Strength Training with a Ruck Featuring Drew Snarey from Frontline Athletic (Training with a Ruck Series 2 of 3)

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What if you could build strength without a gym

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membership, without a rack of dumbbells, and

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without turning your garage into a home gym?

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That's exactly what we're talking about today

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in part two of our Training with a Ruck series.

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Last week in part one of this series, we covered

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how to use rucking itself as a conditioning tool.

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And if you haven't listened to that one, I suggest

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you go back and check it out. That was episode

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43. But today we're taking it a step further.

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We're taking your rucksack and turning it into

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a strength training tool. You'll learn exercises

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that target your legs, upper body, and core,

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and how to build workouts around your regular

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rucks. Joining me today is Drew Snary, founder

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of Frontline Athletic. He builds rucksacks, he

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trains with them, and he has thought about this

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more than almost anyone. Drew shares practical

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ways to turn a simple ruck into a versatile piece

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of fitness equipment. This is the Rucker's Edge

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podcast, a show all about rucking that is designed

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to help you improve your rucking routine, lose

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weight, and ultimately gain your strength and

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energy back. Each episode dives into the science,

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stories, and strategies behind rucking. You'll

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learn from top ruckers, coaches, health experts,

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and performance specialists who break down what

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it takes to train smarter, recover faster, and

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stay ready for the next challenge. So whether

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you're new to rucking or an experienced rucker

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that's already logged hundreds of miles, this

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

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Thanks for tuning in. By the way, if you're new

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to this podcast, go ahead and click follow or

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subscribe on whatever app you're catching this

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on. That way you won't miss out on any future

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episodes. But for now, let's transition to our

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guest today, Drew Snary from Frontline Athletic.

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Drew, thanks so much for joining me today on

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the Rutgers Edge podcast. I'm excited to hear.

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what you have to offer the audience in terms

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of how we can use our rucksack as a strength

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training device. On the first part of this series,

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I'm doing this three -part series on how to train

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with a ruck and kind of expanding the rucking

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toolkit. And so the first one is on conditioning.

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This one here is going to be on how to use it

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as a strength training aid. So I'm super happy

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that you're here. Thanks for joining us. And

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I'm looking forward to what you have to provide

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to the audience today. Hey, thanks for having

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me. First off, I'm really excited about being

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here. Thanks for the invite, Spencer. Absolutely.

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And before we get into the different workouts

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that we can do with the Ruck, I wanted to ask

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you if you can give the listener a quick snapshot

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of your training background and what your fitness

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life looked like and sort of like where the Rucksack

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came into play and how that started for you.

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Of course, man. Yeah, I'd love to. So I've been

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in law enforcement for 25 years. I was a police

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officer and gang detective in the Detroit area

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for 15 years. I did that. And in 2016, I hired

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on with the federal government and left local

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police work and hired on with the United States

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Secret Service. Did about four and a half years

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in the Secret Service after they had moved me

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to Chicago. And then from there. with having

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two young children and wanting to spend more

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time with my kids than at work. I did a lateral

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transfer over to the U .S. Postal Service Office

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of Inspector General, and I work in their narcotics

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section. So that's what I do for a career. And

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the business, Frontline Athletic, was born in

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April of 2023. It had a slightly different name

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at the time. We started out with functional fitness

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clothing, and I learned real quick that there

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was a huge gap in the space when it came to rucks

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and sandbags in regards to accessibility and

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community -wise. And I also learned, well, I

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knew that in my job, the daily trauma that you

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deal with, if you don't have a positive outlet,

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uh both mentally and physically the the job can

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swallow you up for lack of better phrasing so

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what i what i found was that i needed a positive

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outlet and being outdoors not only assisted me

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from a physical aspect with working out with

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rocks and sandbags but also helped me to clear

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my head because i was putting screens aside my

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phone was turned off i'm just out there with

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my thoughts and thinking through things um because

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so in law enforcement uh There is, you encounter

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quite a bit of different levels of trauma throughout

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your career. And on average, the average citizen

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will have anywhere from two to four significant

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traumatic events in their life. A police officer

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will experience anywhere from four to 600 in

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a career. Wow. And then they're expected to finish

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that. call or run or report or incident, whatever,

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however it's phrased, and move on to the next

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one. And then come back to work the next day

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and deal with it again. And then come back the

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next day and just keep moving. You're a machine.

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And having emotion is not really something that

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is encouraged, I guess you could say. So what

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happens a lot is law enforcement has a very high

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suicide rate. and mental health rate post -career.

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And it also has a high alcoholism and divorce

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rate because of the trauma that you take in that

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you don't want to put back out in discussing

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with your spouse or significant other. And so

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what I have found that works for me is exercise,

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both mentally and physically. And that's kind

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of where rucking came in. And sandbag workouts,

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I love being outdoors. I love vitamin D. I love

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fresh air. And so to incorporate those two, I

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got involved with rucking. And then I saw that

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there was a void in the market, like I had said

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earlier, in regards to affordability for everybody,

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not just for somebody that wants to spend $250

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on a ruck, but so you can actually afford it.

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And then also accessibility, which goes hand

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in hand with affordability. If you can't afford

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it, you can't get it. And if you're out there

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and just using a Jansport with some weights in

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it, that's a great, two couple of dumbbells or

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something. That's a great way to start. You know,

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you see if this being outdoors and this activity

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is for you, but it's not sustainable because

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it's not comfortable. The bag is not built for

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your back and built for holding that weight.

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So in law enforcement, what sort of exercise

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routine or fitness plan do you typically do?

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So for me. What I like to do is I like to be

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a jack of all trades type of person. So I lift

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weights regularly, four to five days a week,

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even if it's just like 20 minutes because you're

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busy. But I also, for me, I rock it daily. So

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in 2026, I've rocked every single day of 2026,

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a minimum of 30 minutes. I shoot for 45. It has

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to be 30 or it doesn't count. And, and then,

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so that has, um, strengthened my legs. My whole

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posterior chain is tied in there. Uh, that's

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part of where the fitness stuff with rocking

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comes in is it's not just a walk. It's a zone

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two workout. Right. Because you're going for

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a walk, you're walking your dog or you're with

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your significant other, or you're just taking

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a brisk walk. You go from just walking to carrying

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weight. And that's why everybody says like, you

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know, get underneath weight is the phrase that

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people use a lot of times with rucking is because

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you'll see if you're wearing a watch, an Apple

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or a garment or something like that, you'll see

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that your heart rate will increase from 80 something

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beats a minute up to between one 10 and one.

