Ruck Plate Series: Workout 1

My girlfriend gifted me a Ruck Plate Carrier and 30 lb Ruck plate for our two year anniversary. It was kind of a joke. It was almost a year before that I first heard the term rucking on an episode of Peter Attia’s The Drive. Rucking is carrying a load (weight) while walking or hiking. According to Peter Attia, from an evolutionary perspective, we are designed, or even meant, to carry weight on our backs. As much as 1/3 of our bodyweight.

At the time, injuries were making running painful, so I was looking for an exercise with benefits similar to running, minus the pain, and rucking seemed like the perfect solution. So I started walking around our neighborhood in L.A. and hiking with a 25 lb or 35 lb kettlebell in my backpack. My girlfriend made fun of me every time I loaded up and walked out the door.

But it was extremely uncomfortable. Wrapping the kettlebell in a hand towel made it bearable, but I’d always wake up the next morning with a tension headache from my shoulders. So my girlfriend bought me a carrier knowing I never would buy one myself.

The Ruck Plate Carrier is a game changer. But the bigger surprise is how fun the Ruck plate itself is. It is shaped unlike any weight I’ve ever seen before. It’s a foot long rectangular weight with handles on both sides. Upon holding it for the first time I immediately started thinking of all the exercises I could use it for. I woke up the next morning and put together this four part workout series.

There are four workouts. Each one progresses in difficulty, with 1 being the easiest, 4 the most difficult. The weight stays the same, just the complexity of the movements make it more challenging.

I had a lot of fun doing this and I think you can to. Give it a try. I’ll be posting 1 of the workouts each week.

Workout 1: Perform 10 repetitions of each exercise, with a 30 - 60 second break in between each. Repeat the circuit 3 - 4 times.

• Supine press - 10 repetitions

  • Lay on your back and bring your heels to touch your fingertips

  • Tuck your tailbone, squeeze your glutes and engage your core

  • Hold the weight with your palms facing in

  • Squeeze the weight as you push it away from you

• Front squat - 10 repetitions

  • Hold the weight just under your chin, palms facing in towards each other

  • Tuck your tailbone, squeeze your glutes and engage your core

  • Hinge at the hips and sit back, not straight down

  • Bend your knees, come down to 90 degrees and then press your feet through the floor back up

  • Keep your chin tucked and don’t let the weight pull your upper body forward

• Head supported bilateral row - 10 repetitions

  • Find a chair or bench that is about hip height

  • Tuck your tailbone, squeeze your glutes and engage your core

  • Hold the weight at hip height with your palms facing each other

  • Put a slight bend in your knees and hinge at the hips, as you lean your forehead forward to rest on the chair, and let the weight hang

  • Pull the weight towards you by engaging your rear deltoids and lats, and keep those muscle engaged as you lower the weight back down

• Standing chop rotations - 10 total repetitions (5 per side)

  • Stand tall with your feet just wider than shoulder width, keep your tail bone tucked

  • Hold the plate with your palms facing each other, holding it in front of you at hip height

  • Move the weight to one hip and then start to lift it up over your head

  • Move the weight by engaging your core, shoulders, back, and arms, to lift it and rotate to the opposite side

  • Keep your elbows bent, and don’t let your chest flare out

  • Bring the weight down to the opposite hip, and then repeat the movement

• Cossack side to side squat - 10 total repetitions (5 per leg)

  • Hug the plate to your chest

  • Take a big step laterally like you were going to do a lateral lunge

  • Tuck your tailbone, squeeze your glutes and engage your core

  • Bend your knee and push your hip back and shift your weight into the bending leg

  • Keep the opposite leg engaged

  • Drive the outer part of your foot through the floor and shift the weight over to the opposite leg

  • Continue moving back and forth

• Standing curl to press - 10 repetitions

  • Stand tall with your feet at shoulder width

  • Hold the weight with your palms facing each other

  • Tuck your tailbone, squeeze your glutes and engage your core

  • Curl the weight

  • When it gets to your chin, squeeze the plate and engage your shoulders and arms to press the weight up

  • Perform the steps in reverse to bring the weight back down