The truth is we are failing at strength training for both men and women - those percentages are low for both. There is some encouraging news that surveys of trending fitness activities are showing strength training at or near the top. Rucking with rucks or weighted vests are a "low friction" way to get people started. Sales of weighted vests for women have been up 100% in the past year for my company and that is great to see. Sadly it takes a diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis to get people (80% post-menopausal females) to start wearing weight and strength training.
My advice is to go ahead and ruck, but start light. Start with, say, 10 pounds. Then ease into the mileage. If you're already walking, try that weight with your normal distance. If you're just getting back into dedicated walks, start with very low mileage (basically go to tolerance) and then slowly increase your distance. Once you hit, say, five miles at a time, considering adding more weight to the back.
In short: People tend to get injured when they do too much too soon, so if you can avoid that you'll be golden.
The truth is we are failing at strength training for both men and women - those percentages are low for both. There is some encouraging news that surveys of trending fitness activities are showing strength training at or near the top. Rucking with rucks or weighted vests are a "low friction" way to get people started. Sales of weighted vests for women have been up 100% in the past year for my company and that is great to see. Sadly it takes a diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis to get people (80% post-menopausal females) to start wearing weight and strength training.
Does rucking make sense if I’m already 100lbs overweight? I feel like an extra 20-40lbs will just be a drop in the bucket or hard on my knees.
My advice is to go ahead and ruck, but start light. Start with, say, 10 pounds. Then ease into the mileage. If you're already walking, try that weight with your normal distance. If you're just getting back into dedicated walks, start with very low mileage (basically go to tolerance) and then slowly increase your distance. Once you hit, say, five miles at a time, considering adding more weight to the back.
In short: People tend to get injured when they do too much too soon, so if you can avoid that you'll be golden.