Training for a GoRuck Challenge
Charts for Light, Challenge, Heavy, and Selection Courses

There are many military related fitness events these days.  The GoRuck programs teach valuable lessons such as team work, persistence, and require a never quit attitude pulled from an untapped reservoir of your own mental toughness.  These can be great schools for your own personal growth, a corporate team building exercise, or actual Special Ops preparation.  The GoRuck Challenge (www.goruckchallenge.com) is one of those events taught by former Army Special Forces soldiers than can teach you to engage your mental toughness through a challenging 10-12 hour event.  The cadre have performed hundreds of these 10-12 hour Challenges all over the world.  The highly professional cadre let you see a city like you never imagined!  Now there are other options for you to progress no matter what fitness level you are: 

Go Ruck Light, Go Ruck Challenge, Go Ruck Selection, Go Ruck Heavy.  Each progress logically

My Army SF buddies from Go Ruck recently asked me how I would train someone for a Go Ruck event.  Since there are several events with differing levels of intensity and time of struggle, it all depends on the event as well as the person’s fitness level for how we get started.  the question is - How do you train for a GUT CHECK?

There is an element of mental toughness that has to be discovered by the participants.  Can you train for this?  It is debatable, but I do think you can train to engage mental toughness.  What you need to do though is be fit enough so you do not injure yourself with some common overuse injury.  If you are very fit your joints will not be “overused” during the training.  They will still hurt – but not get injured due to simply running or rucking.

The Mental Toughness Moment usually arrives several hours into the event when you feel like you cannot move, but you mentally will yourself to take another step, lift another log, or crawl through another frigid puddle.  Your fitness level always plays a hand in your performance.  Your ability to recover from running, then rucking, then lifting, and crawling will be beneficial to how much it personally sucks for you.  It is all relative; relative to how much training you did to prepare for this event. 

The secret is that we all have this survival / fight mode in us and you will tap into it at some point and when you do you can learn how to manage it and control yourself.  It makes you realize that your body is ten times stronger than your mind will let it be.  By disengaging the mind (I can’t / I quit / not me phrases), you can realize your full potential.  This is usually the challenge and the moment of self-realization that people seek when they choose Special Ops professions or want to train like Special Ops Warriors.

For this article, we will assume we have someone who works out regularly – maybe a Crossfitter, powerlifter, avid runner, or triathlete.  Basically, someone who is considered fit, but has never rucked before and now needs a plan on how to add a new layer of fitness to their routine and weekly schedule. Someone with roughly an hour a day of fitness on average is what I would consider a solid foundation on which to add a layer of rucking and more running.

Warning – to be honest, there is no one hour workout that truly prepares you enough for a day of Special Ops training.  So you have to put in the time.  An hour a day will not prepare you for a 10-12 hour Go Ruck Challenge or a Selection.  You simply have to put in the extra time or running more, rucking more, or just carrying around an extra 30-40 lbs all day in a back pack.

Using backpacks with weight as well as any heavy objects in their path, the training cadre will take several individuals and make them a team in a few short hours.  GoRuck design their own military special forces grade back packs. Their rucks are designed and built in the United States, and abused worldwide. All GORUCK gear is tough enough for Special Forces and adheres to the highest standards of functionality, durability, and style.  But GoRuck is obviously much more than a tactical gear company!

Some of the training you should consider doing is what the military calls Ruck Marches.  Also known as “forced marches” or “humps”, these events are basically walking at a fast pace over rough terrain with a weighted backpack. Rucking takes some time to prepare for so progress logically and you will have less chance of getting injured.  If you do not run regularly, do not start rucking immediately.  Build a foundation of running, then start to add weight over several weeks. 

Preparing for a Go Ruck Challenge, you need to train the major muscle groups of the body -- legs and back to prepare for the rucks and runs. BUT, your upper body (core, shoulders, and arms) comes into play carrying the backpack as well.   You will get most of your exhaustion from the legs and lower back. So, training your legs in running, leg PT, and rucking will build stamina and endurance you need for any type of land navigation training.  Since you are being taught by former Army Special Forces soldiers, it will help you to train as if you are going through Special Ops training programs.  This means lots of upper body PT (pullups, pushups, situps, flutterkicks - and more pushups!!), running, some swimming (getting wet through surf torture), walking lunges, squats, and of course RUCKING!

There are many ways to develop the endurance needed for the GoRuck Challenges. Here are some sample workouts pulled from the Army Ranger / SF Prep Workout