What is shuffling and how is it different from jogging and running?

• keep feet low to the ground
• light touch of the foot to the ground
• short stride
• no bouncing

Why shuffle?

My rucks have typically been at a (20min mile/6mph) pace. I’m targetting a better workout without committing a lot more time to the exercise. If I can reach a 50% distance increase with my ruck workouts, I will burn a LOT more calories. I wanted to accomplish this safely though; running with an extra ~40lbs of weight on your back definitely doesn’t sound like a good idea. I’ve already struggled with shin splints while running (without a ruck).

Jason McCarthy, founder of GoRuck, has a slight twist on on shuffling: carrying a backpack of weight (a ruck) and he calls it the “ruck shuffle”. I like it as a way to get more miles in without requiring as much of a time commitment. He talks about it in an interview by Peter Attia.

Some of my takeaways from this interview:

• Running with weight increases risk of injury.
• Shuffling is a lower impact middle ground between walking and running.
• Shuffling is easier on the knees than the galloping movement of running, especially with increased weight from the ruck.
• Shuffling allows for more control in increasing heart rate during the workout.

I don’t know if this is the origin of the shuffle, but I really enjoyed watching this documentary piece on the “Young Shuffle”. A 61 year old old potato farmer, Cliff Young, decided to enter an ultramarathon and shuffled his way into first place.

I did my first ruck shuffle yesterday, and I think it’s my favorite workout now.