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you know, 100 to 115, 110 range. And so now you're

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hitting a zone two workout. So now you're getting

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cardiovascular work and you're burning fat and

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building muscle because the way a ruck sits compared

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to like, let's say a weighted vest where a lot

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of people start also, you'll see them buying

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like weighted vests off of Amazon is a weighted

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vest. The weight is distributed evenly on your,

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on your shoulders. A ruck is, Typically high

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and tight on your back, which without you even

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trying or even really feeling it, it's engaging

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your core. Yeah. And you don't really feel it

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in an hour walk, but I'll tell you, I've done

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like an overnight event that was like 18 miles

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and like 15 hours with like Freedom Ops organization,

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which is like mental toughness. The next day

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I couldn't get out of bed. I was struggling to

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get out of bed because my core was so sore. I

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went home and went to bed after, you know, like

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9 o 'clock in the morning. I woke up and I'm

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like, ah, I'm going out of bed, right? And then

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also another thing that rucking does without

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you really trying because the weight is high

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on your back is it ties in your whole back and

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posterior chain. So glutes, quads, hips, you

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know, hamstrings. all the way down to your calves,

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strengthening your Achilles area because it comes

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right down your back into your feet and it's

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holding the weight back there. And I've seen

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just this year doing it every day, I've seen

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significant increases in my weight training and

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my strength in my legs. And the nice thing about

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rucking when you're doing that is that like i

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do like to run i run also but if i go out for

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a hard run like six seven eight miles and i'm

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really pushing my pace well the next day i can't

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run right because i'm sore my legs are recovering

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i can go out every day and rock And go out the

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next day and not feel like my muscles and my

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system has been overtaxed and I can't, I'm like,

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oh, I can't do this today. No, I absolutely can

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do it. And that's evidenced by this Saturday

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will be 150 days straight starting January 1st.

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Wow. Yeah, that's, I've been following that journey.

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You post online about it. So that's a really

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cool goal that you have there. Congrats to the

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150 straight. That's phenomenal. Yeah. I think

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it was like. January 3rd or 4th or something.

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I forgot what the temperature was, but it was

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like the ground was frozen. There was snow everywhere

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and you were still getting out there. Yeah. It

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was, uh, it was like minus eight with the wind

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chill of minus 24 or something like that. It

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was, it was, you could like just see my eyes

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in the light because I had a balaclava on, I

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had a gator on a hat, you know, uh, a heavy jacket.

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I was, I was so bundled up that I ended up having

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to unzip my jacket halfway because I was so hot

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and it's in negative. But, you know, you talk

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about that. Actually, tonight, there's a local

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community about a half hour west of me where

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a gentleman by the name of Nate Voland has a

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community ruck group called the Hinkley Community

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Ruck. It's once a month. And he's organized that

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group. And it started out with, you know, typically

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how it does, like five, six people. And now it's

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up to every month. It's over 100 people. Whoa.

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And the reason why I thought of that is because

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you mentioned, you know, congrats on 150 days.

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Well, tonight is his 1000th day. Wow. Yeah. Oh,

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my goodness. I can't I can't imagine getting

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it out, getting out there that frequently. Right?

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I mean, he's getting sick, no doubt, through

00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:26.460
that time span. He's just pushing through. He's

00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:28.419
like, I'm going to get it done. Wow. Yeah, you're

00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:30.139
just powering through it, powering through it.

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And you think about like, and the logistics planning,

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because he's got three kids, you know, like,

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all right, well, you know, my daughter's got

00:11:39.019 --> 00:11:40.480
this going today, my son's got this going today.

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If I want to get this in, I need to do it at

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5 a .m. or I need to do it at 9 o 'clock at night.

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It's got to happen or I have to plan it or else

00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:51.500
it won't happen. It's clearly a priority. Let's

00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:57.740
shift into training with a rucksack. So is there

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a difference between, you know, strength training

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in a gym with barbell or kettlebells, something

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like that, versus a rucksack? Absolutely. Absolutely.

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So with the ruck, whether it's a frontline athletic

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ruck or any company that. Their bags are geared

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towards rucking. There will be various handles

00:12:16.929 --> 00:12:20.429
around it. Ours has four handles, two on each

00:12:20.429 --> 00:12:23.250
side that are reinforced and one on the top and

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the bottom that are reinforced. They're reinforced

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box stitched, so you can do all kinds of stuff

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with it. Like, for instance, a guy that I know

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that owns a gym in Troy, Illinois, southern part

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of Illinois, he's about 210 pounds. He'll take

00:12:37.029 --> 00:12:39.870
his weight out of his ruck, put it over a pull

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-up bar, and do pull -ups with it. Wow. picking

00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:46.039
up his 210 -pound frame on the ruck. So it has

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a lot of versatility. Also, compared to dumbbells,

00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:52.399
is the weight in there, no matter how well you

00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:54.460
have it in there, it slides. It's not stable,

00:12:54.620 --> 00:12:58.340
completely stable, right? So instead of having

00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:02.620
this solid piece of steel or whatever that you're

00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:06.139
lifting with a dumbbell or a barbell, you have

00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:10.200
this weight that moves and destabilizes your

00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:16.129
lift, helps to do is tie in your stabilizer muscles,

00:13:16.250 --> 00:13:18.590
your secondary muscles, which in essence actually

00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:21.009
makes you stronger. You know, because you could

00:13:21.009 --> 00:13:23.870
bench press with a bar all day and what is going

00:13:23.870 --> 00:13:28.330
to increase your bench press weight is when you

00:13:28.330 --> 00:13:30.629
start using dumbbells because it ties in your

00:13:30.629 --> 00:13:33.409
stabilizer muscles. Same sort of principles with

00:13:33.409 --> 00:13:35.990
the Ruck is it's tying in your stabilizer muscles

00:13:35.990 --> 00:13:39.169
and it actually makes you stronger faster because

00:13:39.169 --> 00:13:40.909
those small muscles that people don't really

00:13:40.909 --> 00:13:42.889
focus on because you don't see them in a mirror

00:13:42.889 --> 00:13:45.929
are what's getting activated and it's reinforcing

00:13:45.929 --> 00:13:47.950
the large muscles that are the glamour muscles.

00:13:48.590 --> 00:13:51.710
Yeah, it's kind of like, so around the same time

00:13:51.710 --> 00:13:54.070
I started rucking, I was getting into some more

00:13:54.070 --> 00:13:57.309
functional fitness type of workouts and I started

00:13:57.309 --> 00:14:00.830
doing farmer carries. And I remember walking

00:14:00.830 --> 00:14:03.470
with, you know, two weights in both hands, but,

00:14:03.529 --> 00:14:06.350
you know, doing some more research and, you know,

00:14:06.350 --> 00:14:07.990
reading into a little bit more. The suggestion

00:14:07.990 --> 00:14:11.230
was no, like do one side at a time for that exact

00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:14.210
reason to increase the stabilizer muscles. So

00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:16.889
it's sort of like the same concept there. Yeah,

00:14:16.929 --> 00:14:19.669
absolutely. Absolutely. since i already mentioned

00:14:19.669 --> 00:14:21.669
a workout let's let's go ahead and jump into

00:14:21.669 --> 00:14:23.070
the different movements or different workouts

00:14:23.070 --> 00:14:25.309
you can do to strength train with with a rucksack

00:14:25.309 --> 00:14:27.450
let's start with uh the lower body if that's

00:14:27.450 --> 00:14:31.250
good with you um what are some like uh foundational

00:14:31.250 --> 00:14:33.509
lower body movements you can do with the rucksack

00:14:33.509 --> 00:14:36.250
well there's you know there's the holy grail

00:14:36.250 --> 00:14:39.769
of lower body movements which is the squat and

00:14:39.769 --> 00:14:43.549
so you can put the the nice thing is is Whether

00:14:43.549 --> 00:14:45.950
you're in a gym or you're at home or you're in

00:14:45.950 --> 00:14:48.549
a parking lot walking, you can stop in your walk

00:14:48.549 --> 00:14:51.169
and you have your ruck on your back. So now you

00:14:51.169 --> 00:14:53.190
have 30 or whatever weight you have in there,

00:14:53.269 --> 00:14:57.250
30, 20, you know, maybe more, maybe less. And

00:14:57.250 --> 00:14:59.710
you can start doing different variation squats.

