How Much Weight Should I Use for My Rucking Backpack?
Right, so you have got your rucking backpack and you are staring at the weight plates wondering where to start. Good question. This is one I get asked all the time, and honestly it is one of the most important things to get right, because ruck with too little and you are just going for a walk, ruck with too much and you are hobbling home and sitting out the next few sessions. Let me walk you through it.
Start Lighter Than You Think You Need To
I know, I know. You want to go hard. But rucking is deceptive. The load feels manageable for the first kilometre and then somewhere around the halfway point your hips remind you they exist. The golden rule for beginners is to start with around 10% of your body weight. So if you weigh 80kg, you are looking at about 8kg in the pack.
That might not sound like much, but combine it with a 5km walk at pace and you will feel it. Trust the process. Your joints, tendons, and stabilising muscles all need time to adapt to loaded movement, and that takes longer than your cardiovascular fitness to catch up.
The Standard Rucking Weight Guidelines
Here is a rough framework I use with people regardless of their fitness background:
• Complete beginners: 5 to 10% of body weight to start
• Recreational fitness: 10 to 15% of body weight
• Experienced ruckers or those training for events: 15 to 25% of body weight
• Military standard (for reference): 25% of body weight or more, held over long distances
For most people doing rucking as part of a regular fitness routine, landing somewhere between 10 and 20% of body weight is the sweet spot. It is challenging, it drives real cardiovascular and strength adaptations, and it is sustainable over time.
The Force Fitness Rucking Backpack: Built to Handle the Load
I am not going to pretend I am not biased here, but the Force Fitness Weighted Rucking Backpack was designed specifically around this kind of training. It is not a repurposed hiking pack or a gym bag with extra straps. It is purpose built for weighted movement, with a load bearing frame that distributes weight properly, padded shoulder straps, and a structure that keeps the pack close to your centre of gravity.
That last bit matters more than people realise. A poorly fitting or floppy pack moves around as you walk, shifting the load and forcing your body to compensate. Over a 60 minute ruck that adds up to a lot of unnecessary stress on your lower back and hips. The Force pack sits where it should and stays there.
It also comes with a hydration bladder sleeve, which I always recommend people use. Staying hydrated on a ruck is not optional, especially once you start pushing the distances and the weight. Check out the 2 Litre Hydration Bladder if you want to keep things simple and seamless.
How to Add Weight: The Smart Way
The most common mistake I see is people chucking random stuff in their bag to add weight, books, tins of beans, whatever is handy. The problem with that is uneven distribution and load that shifts. You want your weight central, close to your spine, and as high in the pack as possible without being above shoulder height.
This is exactly why dedicated rucking plates are worth it. The Force Fitness Rucking Weights are flat, firm, and designed to sit flush inside the pack. No shifting, no weird pressure points, just clean, consistent load. Much better for your posture and far more comfortable over distance.
Upgrade Your Weight Capacity with Rucking Plates
The Force Fitness Rucking Backpack is already a serious piece of kit straight out of the box, but once you start progressing, you will want more load options. That is where the plate upgrade sets come in.
We offer a 5kg and an 8kg plate upgrade set, which lets you scale the weight of your ruck as your fitness improves. Rather than buying a new pack or cramming awkward weights inside, you just slot the plates in and you are good to go. Clean, simple, effective.
This is something I love about the modular approach to kit. You are not locked in at one weight. You can start with the standard load and progressively overload over weeks and months as your body adapts. That is just smart programming.
How Often Should You Progress the Weight?
A good rule of thumb is to follow a similar principle to strength training. Do not increase the weight until you can comfortably complete your target distance at the current load without significant fatigue or form breakdown. Once 5km at your current weight feels manageable and your form is solid throughout, you are ready to add a bit more.
I usually suggest adding no more than 2kg at a time and staying at that weight for at least two to three weeks before going up again. Rucking puts load through your hips, knees, and lower back in ways that even experienced gym goers are not used to, so patience really does pay off here.
Distance Matters as Much as Weight
Here is something worth flagging. Total load is a combination of weight and distance. A 10kg ruck over 2km is not the same stimulus as a 10kg ruck over 8km. So if you are looking to increase the challenge of your training, you have two variables to play with.
Start by building your distance first. Get comfortable covering 5 to 8km before you start seriously pushing the weight. Then once your distance base is solid, start adding load incrementally. This approach reduces injury risk and builds a much stronger foundation.
A Quick Word on Form
No amount of great kit will help if your form is off. Keep your chest up, shoulders back, and take natural strides. Avoid leaning forward into the pack. The weight should feel like it is sitting on you, not pulling you. If you find yourself hunching or shortening your stride significantly, the load is probably too heavy for now.
Adding a hip strap to your Force pack makes a noticeable difference here. It transfers some of the load from your shoulders onto your hips, which is exactly what you want on longer efforts. Your shoulders will thank you after the first few kilometres.
So, How Much Weight to Start With?
Honestly, for most people reading this, I would say start with 8 to 10kg, see how your first few sessions feel, and go from there. The Force Fitness Rucking Backpack paired with the dedicated rucking weights gives you everything you need to get started safely and scale up progressively.
Rucking is one of the most effective, underrated forms of training out there. It builds real world strength and endurance, it gets you outside, and it is accessible to almost everyone regardless of fitness level. Get the weight right, take your time building up, and you will see the results faster than you expect.
