More and more, we’ve seen people embracing methods of military fitness and begin carrying weighted daysacks, plate carriers or bergans during exercise. This way of working out is typically referred to as rucking or tabbing, but what distinguishes the two? In this blog post, we’ll explore these two exercise activities and the differences between them.
What Is Rucking?
Rucking tends to be a term used in the US and is the term that you might be more familiar with in an everyday setting. It is essentially a form of exercise that involves hiking over distance while carrying an external load of some kind - typically a rucksack that has been loaded with weight. Common items that you may carry while rucking include food, water, sandbags or dumbbells. Alternatively, you can make use of a weighted vest or plate carrier in place of a rucksack to approximate the weight.
Rucking should be undertaken at a steady pace with the aim of covering a significant distance at a reasonable speed - it is not about going as fast as you can or pushing your body to its limits as quickly as possible. As a form of training, rucking is meant to increase your endurance and stamina as it can be easily tailored to your level of fitness by adjusting the contents of your backpack accordingly. For this reason, it’s popular amongst non-military personnel who want to really develop their fitness and push their bodies to new limits.
What Is Tabbing?
Tabbing, meaning ‘tactical advance to battle’, is a method of training that stems from the military. It is normally an endurance-based non-navigational exercise designed to simulate moving heavy equipment around across a variety of terrains in unpredictable combat situations. It’s quite an intense exercise, owing to its military roots and there are tabbing events throughout the year.
As you may expect, tabbing is a significantly more intense exercise experience than rucking is, with heavier loads over more difficult terrain. Where rucking is meant to be a reasonably accessible method of cardiovascular training, tabbing is intended to push you to your absolute limit to keep up your readiness for battlefield scenarios.
What Are The Key Benefits?
While the intensity of rucking and tabbing vary, the key similarity between the two exercises is that they share a number of benefits. These include:
- Calorie burn: If your exercise goal is to burn as many calories as possible, you may immediately think you need to head out for a run or long walk. However, these are not the only ways to burn calories in a relatively short space of time. In fact, rucking burns almost as many calories as running does (or more if you’re tabbing) and can burn around 2.5 times more calories than simply walking.
- Great cardio workout: As rucking is a great exercise for elevating your heart rate, it makes for a fantastic choice of cardio workout. It’ll also help to boost your endurance, giving you an overall solid boost in fitness over time.
- Beneficial for improving posture: Particularly if you work a lot at a desk, the postural benefits of rucking and tabbing are not to be underestimated. As the weight of the contents of your backpack pulls on your back and shoulders, it naturally forces you into a proper alignment. Over time, you’ll find yourself naturally conforming to this position even when not rucking or tabbing. You will reap the benefits of this as you get older and have improved mobility and posture.
Our Top Picks for Rucking/Tabbing Boots
- LOWA Zephyr MK2 Mid Boots GTX - LOWA Zephyr MK2 Mid Boots are a fantastic choice of boot for rucking or tabbing, featuring an exceptional Lowa X-TRAC® sole design that is purpose-made for providing unmatched grip in all kinds of terrain. Making use of the amazing properties of GORE-TEX, Zephyr MK2 boots are both waterproof and comfortable, while still maintaining incredible practical performance when you have the extra challenge of weight on your back.
- LOWA Combat Boots MK2 GORE-TEX - The dual-density PU midsole and arch support that the Combat Boots MK2 offer is especially helpful for rucking or tabbing sessions, providing much-needed comfort for longer exercise sessions.
- LOWA Z8N GORE-TEX C Mid Boots - This hybrid boot provides the best of both worlds to a prospective rucking enthusiast. Designed as a tactical lightweight military boot, the LOWA Z8N boots allow you to enjoy comfort akin to a traditional hiking boot while still having the protection and support that a combat boot offers.
