Hey everyone!

It’s us again! I know, I know we said monthly-“ish” newsletters, and here we are with two in one month! Who are we?!! 😂

We wanted to make sure to send out a “special edition” if you will for our upcoming focus month, “SIS-TEMBER.” By now, you should have seen reference to our collaboration with Between the Ears, an amazing organization owned and operated by Bill and Karianne Anthes.

What's In Your Ruck?" Podcast

FAQ: Can I ruck during Pregnancy?

In short, it’s ok to ruck during pregnancy for most people! Here are just a few benefits of rucking during pregnancy:

Low-impact form of cardio that can be a great customization for running
Loaded carry can help prepare for postpartum
Simple and accessible

Rucking may not feel ideal for every pregnancy or in every stage of pregnancy. It could be a great option for earlier in pregnancy if you find yourself fatigued/nauseous and unable to workout but are still able to walk. If you are in the later stages of pregnancy, it may even feel great to throw on a ruck to help balance out the weight you are carrying on the front. Rucking offers some variability in how we walk and the strategies we use. However, if you are someone with moderate to severe low back pain, pelvic girdle pain, or other intense symptoms, you likely don’t need to add a ruck bag or weighted vest right now.

Ultimately, adding a ruck can be a great addition to pregnancy — even in the later stages — but of course, this will vary from person to person. It will depend on your individual symptoms and goals! Check out the tips in the following section for more on wearing a ruck as well as positional strategies that can help support your core and pelvic floor.

Ruck Wearing Tips & Strategies

Adding load on our bodies via a ruck or vest may possibly lead to an increase in pelvic floor symptoms for some of us. Making some small adjustments in how you wear your pack, as well as finding a breath, position, and tension strategy that works for you can also be helpful!

Ruck Bag Position

Wear the weight high on your back: For many of us wearing the ruck or backpack higher up on our backs will feel more comfortable. If you are using a backpack and not a GoRuck bag, try placing a towel on the bottom of your pack, then placing your weights on top. Check out this tip video from Coach Chelsie for more on packing weight in a DIY ruck!
Chest Strap: Play around with your chest strap positioning. Many bags will come with a chest strap to help spread the pack weight across your body rather than solely letting the shoulder straps have all the fun. Some bags will have the ability to move and adjust the position of the chest strap -- I highly recommend testing the position to see what works best for you.

I recently changed my chest strap position on my GORUCK plate carrier and I realized two immediate ways that I benefited 1) improving comfort and 2) improving my breathing capacity as I was not as restricted as when the strap sat further down my torso.

You may also find you need to adjust the chest strap based on breast/chest size.

A good place to wear your strap is somewhere between your nipple line and collarbones. Assess and test what works best for you!
Hip Belt: This can be a great way to further spread the pack weight across your body by allowing your pelvis to help handle some of the load. If you are later in pregnancy you may find you want to wear the hip belt lower if possible or not at all depending on comfort and also how much pressure you are feeling down into your pelvic floor. (I just ordered one using our GORUCK discount and I am excited to see how it helps!)

Hip Belt: This can be a great way to further spread the pack weight across your body by allowing your pelvis to help handle some of the load. If you are later in pregnancy you may find you want to wear the hip belt lower if possible or not at all depending on comfort and also how much pressure you are feeling down into your pelvic floor. (I just ordered one using our GORUCK discount and I am excited to see how it helps!)

Breath & Position Strategies to Help Pelvic Floor Symptoms

Breathing: When wearing a weighted pack, you may find it more restrictive to breathe 360 degrees and may find yourself holding your breath or taking shallow breaths, neither of which is bad but can potentially cause some pelvic floor symptoms with an increase in pressure as well as not being as efficient for our bodies to perform. Adjusting the sternum strap closer to your collar bones can help as well as wearing the pack/load higher up on your back. As you wear the ruck, try to keep breathing awareness inhaling through your nose as you are able and either continuing your nasal exhale or exhaling through the mouth. You don’t need to time your breath with your footstep, simply have awareness that you are breathing as you go.
Posture/Position: Adjusting position slightly can impact how our bodies manage pressure and tension which can help mitigate pelvic floor symptoms like leaking, heaviness or pain.

When wearing your Ruck (or weighted vest), try adjusting your position to have your torso stacked over your pelvis and your nose over your toes as you walk. This may feel like a slight lean forward or like you are walking into the wind or uphill. This can help our bodies manage pressure which may help reduce symptoms we are experiencing. As a reminder, this is a starting point. There isn’t one best posture — it’s exploring and finding the posture that works best for you
Volume/Load: Reminder to adjust the distance or time you are rucking (or babywearing) as needed. If you are earlier postpartum, gradually progress time and distance, assessing for any symptoms. If you find yourself having sore shoulders, a sore back, or other discomfort, consider lightening the load in your ruck as well. It takes time for our bodies to build tolerance to the demand of wearing a ruck. In pregnancy and postpartum, our bodies are already undergoing so many other physiological demands that we may need to adjust externally to help further support our body and training.

