This website uses Cookies. Click Accept to agree to our website's cookie use as described in our Privacy Policy. Click Preferences to customize your cookie settings.
This should be easy to add. Perhaps, as just an Extra Weight option for Hiking activity. Then compute calorie expenditure using combined weight (profile + extra).
It's becoming more and more popular to train with weighted ruck. Adding it into the list of activities makes perfect sense. Especially since you spend more calories than when you walk or hike.
Yeah I don't know, Hiking... vs Backpacking... I call it Hiking (usually you have a pack of some sort). you call it Rucking...? If its fast enough on a trail is it a Trail Run?!?! If I go backpacking for weekend, I wouldn't question why there wasn't a 'backpacking' option, HIking makes perfect sense. I would hate for every single use case or activity be on the list, impossible to find stuff eventually. Similar issue on Garmin for strength training... you can select the activity for each rep/set, there are SO MANY OPTIONS ITS a PITA to use! For instance tried to find Three Way Plank or is it 3-way plank or is it Rolling Plank or why are they all also a 'Weighted' option!?!?!?! just today... regional naming conventions or spelling choice, etc. I or hybrid biking ? road biking with gravel tires... or MTB with slicks... where does it stop. Strava can't even get things like "Workout" / "Race" etc added to all of the proper activities (Virtual Ride, Virtual Run, Weight Training, Hiking, etc) or Zoom into running analysis graphs for years now!!!! Sure would be nice for them to focus a bit on cleaning up/improving uniform feature sets on what they have. You could just do Hiking/TrailRun (depending on speed?) with description "10# pack" or "4# hydration, 10# weight" or "23# backpacking gear" etc? That is what I do when I go for a run with a weighted backpack or lots of gear for a trail run. I'll list some of the gear or food supplies... approx weight (spare coat, gloves, towel, etc)
funny, until NickRunBikeMN mentioned it - I hadn't noticed hiking was already on the list, so I agree a longer list is not necessarily better. I will switch to using that for rucking since it is definitely closer as I am carrying a weight.
however with hiking I generally walk and with rucking I am jogging, so for me that would be the difference for me.
The point is of adding Rucking, either as a separate activity or as an Extra Weight option for existing activities as I suggested originally, is to better track power, effort, and calorie expenditure. We're talking about a lot of extra weight not just a few pounds. The idea behind Rucking is to carry like 30+ lbs (https://www.goruck.com/pages/what-is-rucking). For example, I carry 65-75 lbs, so of course I burn a ton more calories doing that than just plain hiking, or hiking with a hydration pack. Just adding it to the description is good to record keeping but not for power/effort/calorie estimation.
Agree with MaxK. Rucking truly is not like hiking or walking. On average, I put 30-45lb in my Ruck. That extra weight changes the stimuli of the workout significantly vs hiking with a water bottle. The sport of rucking is growing in popularity and it makes no sense to group it with another activity that does not have the same stimuli target.
Would be great to have an option to put in the amount carried when rucking/hiking and be able to compare pace with the weight being a variable that’s possible to filter.
I agree, I would love to be able to accurately track my weighted workouts or rucks. So far neither Strava or Apple supports it so my “hikes” never see any high calories or extraneous efforts, all the while I’m rucking my butt off 😉
I would agree, but I would like to see rucking added. As a member since 2014, I’ve seen this as a bit of a deficiency. Rucking it’s not like hiking or backpacking. It can be done on paved roads as well, but adding substantial weight is really the main intent to increase effort and energy expenditures. It’s different enough that it should be separate in my humble opinion. Thanks!
I would like to suggest Rucking as a new sport category in Strava. Rucking is military style running with a backpack - usually 35 to 65 pounds. Participation in Rucking has increased exponentially in North America in the last several years. If Rucking is added there must also be a corresponding fix made to a current problem with the hiking profile - there is no accounting for the pack weight in any of the metrics. Pack weight significantly affects the caloric consumption rate of the individual and is metabolically discrete from "total weight".
I think there's a unique community around rucking that justifies it as its own activity. It's very important to our military veterans and it's also commonly a group/team activity in many senses. Sometimes it's also a competition or race that could justify it as a stand alone activity. Is it a branch of "walking?" Yes, but so is "hiking" and "snow shoe" and "trail run," yet we see those as unique.