00:14:59.909 --> 00:15:02.549
You can do short squats, which is, you know,

00:15:02.570 --> 00:15:04.009
like you're just getting your butt down a little

00:15:04.009 --> 00:15:05.690
bit. You can get to 90 degrees or you can do

00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:08.990
deep squats, which is you're coming down towards

00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:11.210
your ankles. And you're getting down towards

00:15:11.210 --> 00:15:15.009
your ankles. And that movement alone is strengthening.

00:15:15.090 --> 00:15:20.190
Doing a squat ties in your whole body's chain

00:15:20.190 --> 00:15:25.110
from back to core to hips to glutes to hamstrings

00:15:25.110 --> 00:15:30.320
to quads, calves, everything. It ties in everything.

00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:33.000
And so it's one of the most complete exercises

00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:36.440
that you can do. And you have a ruck on your

00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.500
back that you can literally do with it. Another

00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:42.980
thing that you could do with that is step -ups.

00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:45.700
Now, if you're in a gym, you'd have a box probably,

00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.919
yes, or a bench. But you could be walking in

00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:52.100
a park and you have 30 pounds on your back or

00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:54.320
whatever your weight is again, and you see a

00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.139
bench. you know, a park bench and you can literally

00:15:57.139 --> 00:16:00.919
step up onto that park bench and do two sets

00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:04.220
of 10, 10 on each side, step ups, and then keep

00:16:04.220 --> 00:16:07.279
moving. And now you've just worked with the step

00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:10.620
ups. Now you're working your calves, right? Another

00:16:10.620 --> 00:16:16.659
option would be deadlifts. So bent leg deadlifts

00:16:16.659 --> 00:16:20.519
or Romanian deadlifts where you're hinging more

00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:25.069
at the hip instead of bending your knees. and

00:16:25.069 --> 00:16:28.029
taking taking the ruck off putting in front of

00:16:28.029 --> 00:16:31.250
you holding it by the handles and bringing it

00:16:31.250 --> 00:16:33.269
down into a deadlift and standing up putting

00:16:33.269 --> 00:16:35.169
your ruck back on and your back moving again

00:16:35.169 --> 00:16:39.750
yeah i like uh step ups are definitely my favorite

00:16:39.750 --> 00:16:43.230
when i was when i realized that i needed to improve

00:16:43.230 --> 00:16:46.629
my conditioning after rucking for a while and

00:16:46.629 --> 00:16:48.649
to kind of expedite that i still kept the ruck

00:16:48.649 --> 00:16:51.529
on and i would i would do these alternating uh

00:16:51.529 --> 00:16:54.230
i guess workouts i would I would rock out a pretty

00:16:54.230 --> 00:16:56.909
significant pace for a quarter mile and then

00:16:56.909 --> 00:16:59.429
get back in the backyard, do step ups, you know,

00:16:59.450 --> 00:17:02.529
like 20, 25, 30 of them, and then go around to

00:17:02.529 --> 00:17:04.329
another quarter mile and step ups again. I did

00:17:04.329 --> 00:17:07.630
that for, you know, four each. And after about,

00:17:07.750 --> 00:17:10.509
I don't know, after just like a week, I noticed

00:17:10.509 --> 00:17:12.910
a significant difference in like my calves, which

00:17:12.910 --> 00:17:14.940
is what I was. targeting. I really needed to

00:17:14.940 --> 00:17:16.660
develop the strength in my calves. And like that

00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:18.460
did the trick. Like I just, after a week of doing

00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:20.779
that, it was, uh, my calves are already getting

00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:23.160
strengthened. Okay. So that was lower body. Let's

00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:28.000
move to upper body. Okay. So upper body, um,

00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:31.400
very, very similar things that you can do with

00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:33.980
the rock, whether it's on your body or not. Um,

00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:37.619
you take it off and what you discussed earlier

00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:39.799
is like a farmer's carry. So you hold it in one

00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:43.170
arm. So your body's coming you know your body's

00:17:43.170 --> 00:17:46.029
pulling a little bit to that side and then you're

00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:47.829
straightening it up so you're engaging your core

00:17:47.829 --> 00:17:51.809
that entire time And also you're engaging, you

00:17:51.809 --> 00:17:54.509
know, your forearm, holding the bag. So that's

00:17:54.509 --> 00:17:57.630
strengthening that. It is technically, it's like

00:17:57.630 --> 00:17:59.630
a shoulder exercise. You're strengthening this

00:17:59.630 --> 00:18:02.730
area because it's pulling. But more importantly,

00:18:03.170 --> 00:18:06.410
because you're doing it on one side, you're having

00:18:06.410 --> 00:18:09.349
to focus to tighten your core and stand up straight

00:18:09.349 --> 00:18:12.049
and not do like the teacup where you're leaning

00:18:12.049 --> 00:18:15.470
over walking like this. And you're strengthening

00:18:15.470 --> 00:18:17.109
that core area. Then you switch to the other

00:18:17.109 --> 00:18:19.940
side. Another thing that you could do with it

00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:26.559
is, well, you can do curls easily, right? You

00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:29.339
can do either set of handles here or turn it

00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:32.079
long ways in here and you're doing hammer curls.

00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:36.400
Or you can grab into the side handles like this

00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:39.259
and you're curling like that, right? With your

00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:43.099
palms upwards. Same with triceps. You bring in

00:18:43.099 --> 00:18:46.640
it over your head. and you're doing triceps like

00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:50.039
this backwards. Yeah. And you get the same type

00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:54.019
of effect. Another one that is a little bit more

00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:57.700
advanced but is easy to catch up with is plank

00:18:57.700 --> 00:19:00.819
pull -throughs. A buddy of mine that was doing

00:19:00.819 --> 00:19:05.279
that is, so he will plank, so you don't want

00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:07.819
any bend in your butt, all right? You want to

00:19:07.819 --> 00:19:10.779
be flat all the way down to your feet. Okay.

00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:13.869
And then he would set. You set the ruck up on

00:19:13.869 --> 00:19:16.329
one side of you as you're playing like this on

00:19:16.329 --> 00:19:19.289
the ground and you pull it through to the other

00:19:19.289 --> 00:19:22.730
side. And that's engaging all of this and the

00:19:22.730 --> 00:19:24.970
shoulder. Because you think of like if you went

00:19:24.970 --> 00:19:26.630
to a gym and you're doing a pulling machine like

00:19:26.630 --> 00:19:29.089
this, you're strengthening this area of the shoulder

00:19:29.089 --> 00:19:33.410
head, right? The deltoids, right? The middle

00:19:33.410 --> 00:19:36.349
deltoids. And then also you're strengthening

00:19:36.349 --> 00:19:39.710
your lats and your core. And as it's there, then

00:19:39.710 --> 00:19:42.440
you put your other hand, you switch hands. Put

00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:44.799
your other hand down, pull it back through the

00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.099
other way. Cool. Gotcha. Yeah. A lot of these,

00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.420
there's a, there's seems to be a recurring theme.