⭐️ Check out this recent post from Coach Terri Robertson Elder on more rucking strategies and pelvic floor considerations!

Baby Wearing Tips & Strategies

Use the same tips as for rucking in regards to breathing and position/posture as well as progressively building up time/distance with baby wearing (as much as possible anyway!)

Change positions often, trying a staggered stance position if you find yourself clenching/gripping your glute muscles a lot. Note which side you tend to stand on more (I catch myself shifting to my right hip all of the time) and then try shifting to the other side. Adding in variability for our body is key in helping us stay feeling good when carrying our little ones.

Some additional baby wearing tips include:

⭐️ Keep baby as close as possible to your body making sure the straps are tight.

⭐️ Wear the hip belt/support wrap right above your hips. (Note: If you had a c-section, it may take more time for you to be able to babywear. Allow the scar to heal and speak with your medical care team.)

⭐️ Explore positions! Front, back, sling… find what works best for you and add variability along the way!

⭐️ Explore carriers! I found that I was more comfortable with a carrier like the Lillebaby, where I had lots of options to adjust to find the right fit for both of us. Others find a wrap feels more comfortable to utilize. (I wasn’t coordinated enough to get it tight enough to my body but did love the way it felt!) It will also depend on how you prefer your little one to sit on your body.

FIND WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU and know that there are SO many options.

For all of our Postpartum Mamas looking to log a workout to count towards your 75, 365, or 1000 workout badges…

Make sure to check out More Than Nothing Program Sessions 1 and 2!

SESSION 1️⃣: While this says running/biking/rowing/stairs, we feel that this can also include babywearing/rucking or pushing a stroller -- especially when you are earlier postpartum and building your return to distance and time under load.

SESSION 2️⃣: This is a great way to get in some low-impact conditioning if you are wearing your baby.

Maintenance: “Let it Go!”

aka Downtraining the Pelvic Floor

Check out this video from Coach Kate on how to add a few movements into your post workout maintenance routine or even as a movement snack throughout the day to help mitigate pelvic floor symptoms if you tend to have an overactive pelvic floor.

Rucking Benefits & Menopause

Research shows that strength training is crucial for longevity! What’s so great about rucking is that it is an easily accessible and oftentimes simple way to add load to our daily activities like walking. Adding a ruck or weighted vest into our walking or other activities of daily living makes these activities more challenging (yet simple) providing benefits such as building/preserving muscle, and improving bone density and cardiovascular health. Make sure to read to the end where you’ll find links to some great resources on Rucking benefits for Women over 40!

Muscle: Rucking can help preserve muscle or even has been shown to help build muscle in many individuals depending on fitness/training age. Specifically, leg, core, and shoulder muscles realize a benefit with additional loading.
Bone Density: Bone density starts to decline around age 30-35 (depending on the sources used) with bone density loss being shown to impact post-menopausal women due to a decline in estrogen. Research has shown that there are benefits to adding a weighted vest/ruck to training and improving bone density.
Cardiovascular Health: Studies have shown that rucking improves VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen our body can utilize during exercise), leading to better cardio health by increasing our intensity to more Zone 2 training. Yes, Zone 2 can be great for the menopausal transition. While high intensity/sprint interval training and strength training/plyometric work are important in this season of life, adding in rucking can improve our all around work capacity and endurance, allowing for building a strong aerobic base!
Low Impact: aka Joint Friendly! If you aren’t able to run (or hey don’t want to), rucking is excellent! Of course, there is still impact but typically the intensity is lower and there are less ground contact forces compared to running as most of us will be walking.
Accessibility: Adding a ruck or weighted vest to your walk is typically simple which means it's accessible. Sometimes on really busy days I only have time to walk the dog, but throwing on my pack allows me to still reap the benefits and is definitely #morethannothing.
Community Builder: Rucking can be such a great community builder and connection point with people! Get a group together locally or even take that time to chat with a friend/family member on the phone.

Additional Resources

🎧 Steph Gadreau: Rucking for Women

🎧 Steph Gadreau: Benefits of Rucking with Guest Michael Easter

📖 GORUCK: Benefits of Rucking for Women

Community Highlight: We See you Mama!

This month we want to take a moment and shout out member Erin Waidzulis! We are celebrating having your #1 fan girl, Josie, home! Erin is a long time Street Parking member who recently welcomed her first little girl (and workout partner) this summer. Welcome to SP, Josie!

A Special Note

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those impacted by recent hurricanes. We know so many people in our community are struggling and in the midst of recovery. If you are (or know of) a current SP member facing hardship and loss due to this disaster, email support@streetparking.com so we can connect you with our membership support fund. Coach Terri Robertson Elder also has an extensive list of resources available in the Asheville/Brevard, NC area.

Terri recently wrote an impactful post about her experience in navigating self-care in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. You can read that post here.

FOR QUESTIONS, FEEDBACK, OR COMMENTS:

📧 mamas@streeparking.com
📲 @coach_katejohnson
📲 @terri.elder.dpt

Let’s “Ruck” and Roll