Rucking meetings work miracles
The case for taking work calls while walking with weight—and six strategies to make it successful.
Post summary
Taking meetings while walking with a weighted pack is one of the best ways to sneak in activity and improve your health, fitness, and mindset.
Walking and rucking meetings can decrease your risk of all-cause mortality by 40 percent and increase your work productivity by 8 to 60 percent.
You’ll get powerful zone 1 and 2 exercise when you otherwise would have been sitting—and walking meetings don’t require you to take time out of your busy schedule for a traditional workout.
But doing them right requires the right strategies and tactics.
I’ll explain the six key strategies you must know to make rucking and walking meetings successful.
I developed them over the last five years of regularly taking meetings while walking with weight.
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Podcast/audio edition
The post
This publication is called Two Percent because of startling statistic: Only two percent of people take the stairs when they also have the option of taking an escalator.
And it’s killing us. Inactivity is a main contributor to the 10 leading causes of death. Yet 98 percent of us avoid the simple, obvious, healthy choice of taking the stairs.
Research shows that the two percent of people who consistently take the stairs—and apply that Two Percent mindset to other areas of life—live longer, better, more impactful lives.
So our goal is to be Two Percenters—to say yes to the little opportunities we have to do the slightly harder thing that gives us a massive long-term reward.
Consider ruck meetings as one way to adopt this mindset. All you have to do is toss on a weighted pack and walk next time you have a work call.
I started doing this during during the pandemic, when incessant phone and video conferences were making me lazy and crazy.
Walking with a pack not only snuck in a ton of activity when I would have been sitting, but also changed the meeting’s dynamics. I was more focused, with fewer distractions, and more energized and happier afterward.
The numbers don’t lie.
Walking meetings increase productivity and creativity by 8% and 60%, respectively.
The average meeting lasts 54 minutes, so you’ll log about 6,000 steps. That number of steps drop your risk of death by 40 to 50 percent compared to if you were to walk just 3,500 steps a day. (And that’s only from one meeting … rucking meetings help you get far more steps across a day.)
You’ll also supercharge each of those steps. You’ll burn 20 to ~100 percent more calories each step—and more fat.
I’ve been rucking during meetings when possible ever since.
But it hasn’t always been perfect. I’ve had to solve problems along the way.
I’ve compiled six key strategies to make your rucking meetings a success. Follow them and you’ll:
Avoid some problems I faced when I started rucking during meetings five years ago.
Fit in exercise when you would otherwise be sitting.
Improve your strength and endurance without having to cut out special time for workouts.
Enjoy more time in nature, which reduces burnout and stress and increases physical and mental health.
Return to work with more focus, productivity, and creativity.
As John le Carre said, “A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.”
Let’s roll …