00:19:50.539 --> 00:19:53.180
It's, it's not just a lower body workout. It's

00:19:53.180 --> 00:19:54.880
not just an upper body workout. It's like a full

00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.819
body workout. You're activating everything. Yeah,

00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:01.359
absolutely. And, uh, talking about curls, that's

00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:03.420
what, uh, I have a sandbag in the backyard too.

00:20:03.539 --> 00:20:05.839
And I've been using that to do some curls. I've

00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.059
also been doing cleans with that, which takes

00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:11.000
us into. i guess the the next segment let's focus

00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.940
on core so like we talked about lower body we

00:20:13.940 --> 00:20:15.960
talked about upper body but are there any specific

00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:18.859
workouts that just target the core with the rucksack

00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:20.480
or is it pretty much like everything you're going

00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:21.720
to touch with the rucksack is going to activate

00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:26.119
your core well yes and yes all right so everything

00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.319
that you're doing with the rucksack is to some

00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:31.059
degree is going to engage your core due to just

00:20:31.059 --> 00:20:34.640
the destabilization factor right but if you want

00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:37.480
to do specific workouts like you could you could

00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:40.660
literally do sit -ups with it like butterfly

00:20:40.660 --> 00:20:44.720
sit -ups so as you sit on your butt a butterfly

00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:47.940
sit -up is your legs instead of having your knees

00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:51.039
bent your knees are bent out to the side like

00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.579
a butterfly so your legs are like this this if

00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:58.240
my hands are my feet and you start with the rock

00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:01.220
behind your head as you're laying down And lift

00:21:01.220 --> 00:21:03.380
the rock forward and in between your feet and

00:21:03.380 --> 00:21:05.720
you're doing a full sit up and then back. And

00:21:05.720 --> 00:21:08.859
so now you're doing a strength involved, you

00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:12.680
know, a much harder core involved exercise with

00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.779
that. The same thing with if you're doing flutter

00:21:16.779 --> 00:21:20.220
kicks or leg lifts is if you held the weight

00:21:20.220 --> 00:21:23.019
over, if you're laying on your back and you held

00:21:23.019 --> 00:21:25.640
the weight straight out over your chest, the

00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.410
rock by the handles again. And then you lift

00:21:28.410 --> 00:21:31.410
your feet and you might be doing kicks or you

00:21:31.410 --> 00:21:33.329
might be just doing straight leg raises, either

00:21:33.329 --> 00:21:35.869
all the way up hinged or just a couple inches

00:21:35.869 --> 00:21:39.150
off the ground. You holding that weight straight

00:21:39.150 --> 00:21:42.549
forward like this over your chest, straight out

00:21:42.549 --> 00:21:46.710
over your chest, you're going to engage that

00:21:46.710 --> 00:21:49.170
core much more significantly because you don't

00:21:49.170 --> 00:21:50.950
have your hands planted on the ground trying

00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:54.009
to brace yourself. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.

00:21:54.250 --> 00:21:58.950
I was in preparation for this. episode on, you

00:21:58.950 --> 00:22:01.309
know, using the rucksack to, for strength training

00:22:01.309 --> 00:22:03.490
purposes, I came across one called a bear hug

00:22:03.490 --> 00:22:05.750
carrier. Are you familiar with that one? Where

00:22:05.750 --> 00:22:08.210
essentially you're hugging the rucksack and kind

00:22:08.210 --> 00:22:09.490
of doing like a farmer's carrier, but instead

00:22:09.490 --> 00:22:12.470
it's like more towards the center of your center

00:22:12.470 --> 00:22:14.390
of gravity. That's a new one for me. I hadn't

00:22:14.390 --> 00:22:16.470
seen that one. I might give that one a try as

00:22:16.470 --> 00:22:20.289
well. Yeah. And that also works. So the bear

00:22:20.289 --> 00:22:23.329
hug is, you know, like you explained, you're

00:22:23.329 --> 00:22:25.470
literally just taking your rucksack and you're

00:22:25.470 --> 00:22:29.569
hugging it. Yeah. And that also works for another

00:22:29.569 --> 00:22:31.809
version of the squat with the front squat, because

00:22:31.809 --> 00:22:34.329
now having it on your back, you're holding it

00:22:34.329 --> 00:22:36.529
up front and you're doing the same squat and

00:22:36.529 --> 00:22:39.450
it hits your leg and your hip muscles differently.

00:22:39.930 --> 00:22:42.230
Yeah, that would not work in my favor because

00:22:42.230 --> 00:22:44.710
I have a horrible time because my core is so

00:22:44.710 --> 00:22:46.089
weak and I need to do more of these exercises

00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:48.910
of actually going too far forward, you know,

00:22:48.930 --> 00:22:51.369
knees out in front of toes. I'm keeping mine

00:22:51.369 --> 00:22:53.849
on my back for now to do those squats. But I

00:22:53.849 --> 00:22:57.009
mean, you build rucking backpacks that when you're

00:22:57.009 --> 00:23:00.109
designing them, do you think about these activities?

00:23:00.230 --> 00:23:02.509
I'm sure that you do. And how that you, you know,

00:23:02.509 --> 00:23:04.369
how you design them and think about how the bag

00:23:04.369 --> 00:23:06.869
sits and the load that the body's, you know,

00:23:06.869 --> 00:23:09.250
carrying during these movements. Absolutely.

00:23:09.569 --> 00:23:13.319
So. At Frontline, we're fortunate enough to also

00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:18.339
be the ruck partner for Spartan races, for Spartan

00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:22.880
DECA specifically, which is a 10 -station race,

00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:25.460
whether it's DECA Fit, which is a 5K doing these

00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:29.099
stations, DECA Mile, which is a mile, or DECA

00:23:29.099 --> 00:23:31.740
Strong, which is no running. And what you do

00:23:31.740 --> 00:23:34.119
during these events is you hit these different

00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:42.660
stations, and some of them are burpees. And some

00:23:42.660 --> 00:23:45.319
of them are box step overs. But one of the biggest

00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:49.980
things that I did with our bag was to make it

00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:52.559
functional for all different types of exercises

00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:57.380
was in our weight pocket on the inside, at the

00:23:57.380 --> 00:24:00.119
top of the pocket, there's these thick padded

00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:04.319
strips. Okay. At the fold where the weight, where

00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:07.519
the pocket flap, the flap comes over the weight.

