The Rich Roll Podcast

Walk With Weight: Michael Easter On The Evolutionary Case For Rucking, Building Real Resilience & How To Stay Adventure-Ready For Life

February 23, 2026

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  • Humans evolved uniquely to carry weight over long distances, making rucking (walking with weight) a fundamental, underutilized movement pattern for physical and mental wellness. 
  • Rucking offers a superior combination of endurance and strength training compared to running alone, boasting lower injury rates and potentially burning more calories per mile. 
  • Navigating dynamic outdoor environments while carrying weight engages crucial spatial navigation skills often neglected in modern life, contributing significantly to brain health and overall resilience. 
  • Wearing a reasonably weighted backpack can paradoxically reduce tension in the back muscles by engaging the core much harder to compensate for the load. 
  • For beginners or those with back issues, starting rucking with a light load, around 10% of body weight, is crucial for gradual adaptation and enjoyment. 
  • Carrying weight in different configurations (backpack, vest, at the side, or in front) taxes different musculature, suggesting varied carrying methods are beneficial for comprehensive functional fitness. 

Segments

Supplement Industry Critique
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The supplement industry is characterized by low trust, light regulation, and quality degradation once products gain popularity.
  • Summary: The supplement space often suffers from quality dropping as products succeed, turning into marketing schemes rather than focusing on product purity. Supplements are a low-trust category because companies are not always required to prove purity or label accuracy. Momentous counters this by prioritizing rigorous third-party testing and transparency, adhering to the ‘Momentous Standard’ (NSF certified for sport or informed sport certified).
Rucking’s Evolutionary Case
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(00:01:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Humans evolved to carry weight for distance, making rucking a uniquely human and beneficial activity.
  • Summary: Rucking combines endurance and strength, representing an ancient biological need overlooked by modern fitness. Humans are unique among mammals for evolving the ability to carry significant loads over long distances, which spurred early human development. This activity is presented as the exercise one should be doing for long-term physical and mental wellness.
Alex Honold’s Rucking Skepticism
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(00:02:31)
  • Key Takeaway: Skeptics like Alex Honold view carrying unnecessary weight as counterintuitive if not required for survival.
  • Summary: Alex Honold expressed that if one doesn’t have to carry weight, they shouldn’t, finding the idea of intentionally carrying extra weight ‘stupid.’ Michael Easter countered this by emphasizing that humans are evolutionarily superior at carrying weight over distance compared to other animals, even surpassing climbing abilities in this specific domain. The host suggested connecting the two to cross-pollinate their respective passions.
Evolution of Bipedalism and Carrying
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(00:06:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Bipedalism evolved to cover distance efficiently, which subsequently freed hands for carrying, leading to human societal explosion.
  • Summary: The ability to walk on two feet arose from climate change favoring primates who could travel farther for scarce food resources. Once upright, free hands allowed for tool manipulation and carrying resources, which was foundational to humanity’s advancement. Rucking taps into this core human capability, which is largely absent in contemporary fitness routines.
Rucking vs. Running Comparison
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(00:08:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Rucking is safer than running due to significantly lower injury rates while simultaneously blending cardio and strength benefits.
  • Summary: Running injuries are common, with studies showing up to 79% of runners getting injured annually, whereas walking with weight has an injury rate near 1% (with appropriate load). Rucking provides a dual benefit by engaging endurance from covering ground and strength from carrying the load, making it time-efficient. Rucking burns more calories per mile than running, ranging from 20% to 200% more depending on load and terrain.
Cognitive Benefits of Navigation
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(00:19:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Exercising in dynamic natural environments, especially while navigating, significantly benefits cognitive health and spatial reasoning.
  • Summary: Moving on trails versus roads burns 28% more calories due to increased physical effort per step and uneven terrain. Navigating new environments taxes spatial navigation, which is vital for brain health, contrasting with the ease of using GPS. Jobs requiring constant navigation, like cab driving, show lower rates of Alzheimer’s and dementia, suggesting this mental work is protective.
Resilience Versus Optimization Culture
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(00:32:53)
  • Key Takeaway: True resilience is earned through facing unoptimized challenges in nature, contrasting with the illusion of control offered by constant health optimization.
  • Summary: Resilience involves accomplishing tasks with fewer resources and more obstacles stacked against you, unlike optimization culture which relies on perfect conditions and technology. Over-reliance on metrics like fitness trackers can create an illusion of progress without fostering true self-awareness or intuitive connection. Experiencing hardship outdoors, like difficult hikes, builds mental fortitude applicable to everyday stressors.
Goal Setting and Training Focus
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(00:38:12)
  • Key Takeaway: Setting large annual goals, like New Year’s resolutions, provides hope and direction, guiding training toward functional outdoor readiness.
  • Summary: Setting big goals at the start of the year is beneficial because it provides hope and initiates practices that a subset of people will maintain. Training should focus on being ‘adventure ready,’ which requires a balance of strength and endurance without excessive bulk. The ultimate longevity test is the ability to complete a difficult, real-world task like hiking a mountain with a pack.
Super Medium Body Type
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(00:42:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Functional fitness prioritizes a ‘super medium’ body type—enough muscle for tasks without the excess bulk that hinders endurance.
