Ask Stew: Is Rucking with a Weight Vest the Same as with a Backpack?

Walking with a weight vest is a new fitness trend in 2025. If walking is too easy for you and you are not up for running, add weight. You will burn more calories than walking and build overall strength by walking with heavier weights. However, is it the same as rucking with a backpack? This is the question from a recruit starting to prepare for Army training:

Stew, I have a 60lb weight vest I am using for rucking. Will this have much carryover to when I put on a ruck in the Army? Thanks – hoping to go into the infantry and 82nd Airborne. I appreciate it – Jeremy

Good job building up to 60 pounds and adding to your rucking preparation for Army training. The good news is that weight vest rucking will help you develop strength in your upper back, core and legs for when you start training with a backpack. Even weight distribution across the torso with the weight vest enables you to walk more normally (with a natural gait), and if you decide to add exercises such as pushups, pull-ups, squats and lunges, the weight vest is the better option. Here are some more advantages to wearing a weight vest:
 

• Increased calorie burn over walking (up to 12-40% more, depending on weight and time spent walking).
• Increases strength and endurance compared to walking without a weight vest.
• Improves bone health, which is excellent for preventing osteoporosis later in life. This is one reason why you see more older men and women walking with weight vests now.
• Improves the posture muscles of the lower back, upper back and shoulders.
• Convenient for when you do not have time for both strength training and cardio, as it blends the two elements of fitness nicely.

Rucking with a backpack is different because it distributes the weight across the shoulders, back and hips and requires a forward lean when walking or rucking, especially when it reaches 25% of your bodyweight or more. In my opinion, use a backpack if your future requires carrying them for military training, hiking long distances with survival/camping gear, or other tactical training. Backpacking is just different, but it requires similar strength and endurance to wearing a weight vest.

Yes, the weight vest will have carryover to your Army training, but you may want to get a backpack and feel the difference. You now have the strength and durability to wear a pack; familiarity with backpacking is a logical next step. Learning how to use the gear that will be issued to you or used in survival situations is essential, so do not rely solely on weight vest training to prepare for these situations.

Check out more workout and gear ideas at the Military.com Fitness Section. There are hundreds of articles comparing fitness gear and equipment from the basics of calisthenics and walking to lifting weights and various forms of cardio training like running, rucking, swimming, biking, and many more.

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