00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:10.920
Sure. What's going to happen, even though our

00:24:10.920 --> 00:24:14.539
ruck comes with a hip belt and it helps keep

00:24:14.539 --> 00:24:17.420
it tight against your body and reduces slide,

00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:20.119
is if you're doing a bear crawl or if you're

00:24:20.119 --> 00:24:23.279
doing a burpee, that ruck is going to slide up

00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:26.119
and it protects the back of your head. So you're

00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:28.539
not getting steel against your head all the time,

00:24:28.579 --> 00:24:30.240
banging into the back of your head and you get

00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:32.980
a concussion, right? You're still going to feel

00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:35.900
it to a degree. Because it is steel coming against

00:24:35.900 --> 00:24:38.279
your head. But now the padding kind of takes

00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:40.240
the edge off. So you're not really feeling that

00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:43.019
discomfort that you would have just metal hitting

00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:46.220
your head. So you have that padding there. And

00:24:46.220 --> 00:24:48.599
that's something that we put in place. Another

00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:51.400
thing that we put in place is, you know, our

00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:55.039
lumbar strip. So it fits because nobody's back

00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:57.960
is straight up and down, right? All of our backs

00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:02.680
curve inward towards the lower abdomen and then

00:25:02.680 --> 00:25:06.339
back out with your buttocks. So that strip sits

00:25:06.339 --> 00:25:10.539
in there and keeps the ruck straight. Because

00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:14.440
one thing that we did not do with our rucks is

00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:17.460
we did not put a plastic frame sheet in there

00:25:17.460 --> 00:25:21.539
or a metal wrap sheet that goes around the side

00:25:21.539 --> 00:25:24.500
like a hiking backpack. And there was a reason

00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:28.279
for that. It was more for comfort. So we have

00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:33.220
a very dense EVA foam in the back of our packs

00:25:33.220 --> 00:25:38.180
and in our shoulder straps. And we have found

00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:45.559
in our testing that your rock plate gives you

00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:50.829
all the rigidness that you need. all right so

00:25:50.829 --> 00:25:53.829
the rock plate in there you don't need like this

00:25:53.829 --> 00:25:56.450
extra plastic or anything like that or steel

00:25:56.450 --> 00:26:00.789
frame for one of our rucks because your steel

00:26:00.789 --> 00:26:03.269
plate does everything that you need it to do

00:26:03.269 --> 00:26:07.109
it's rigid right it's not soft and then what

00:26:07.109 --> 00:26:10.289
our eva does and the way we split up our back

00:26:10.289 --> 00:26:15.259
panel is is it shapes better to your back than

00:26:15.259 --> 00:26:19.359
a plastic or a steel frame. So in regards to

00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:22.460
that, then what you have happening is you have

00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:25.359
this pack that form fits better to your back

00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:29.819
specifically as Spencer or as Drew or as anybody

00:26:29.819 --> 00:26:31.880
else using this, it forms to your shape of your

00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:34.579
back, but stays rigid due to the plate. And when

00:26:34.579 --> 00:26:36.319
you take it off, it's still rigid because of

00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:40.599
the plate. So we found that the plastic or the

00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:45.470
metal frame Kind of is an unnecessary added extra

00:26:45.470 --> 00:26:47.829
because your steel plate does all the work that

00:26:47.829 --> 00:26:50.950
you need it to do. Gotcha. Yeah, that makes a

00:26:50.950 --> 00:26:54.390
lot of sense. And I'm sorry, Drew, I'm not familiar.

00:26:54.549 --> 00:26:56.089
I've never actually used one of those frontline

00:26:56.089 --> 00:26:58.089
athletic rucks. But yeah, I've noticed that they

00:26:58.089 --> 00:26:59.470
have the handles on the both sides. They both

00:26:59.470 --> 00:27:02.849
look incredibly durable. John Ross Wiley, a former

00:27:02.849 --> 00:27:06.069
guest of the show, loves loves frontline athletic

00:27:06.069 --> 00:27:07.950
packs. He's always posted videos and I always

00:27:07.950 --> 00:27:09.990
see him working out with them. Like they're the

00:27:09.990 --> 00:27:11.980
structural integrity of those things are. They

00:27:11.980 --> 00:27:16.240
hold up well, I guess you could say. Yeah. John

00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:20.680
is a monster, man. You know, he's a middle school

00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:24.019
principal. Yeah. And I believe middle school.

00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:26.920
John, I'm sorry if it's high school and I discredited

00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:30.140
you by saying middle school. My apologies. But

00:27:30.140 --> 00:27:35.960
he's a school principal and he's not overly imposing.

00:27:36.220 --> 00:27:38.579
He just looks like a guy, like a dad, you know.

00:27:38.740 --> 00:27:42.400
And that guy is when it comes to fitness, he's

00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:45.519
an absolute beast. Yeah. He's doing the Rock

00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:47.259
Race League right now. And one of their events

00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:49.420
was how much weight can you load up into it?

00:27:49.880 --> 00:27:53.460
And in his frontline rock, he said that he got

00:27:53.460 --> 00:27:56.759
it up to, I believe he said 168 pounds in there

00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:59.579
before there was no more room in it, right? There

00:27:59.579 --> 00:28:01.920
was no place to put any more weight and he was

00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:05.359
rocking with it. And, um, I was like, that's

00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:08.200
awesome. Kudos, man. I never, well, now I know

00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:11.180
that I can, you can put 160 pounds of steel at

00:28:11.180 --> 00:28:13.660
165 pounds of steel in there. Cause the bag itself

00:28:13.660 --> 00:28:18.029
is three. for for the 21 liter uh the 14 liter

00:28:18.029 --> 00:28:22.769
is 2 .6 but yeah he had like 165 pounds in there

00:28:22.769 --> 00:28:27.490
to get to 168 i was like well now we know that's

00:28:27.490 --> 00:28:30.309
phenomenal yeah okay so we went over all the

00:28:30.309 --> 00:28:31.730
different types of workouts we could do with

00:28:31.730 --> 00:28:33.230
the rucksack but let's talk about like how to

00:28:33.230 --> 00:28:36.789
build those workouts into some sort of a plan

00:28:36.789 --> 00:28:39.049
or how do we actually you know implement the

00:28:39.049 --> 00:28:44.000
rucksack into our our strength training um Now,

00:28:44.019 --> 00:28:45.819
let's just say, you know, someone's already rucking

00:28:45.819 --> 00:28:47.680
in, you know, two or three days a week and they

00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:50.400
want to start using the rucksack to start building

00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:52.920
some muscle outside of, you know, muscle they're

00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:54.859
already building in their back and their legs.

00:28:55.859 --> 00:28:58.619
How would you build that into their plan? Are

00:28:58.619 --> 00:29:00.500
there like some workouts you'd start out with

00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:04.579
and then progress to? I think it's it needs to

00:29:04.579 --> 00:29:08.220
be user centric. It's like what works for them,

00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:12.279
not. myself or any one of our affiliates or ambassadors

00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:15.140
specifically saying, this is what you need to

00:29:15.140 --> 00:29:19.500
do because any affiliate gym that uses our equipment

00:29:19.500 --> 00:29:22.660
or uses rocks in general for, you know, part

00:29:22.660 --> 00:29:25.220
of their training is going to speak to the client

00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:28.440
and find out what their level of fitness is,

00:29:28.500 --> 00:29:30.140
what their capability is and what their comfort

00:29:30.140 --> 00:29:32.960
is, and then tailor a workout to them. Well,

00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:36.640
and then in that note, So let's say you, Spencer,

00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:39.259
you've just gotten yourself your very first ruck,

00:29:39.259 --> 00:29:41.759
and you might say, like, okay, I'm going to start

00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:44.200
with the rucking plan on Monday, Wednesday, and

00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:47.460
Friday, you know, to get acclimated to this.

