> 00:33:15.440
Cause I was once again, just getting introduced

00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:17.869
to what they do, you know? And that one just

00:33:17.869 --> 00:33:20.049
caught my attention because it's Normandy. I'm

00:33:20.049 --> 00:33:22.470
a supporter of vets, that kind of stuff. I have

00:33:22.470 --> 00:33:25.549
vets in my family. And I watched that and I just

00:33:25.549 --> 00:33:27.670
sat there going, holy cow, that is too cool.

00:33:27.849 --> 00:33:31.490
Just go out and do these things. So yeah, I think

00:33:31.490 --> 00:33:33.049
that's kind of how I'm viewing it right now,

00:33:33.089 --> 00:33:35.869
man, is just sort of hopefully get some people

00:33:35.869 --> 00:33:39.210
out there doing it and giving them a place to

00:33:39.210 --> 00:33:42.089
go to either find some information from me or

00:33:42.089 --> 00:33:45.519
from someone else. Because like I said. I'm still

00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:47.859
new to it and figuring things out too. And there

00:33:47.859 --> 00:33:49.619
are more and more resources getting out there

00:33:49.619 --> 00:33:51.440
about rucking, which has been really cool to

00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:54.900
see. I feel like the rucking popularity is starting

00:33:54.900 --> 00:33:58.339
to pick up. What I've observed, it's seasonal.

00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:01.240
It obviously peaks in the summer and then in

00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:03.259
the winter when no one wants to get outside,

00:34:03.380 --> 00:34:05.579
it kind of goes back down. But outside of just

00:34:05.579 --> 00:34:08.179
the cyclical nature of it, more and more numbers

00:34:08.179 --> 00:34:12.070
are. added to that cycle. It's really cool to

00:34:12.070 --> 00:34:14.590
see more and more people rucking and having these

00:34:14.590 --> 00:34:17.070
challenges makes it accessible for people to

00:34:17.070 --> 00:34:21.190
start. It's really, really cool. I've completed

00:34:21.190 --> 00:34:24.389
the 5K and I'll be submitting some information.

00:34:24.510 --> 00:34:27.570
We just recently did our first library ruck.

00:34:28.699 --> 00:34:30.559
Rucked there and back, picked up some books.

00:34:30.599 --> 00:34:33.300
I added probably 10 pounds. Nice. That was a

00:34:33.300 --> 00:34:35.800
fun thing. That's really cool. That's an awesome

00:34:35.800 --> 00:34:38.360
idea, man. Yeah, it just like worked out. We

00:34:38.360 --> 00:34:39.960
were like, we're talking about going to the library.

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.449
And I was like, oh, I. let's walk let's rock

00:34:42.449 --> 00:34:44.590
like it was just like a progression like this

00:34:44.590 --> 00:34:46.349
just makes sense let's do this let's move our

00:34:46.349 --> 00:34:49.289
bodies and educate ourselves at the same time

00:34:49.289 --> 00:34:51.250
i think that this mission is excellent travis

00:34:51.250 --> 00:34:53.650
thanks so much for putting this on um i've already

00:34:53.650 --> 00:34:55.309
completed the challenge i'm gonna do a few more

00:34:55.309 --> 00:34:58.429
uh and i'll be posting about them but uh it was

00:34:58.429 --> 00:35:00.170
really nice meeting you travis thanks so much

00:35:00.170 --> 00:35:02.639
for taking the time to chat with me today Yeah,

00:35:02.739 --> 00:35:05.139
no problem at all, man. And like I said, I appreciate

00:35:05.139 --> 00:35:07.320
you doing this and getting the word out there.

00:35:08.219 --> 00:35:10.960
And hopefully, man, we'll get a cure. Hopefully

00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:12.820
they'll come up with something to cure this thing

00:35:12.820 --> 00:35:15.699
because I've said it before, the pain management

00:35:15.699 --> 00:35:19.679
thing is great if it works, but it's not fun.

00:35:19.739 --> 00:35:21.599
You know what I mean? It really isn't. So let's

00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:24.960
get out there, do some positive, fun stuff, have

00:35:24.960 --> 00:35:27.059
a good time doing it, and hopefully help some

00:35:27.059 --> 00:35:29.940
people. Agreed. Thanks again, Travis. Appreciate

00:35:29.940 --> 00:35:32.010
your time. All right, man. Thank you. All right,

00:35:32.030 --> 00:35:34.070
that wraps up my conversation with Travis. You

00:35:34.070 --> 00:35:36.230
can sign up for the challenge yourself at ruckforward

00:35:36.230 --> 00:35:40.610
.com. That's ruckfwd .com. You can connect with

00:35:40.610 --> 00:35:42.869
him at ruckforward on Instagram. I'll drop the

00:35:42.869 --> 00:35:45.110
link in the show notes. If you want to reach

00:35:45.110 --> 00:35:47.230
out to me, head on over to theruckersedge .com

00:35:47.230 --> 00:35:50.170
or on Instagram at theruckersedgepod. If you

00:35:50.170 --> 00:35:51.849
enjoyed today's episode, make sure to follow

00:35:51.849 --> 00:35:54.130
or subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast

00:35:54.130 --> 00:35:57.170
app so you're notified of new episodes. In next

00:35:57.170 --> 00:35:59.090
week's episode, I discuss several different rucking

00:35:59.090 --> 00:36:01.010
-related workouts in case you're a rucker looking

00:36:01.010 --> 00:36:04.449
to mix things up a bit. Okay, that's it for today.

00:36:04.570 --> 00:36:06.670
Thanks again for listening to this episode of

00:36:06.670 --> 00:36:07.309
The Rucker's Edge.