Ruck Star Workouts 3

Ready to take your rucking to the next level? Check out these essential ruck and sandbag workouts from our resident Ruck Star, Ronald Tortola (bio below).  

RUCK SWINGS

Swings are a full body exercise with emphasis on glutes, hips, and lower back.

Technique

This is a ballistic exercise similar to a kettlebell swing. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Swing your ruck up to shoulder height in front of your body and back down so that ruck swings back between legs.

RUCK DOWN OVERHEAD PRESS

Get ready to feel this everywhere - arms, abs, legs. It's also just a great way to build cardio endurance. Just remember to breathe!

Technique

Lay your ruck on the ground sideways so that you can grab its top with one hand and the bottom with the other. With one solid motion, pick the ruck off the ground and extend it over your head and back to the earth. These reps should be fluid - without pauses or hard jolts. As you maneuver the ruck over your head, be careful not to bend too far back.

SANDBAG SHOULDER TO SHOULDER PRESS

The Shoulder to Shoulder Press builds shoulder strength as well as endurance. It is a fantastic core strengthener as it requires that you keep your core tight and engaged throughout the movement. Work your way up to a heavier sandbag and be prepared for some serious strength.

Technique

Stand straight with sandbag on one shoulder. Slightly bend knees and spring up while using momentum to quickly lift bag overhead and lower it to the other shoulder. Switch back and forth for multiple reps. 

SANDBAG OVERHEAD PRESS

Sandbag Overhead Press is fantastic to build upper body strength including, shoulders, arms, upper back and chest. However to really understand this exercise the benefits go far beyond upper body strength. The overhead press requires the muscles of the entire body to work synergistically with one another.

Technique

Use clean method to lift ruck to chest. Then, stand straight and extend arms to lift ruck over head. Return to chest and repeat. For added stability, spread legs into slight lunge. 

PREVIOUS

• Ruck Star Workouts 1 (Sandbag Deadlifts, Ruck Curls, Sandbag Cleans)

• Ruck Star Workouts 2 (Sandbag Lunges, Ruck Pulls, Back Sandbag Squats)

CONTINUE

• Ruck Star Workouts 4 (Sandbag Toss, Ruck Press Flutter Kicks, Sandbag Overhead Toss)

• Watch how Ronald puts some of these movements together to program a FULL WORKOUT.

Ronald Tortola is an endurance junkie and MudGear's resident Ruck Star. Along with completing multiple obstacle course races and endurance events including Spartan Race and World's Toughest Mudder, Ronald has earned finisher patches from GORUCK Pre Selection and Team Assessment along with two completion skulls 💀💀 from the infamous Death Race. Follow Ronald at https://www.instagram.com/ronaldtortola/.