00:29:47.500 --> 00:29:49.819
I'm going to do a mile and a half. I have 20

00:29:49.819 --> 00:29:54.740
pounds in my ruck. So I'm going to walk to such

00:29:54.740 --> 00:29:58.329
and such location. And I'm going to stop and

00:29:58.329 --> 00:30:00.230
I'm going to do squats. It's leg day. All right.

00:30:00.250 --> 00:30:01.769
Now I'm going to stop. I'm going to take it off

00:30:01.769 --> 00:30:04.309
and I'm going to do some deadlifts. I know where

00:30:04.309 --> 00:30:06.829
this park bench is. I'm going to do 20 step ups.

00:30:07.349 --> 00:30:10.190
Okay. As I'm circling back around and come back.

00:30:10.289 --> 00:30:13.309
Then on Wednesday, it may be like, okay, I'm

00:30:13.309 --> 00:30:16.509
going to stop at this, you know, field or this

00:30:16.509 --> 00:30:20.690
area in the neighborhood. And I'm going to take

00:30:20.690 --> 00:30:24.529
my ruck off and I'm going to do. uh chest press

00:30:24.529 --> 00:30:26.390
with it so i'm gonna lay on my back and do some

00:30:26.390 --> 00:30:28.930
chest press i'm gonna maybe maybe you're gonna

00:30:28.930 --> 00:30:32.329
use some uh some upright rows so you're gonna

00:30:32.329 --> 00:30:34.609
hold it like this uh out in front of you and

00:30:34.609 --> 00:30:36.450
you're gonna bring it up to chest height and

00:30:36.450 --> 00:30:38.789
then bring it down to your waist chest height

00:30:38.789 --> 00:30:42.910
then your waist uh to work your shoulders and

00:30:42.910 --> 00:30:45.900
then maybe you're going to do some bent over

00:30:45.900 --> 00:30:47.900
rows where you're going to bend over your rock,

00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:50.660
keeping your back straight so you're not curving

00:30:50.660 --> 00:30:53.460
your back. And you're going to row that weight

00:30:53.460 --> 00:30:57.579
up into your chest, not to your hips, because

00:30:57.579 --> 00:30:59.619
you're not getting a good range of motion there.

00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.319
You want to actually pull those handles into

00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:06.099
your chest area, into your pecs. And that's going

00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:09.140
to give you that tight squeeze across the middle

00:31:09.140 --> 00:31:11.880
of your back that is going to help develop that

00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:14.420
muscles. If you're just... pulling up to your

00:31:14.420 --> 00:31:18.500
belly uh you're missing a whole area of the back

00:31:18.500 --> 00:31:20.900
muscles that that could be activated with this

00:31:20.900 --> 00:31:24.000
exercise and that's great that's a great exercise

00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.920
there and then okay so friday i did so wednesday

00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:30.940
i did shoulders different arrangements of shoulders

00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:36.859
uh chest and back uh friday i want to do um arms

00:31:36.859 --> 00:31:39.279
and a little bit of more shoulder stuff all right

00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:41.849
so then you're, then you're doing your, you're

00:31:41.849 --> 00:31:44.009
doing your walk. You stop, you do your curls,

00:31:44.190 --> 00:31:46.950
you stop, you do some tricep extensions, or maybe

00:31:46.950 --> 00:31:49.490
you do both. Maybe you do curls and tricep extensions,

00:31:49.650 --> 00:31:52.130
go to the next spot, curls and tricep extensions.

00:31:52.269 --> 00:31:54.809
Then the next stop you do, what you said is you

00:31:54.809 --> 00:31:58.130
do your farmer's carries, uh, one arm, like you

00:31:58.130 --> 00:32:01.480
take it off and, uh, For a beginning, let's say

00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:03.920
you walk out 10 feet and then you walk back 10

00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:06.039
feet and then you switch arms, walk out 10, walk

00:32:06.039 --> 00:32:08.440
back. And then maybe you do that two or three

00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:12.440
times or two or three reps. Put your weight back

00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:15.019
on and you keep walking. And now you're exercising

00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:17.599
your entire body instead of just going for a

00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:19.900
walk with weight on your back. Yeah. And here

00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:22.480
you describe that sort of a plan. The one thing

00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:24.720
that, and you sort of mentioned it, the one thing

00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:26.900
that I'm thinking about is recovery. If someone's

00:32:26.900 --> 00:32:30.309
just starting out, definitely. go slow. And like

00:32:30.309 --> 00:32:33.269
you said, it's, it's user centric. So you know,

00:32:33.349 --> 00:32:34.650
your body, you know, what you're capable of.

00:32:34.690 --> 00:32:36.730
Don't, don't try to overdo it, but also, you

00:32:36.730 --> 00:32:37.950
know, your strength training. So you need to

00:32:37.950 --> 00:32:39.789
push yourself, but I'm just thinking about the

00:32:39.789 --> 00:32:42.390
recovery. If someone goes too hard, too fast,

00:32:42.410 --> 00:32:45.089
but in terms of recovery, what would you suggest?

00:32:45.210 --> 00:32:47.089
They take a day between the two, or like you

00:32:47.089 --> 00:32:48.730
said, just alternate between muscle groups is

00:32:48.730 --> 00:32:50.589
probably the play there. Let's say that a little

00:32:50.589 --> 00:32:54.000
bit of both. So. Yeah. If you're first starting,

00:32:54.140 --> 00:32:56.140
you're not going to be in a place where you're

00:32:56.140 --> 00:32:58.819
rucking every day. If this is your first time

00:32:58.819 --> 00:33:00.460
getting a ruck and you want to get out there

00:33:00.460 --> 00:33:02.839
and get active and you have lesser weight in

00:33:02.839 --> 00:33:04.960
there, you're also not going to be doing 165

00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:08.440
pounds like John Ross Wyatt. You might be doing

00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:11.039
a 20 -pound plate. You might be doing a 30 -pound

00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:12.740
plate, depending on what your body weight is

00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:15.339
and what your confidence in your strength is

00:33:15.339 --> 00:33:17.319
and in your endurance. You're going to go out

00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:21.119
for that walk. you're going to integrate in some

00:33:21.119 --> 00:33:25.079
of these exercises that you feel would work well

00:33:25.079 --> 00:33:28.000
for you depending on the days. And then in the

00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.799
beginning, yes, I would highly recommend that

00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:33.359
you take a day off from rucking. And that doesn't

00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:35.599
mean that you have to take a complete rest day,

00:33:35.660 --> 00:33:38.059
but maybe that day you don't wear the ruck and

00:33:38.059 --> 00:33:41.359
you just go for a very light leisurely walk for

00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:44.509
a mile. You know, to get that lactic acid moving,

00:33:44.670 --> 00:33:48.029
right? Because in the beginning, like any training

00:33:48.029 --> 00:33:51.250
program, you're going to have soreness as your

00:33:51.250 --> 00:33:53.670
body gets acclimated to it. So going out for

00:33:53.670 --> 00:33:56.769
a light recovery walk will get that lactic acid

00:33:56.769 --> 00:33:58.730
moving, especially if you have a desk job and

00:33:58.730 --> 00:34:02.130
you end up sitting afterwards or sitting the

00:34:02.130 --> 00:34:04.109
next day, you know, you're going to tighten up.