  • Summary: The goal is to avoid extremes: not being so endurance-focused that muscle mass is lost, nor so muscular that endurance activities become punishing. This sweet spot allows for both cardiovascular work and the strength needed to carry loads, mimicking what humans have historically done outdoors. Everything has a cost; excessive muscle mass can negatively impact performance and joint health during long efforts.
Rucking and Body Composition
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(00:50:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Rucking appears uniquely effective for fat loss while preserving muscle mass, as evidenced by studies on backcountry hunters.
  • Summary: Endurance exercise burns calories, but carrying weight signals the body to retain muscle mass necessary for the load. Alaskan backcountry hunters lost significant weight (entirely fat) after 10-day hunts involving carrying heavy packs over varied terrain. This activity promotes a ripped physique by maximizing fat loss while maintaining or slightly increasing muscle mass.
Infant Carrying Benefits
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(00:52:28)
  • Key Takeaway: Carrying infants directly stimulates crucial developmental reflexes and social learning in the child.
  • Summary: Carrying infants allows them to observe the world and social interactions from the adult’s perspective, aiding brain development. Physical benefits include training the neck correction reflex and the clinging grip reflex. Shifting infants from being carried to strollers or carts removes them from these beneficial developmental stimuli.
Backpack Weight Mechanics
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(01:01:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Weight on the back engages the core harder while reducing tension on the back muscles.
  • Summary: Carrying weight in a backpack forces the abs to engage much harder, effectively picking up the slack from back muscles that become less tense. This mechanism is cited as a way to improve core strength without traditional exercises like planks. Excessive weight, over a third of body weight, may still cause issues, but moderate loads benefit core engagement.
Rucking Safety and Starting Weight
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(01:03:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Individuals with chronic back issues should consult a doctor, but experts sometimes use light rucking for spinal rehab.
  • Summary: Newcomers should ease into rucking by starting with approximately 10% of their body weight to avoid feeling overwhelmed and prevent injury. Stu McGill, a back health expert, utilizes light rucking to help rehab some spinal injury cases by providing light motion that decompresses the spine. Starting light ensures the activity is enjoyable enough to encourage continued participation.
Backpack vs. Weight Vest
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(01:05:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Backpacks are superior to many weight vests because they keep weight off the chest, aiding breathing and cooling.
  • Summary: Weight vests, especially military-style ones with front and back plates, can constrict the chest cavity, impeding breathing and preventing sweat evaporation necessary for cooling. A backpack keeps the load off the chest, making it better for breathing and thermoregulation. Furthermore, backpacks remove barriers to entry as most people already own one.
Varied Carrying Methods
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(01:08:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Different ways of carrying weight, such as farmers’ carries or carrying items at the side, target distinct musculature and core strength.
  • Summary: While rucking with a pack is a foundational exercise, shifting weight to the front changes the worked musculature, and carrying items at the side taxes grip and core strength. Practical exercises like farmers’ carries are highly beneficial because they mimic real-life actions, unlike isolated movements like dumbbell curls. Finding different ways to carry items provides a broader range of functional training benefits.
Footwear Considerations for Rucking
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(01:12:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Minimalist shoes significantly increase injury risk during rucking compared to stable, supportive footwear.
  • Summary: Military studies show that cadets wearing minimalist shoes while rucking experienced a significantly higher rate of injury because the feet must work harder under load. Shoes with some drop and support help mitigate this stress on the feet. Comfort and stability are key when selecting footwear, and avoiding super high-platform shoes is advisable, especially on trails.
Rucking’s Rise and Longevity Fitness
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(01:15:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Rucking is increasingly adopted by those seeking longevity-focused fitness alternatives to running or gym cardio.
  • Summary: The popularity of rucking has surged, providing an accessible outdoor activity for people who dislike running or have running-related injuries. The activity supports longevity goals by offering a challenging workout that is gentler on the body than high-impact alternatives. Rucking allows for social connection, enabling different generations to exercise together at their respective challenging intensities.
Comfort Zones and Self-Deception
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(01:21:33)
  • Key Takeaway: Endurance athletes often mistake physically challenging activities for true discomfort, allowing their comfort zone to morph around external validation.
  • Summary: Activities that receive external validation, like ultra-endurance events, can become a comfortable zone, masking deeper emotional discomforts that need addressing. The true measure of discomfort lies in facing fears related to emotional vulnerability, rejection, or loneliness, which are often avoided through compulsive physical training. Identifying what one is actively avoiding serves as a strong indicator of where true growth lies.
Daily Non-Negotiables
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(01:32:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Consistent daily writing is a non-negotiable for the guest, prioritized in the early morning hours before daily demands begin.
  • Summary: The guest prioritizes writing every day, often completing four hours before the family wakes up due to an early sleep/wake cycle. This dedicated morning time allows for focused creative flow, which is essential for the guest’s sense of being alive. The host is currently redefining his fitness relationship post-surgery, prioritizing structured workouts before his creative writing time to avoid decision fatigue.