Thanks.
Funny you mention rucking. Yes, I’ve been looking at ruck weights for my pack. For the time being, I’m just adding more water bottles to my camera gear. My pack is at about 20 pounds now.
I did a hike up Rhus Ridge a few days ago — a 2.5 mile loop and 700 feet elevation gain. It’s through the hills above Silicon Valley. My app previously calculated about 530 calorie burn on that loop with the 20 pound backpack. I had a slight groin muscle pull, so backed off to my simple daypack (4.1 pounds, one water bottle) and I got 380 calories! I asked Claude “What happened?” and it immediately replied you were carrying less weight. I plugged in my 20 pound backpack and immediately got 530 calories again. ( I started writing the app in Grok and switched to the superior Claude).
It was amazing that Claude (which had helped write the program) understood the program so well it immediately said “You had less weight in your pack.”
I had no idea that 16 additional pounds over 2.5 miles / 700 feet added 150 calorie burn!
I’ve been paying a lot of attention to fitness, my weight, my body composition. I’ve lost 34 pounds in 7 months and my app has helped me a lot stay on track.
I got runner's knee in the second week from overdoing it. I took a week off and have started back at 2 miles–slowly. My knee feels fine so far.
There's something wonderful about weighted rucking. Not sure why.
I've got a 30lb plate on backlog order. But I am going to progress slowly from now on.;-)