00:34:04.210 --> 00:34:06.869
So a little bit of stretching, a light walk,

00:34:06.970 --> 00:34:11.389
and then sleep is so important. All right. As

00:34:11.389 --> 00:34:16.510
adults in our 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond, it becomes

00:34:16.510 --> 00:34:18.469
more and more important for you to get a good

00:34:18.469 --> 00:34:20.889
night's sleep or a good day's sleep if you're

00:34:20.889 --> 00:34:24.969
a shift worker. But sleep is crucial. And there

00:34:24.969 --> 00:34:29.090
is no exaggeration in saying the importance of

00:34:29.090 --> 00:34:32.550
eight hours. However, that may not be possible.

00:34:32.860 --> 00:34:34.840
Like I might not be able to get, I might be too

00:34:34.840 --> 00:34:37.820
busy, uh, you know, as a, as a law enforcement

00:34:37.820 --> 00:34:40.579
officer and running a business, uh, you know,

00:34:40.579 --> 00:34:42.679
and having two teens that are athletes too busy

00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:46.400
to get eight hours. Okay. Well, then set your

00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:49.780
sight on six hours, right? Six hours of continuous

00:34:49.780 --> 00:34:52.900
sleep where you're not up and down and up and

00:34:52.900 --> 00:34:57.679
down and up and down because your body. heals

00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:00.780
and recovers when you sleep. So you may break

00:35:00.780 --> 00:35:03.159
down the muscles and have some nice pump after

00:35:03.159 --> 00:35:07.159
you've been doing, you know, 50 rock curls or

00:35:07.159 --> 00:35:09.619
whatever. And you're like, Oh yeah, I'm looking

00:35:09.619 --> 00:35:11.880
big. I'm swole, whatever, whatever phrase you

00:35:11.880 --> 00:35:14.920
want to use. Right. Yeah. But that's going to

00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:17.480
go down because it's engorged with blood. Your

00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:19.659
muscles are engorged blood and they're swollen

00:35:19.659 --> 00:35:22.519
and inflamed due to you breaking them down during

00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:25.639
the micro tears you're making. The healing and

00:35:25.639 --> 00:35:27.400
the strength in the building happens while you're

00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:33.679
sleeping. So the body is, you know, you always

00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:36.019
hear the saying that, like, you know, the beach

00:35:36.019 --> 00:35:38.199
body is not made in the gym. It's made in the

00:35:38.199 --> 00:35:42.059
kitchen. That's no difference for rucking, right?

00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:48.940
How you eat affects 100 % of how you're going

00:35:48.940 --> 00:35:51.340
to heal and how you're going to sleep to heal,

00:35:51.420 --> 00:35:54.480
right? Yeah. If you're eating garbage. You know,

00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:56.619
you're eating a burger fries at 830 at night

00:35:56.619 --> 00:35:58.460
and then you're going to bed at 930. Well, I

00:35:58.460 --> 00:36:01.119
can guarantee you that you're not going to get

00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:02.780
a good night's sleep and you're going to wake

00:36:02.780 --> 00:36:06.820
up with an upset stomach. Yeah. Yeah. It's my

00:36:06.820 --> 00:36:11.820
own personal experience. My performance is noticeably

00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:14.659
different. But if I get, you know, less than

00:36:14.659 --> 00:36:17.800
eight hours versus more than eight hours, I've

00:36:17.800 --> 00:36:20.019
recently started running and, you know, I kind

00:36:20.019 --> 00:36:22.420
of made a common mistake where I'm going. doing

00:36:22.420 --> 00:36:25.000
too long, too fast sort of situation. And like,

00:36:25.019 --> 00:36:27.840
I'm just noticing it in my body. I don't, I don't

00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:30.619
go as quick or I don't move as, as, uh, I can't

00:36:30.619 --> 00:36:33.340
go as long either. And similar with rucking when

00:36:33.340 --> 00:36:36.719
I was developing, uh, you know, the, the, the

00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:39.880
muscles to a ruck in the early stages, like if

00:36:39.880 --> 00:36:42.679
I wasn't sleeping in between those longer rucks,

00:36:42.699 --> 00:36:45.380
my performance significantly was, was impacted.

00:36:45.699 --> 00:36:49.239
And yeah, we kind of touched on a lot of common

00:36:49.239 --> 00:36:52.750
mistakes, you know, going too heavy too soon,

00:36:52.789 --> 00:36:55.829
maybe doing too much, uh, maybe, um, you know,

00:36:55.829 --> 00:36:59.369
skipping, uh, some muscle groups. Can you think

00:36:59.369 --> 00:37:02.530
of any other like, uh, mistakes newcomers to

00:37:02.530 --> 00:37:05.150
strength training with a ruck might make? Um,

00:37:05.190 --> 00:37:08.429
well, I would say the absolute biggest one is,

00:37:08.570 --> 00:37:13.090
is too much, too long, right? Like that, that

00:37:13.090 --> 00:37:18.010
is the number one thing that is going to, um,

00:37:18.730 --> 00:37:21.769
that is going to kill your progress and your

00:37:21.769 --> 00:37:25.730
interest in the activity is going too hard, too

00:37:25.730 --> 00:37:30.110
fast. Right. And, and not scaling it to your

00:37:30.110 --> 00:37:33.369
needs. I'd say that's huge. Uh, sleep and nutrition

00:37:33.369 --> 00:37:40.369
is huge. Um, and then, um, setting, setting aside

00:37:40.369 --> 00:37:42.809
time is the biggest mistake, right? Like, cause,

00:37:42.829 --> 00:37:45.409
cause it is so easy for me. I typically do it

00:37:45.409 --> 00:37:47.469
first thing in the morning when I get up, like

00:37:47.469 --> 00:37:50.369
I would get up, I will make some coffee. I have

00:37:50.369 --> 00:37:53.550
a cup of coffee. I will, right now I'm reading

00:37:53.550 --> 00:37:55.650
the Bible from cover to cover. So I'll read,

00:37:55.670 --> 00:37:57.769
I have a little devotion time. So I'll read two

00:37:57.769 --> 00:38:01.409
chapters of the Bible. And then I'm trying to

00:38:01.409 --> 00:38:04.289
read 10 pages of a book. So this is like this

00:38:04.289 --> 00:38:08.139
quiet time of settling into a spot. for your

00:38:08.139 --> 00:38:11.139
day. And then I will get up, get out of the house,

00:38:11.179 --> 00:38:14.000
put that ruck on, and I'm out the door and I'm

00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:18.519
walking. And I do that because the day gets busy,

00:38:18.599 --> 00:38:22.519
especially if you have children. And if you're

00:38:22.519 --> 00:38:24.820
going to save it for like, oh, I'm going to do

00:38:24.820 --> 00:38:26.179
it at lunch. And then all of a sudden, guess

00:38:26.179 --> 00:38:29.059
what? You work through lunch. Oh, I'm going to

00:38:29.059 --> 00:38:32.039
do it at three. And guess what? Now your team

00:38:32.039 --> 00:38:34.659
needs to go somewhere. Oh, I'm going to do it

00:38:34.659 --> 00:38:37.480
at five. Well, now it's five o 'clock and I got

00:38:37.480 --> 00:38:39.639
to start preparing dinner. Right. I got to get

00:38:39.639 --> 00:38:41.659
dinner ready. Oh, I'm going to do it after dinner.

00:38:41.719 --> 00:38:43.739
Well, now I've got this belly full of food and

00:38:43.739 --> 00:38:45.940
I don't, I don't really feel like I'm tired.

00:38:46.099 --> 00:38:48.559
It's been a long day. You know, I'm kind of stuffed,

00:38:48.840 --> 00:38:51.519
uh, uh, feeling a little sluggish now. I'd like

00:38:51.519 --> 00:38:53.179
to just wind down. Well, guess what? Now you've

00:38:53.179 --> 00:38:54.659
gone through the whole day and you never rocked.

00:38:54.920 --> 00:38:57.989
Yeah. Yeah, it's the whole thing. You got to

00:38:57.989 --> 00:38:59.510
make time for it or else it's not going to happen.

00:38:59.750 --> 00:39:03.469
I have, you know, with a family, a full -time

00:39:03.469 --> 00:39:06.329
job, crazy busy schedule. If I don't put something

00:39:06.329 --> 00:39:07.789
on the schedule, it's just not going to get done.

00:39:07.929 --> 00:39:10.949
Yeah, I like that. Well, Drew, this was a very

00:39:10.949 --> 00:39:13.630
helpful episode, I think, for a lot of people

00:39:13.630 --> 00:39:15.110
wanting to start strength training with Ruck.

00:39:15.329 --> 00:39:17.550
If there's one thing that you want the listener

00:39:17.550 --> 00:39:20.110
to take home with them or the one thing that

00:39:20.110 --> 00:39:22.530
you wish that they remember from this episode,

00:39:22.610 --> 00:39:24.889
what would that be? I'd say just get out and

00:39:24.889 --> 00:39:27.880
do it. Just get out and do it. It doesn't matter

00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:36.619
if it's, you know, some Amazon weighted vest

00:39:36.619 --> 00:39:41.300
that you spent $50 on or a Jansport and you threw

00:39:41.300 --> 00:39:44.000
two dumbbells in there that you wrapped in a

00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:47.539
towel. Start somewhere. Get out and do it. get

00:39:47.539 --> 00:39:49.900
under a little bit of weight and get for a walk.

00:39:50.019 --> 00:39:52.599
And as you get acclimated to it and you decide

00:39:52.599 --> 00:39:55.579
it's for you, then yes, absolutely. You know,

00:39:55.619 --> 00:39:58.059
you can look at us or look at other companies

00:39:58.059 --> 00:40:00.280
and decide that like, this is something that

00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:03.380
I love and I want to, I want to do more of it.

00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:05.659
And I want to, I want to be more intentional

00:40:05.659 --> 00:40:09.400
about it. But the key is started. So get out

00:40:09.400 --> 00:40:12.239
there, start, get under weight, you know, get

00:40:12.239 --> 00:40:14.900
some fresh air, get out in the sunshine. If you

00:40:14.900 --> 00:40:17.730
know, don't be afraid if it's sprinkling. Or

00:40:17.730 --> 00:40:19.869
there's a light rain to throw on a rain jacket

00:40:19.869 --> 00:40:22.090
and get out there and do it anyways, because

00:40:22.090 --> 00:40:24.530
you will find that being out in that nature,

00:40:24.590 --> 00:40:28.710
even if it's raining, when you come in, you will

00:40:28.710 --> 00:40:32.389
feel so much better and so healthier and, and

00:40:32.389 --> 00:40:36.389
have a, such a more positive outlook on everything

00:40:36.389 --> 00:40:39.789
going around you. And it's just that unexplainable

00:40:39.789 --> 00:40:42.389
factor that being outdoors has with you, even

00:40:42.389 --> 00:40:44.329
if it's in the rain. I'll be out there in the

00:40:44.329 --> 00:40:46.949
rain and I'll come in and, you know, pour a cup

00:40:46.949 --> 00:40:49.650
of coffee, get out of my wet clothes. And, you

00:40:49.650 --> 00:40:52.309
know, it's a great day. And I just spent 45 minutes

00:40:52.309 --> 00:40:55.829
in a downpour. Yeah. And be proud of your work

00:40:55.829 --> 00:40:57.969
after that too. Take it from the guy out there

00:40:57.969 --> 00:41:00.710
in minus eight weather, rucking in January. Yeah.

00:41:00.710 --> 00:41:02.710
Well, people are driving by looking at me like,

00:41:02.809 --> 00:41:06.409
um, I just broke out of an insane asylum or something.

00:41:06.869 --> 00:41:09.699
Yeah. Drew, this is great. If people want to

00:41:09.699 --> 00:41:13.619
follow you and what Frontline Athletic is producing

00:41:13.619 --> 00:41:16.739
or your products, where should they go? So I

00:41:16.739 --> 00:41:20.420
appreciate you asking. Our website is FrontlineAthletic

00:41:20.420 --> 00:41:23.480
.com, all one word. There's no S on the end.

00:41:23.500 --> 00:41:26.639
Sometimes people make that mistake. It's specifically

00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:32.219
athletic to fit what our community is. And so

00:41:32.219 --> 00:41:35.239
frontlineathletic .com. We are on every social

00:41:35.239 --> 00:41:38.000
media platform. However, our primary platform

00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:43.500
is Instagram. And so there you could go at frontline

00:41:43.500 --> 00:41:47.679
underscore athletic, and you'd be able to find

00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:52.280
us there also. Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube.

00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:54.920
We have channels everywhere. Just search frontlineathletic

00:41:54.920 --> 00:41:57.440
and we'll come up. But specifically for Instagram,

00:41:57.559 --> 00:42:01.139
it's at frontline underscore athletic. Excellent.

00:42:01.179 --> 00:42:03.139
Well, Drew, I really appreciate your time today.

00:42:03.239 --> 00:42:04.800
Thanks for joining me today. Have a good one.

00:42:04.800 --> 00:42:07.400
Thank you for having me, Spencer. I look forward

00:42:07.400 --> 00:42:10.280
to chatting with you again later. All right.

00:42:10.300 --> 00:42:12.260
That wraps up my conversation with Drew Snary

00:42:12.260 --> 00:42:14.719
from Frontline Athletic. You can check out Frontline

00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:17.199
Athletic gear on their website, FrontlineAthletic

00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:20.280
.com. If you enjoyed today's episode and want

00:42:20.280 --> 00:42:21.800
to find out how to put your rucking training

00:42:21.800 --> 00:42:23.980
to the test, stay tuned because in next week's

00:42:23.980 --> 00:42:26.150
episode. which is the third and final part of

00:42:26.150 --> 00:42:28.130
this Training with the Ruck series, we'll close

00:42:28.130 --> 00:42:30.469
it out with various endurance challenges you

00:42:30.469 --> 00:42:33.090
can explore. Okay, that's it for today. Thanks

00:42:33.090 --> 00:42:35.489
again for listening to this episode of the Rucker's

00:42:35.489 --> 00:42:35.670
Edge.