Major Ruckr Update

For the past year, I’ve been researching and writing about the incredible benefits of rucking for strength, longevity, and overall healthspan. During this time, I have received lots of positive feedback about the weekly topics, including workouts and in-depth analysis.

I have also wanted to delve deeper into the research, including inviting longevity experts to write guest posts or participate in interviews. All of this takes time and money…including the articles I’ve been publishing every week.

So…starting next week, Ruckr will become a paid subscription newsletter. Before you throw your phone, tablet, or laptop at the wall, or issue expletives at me, consider this: I plan to write more and delve deeper into the topics you want, all for less than $1/month. 

That’s it. No more ads. Just deeper, more focused content, expert advice, and customized tools and workouts, all for less than a single cup of coffee.

Now…back to the email…

This week, I dropped my usual ego-driven pace during a descent and focused entirely on controlling every step. What started as an experiment during a steep ruck ended with sore hamstrings, burning quads, and a realization: we’re all sleeping on eccentric strength.

Most of us think about explosive reps, bigger weights, faster times. But controlled lowering—the kind you do when stepping downhill or finishing a squat—often gets ignored.

Turns out, it's where the real gains (and resilience) live. Let's unpack that.

Motivation

Why Going Down Makes You Stronger

If you’ve ever been sore two days after a hike, a heavy ruck, or a squat session, chances are eccentric movement was the culprit.

Eccentric training focuses on the lowering portion of a movement, like when you slowly descend into a lunge, hike downhill, or lower your pack to the ground under control. This type of loading creates more muscle damage than concentric (lifting) motion, which, when managed well, leads to strength gains, greater tendon resilience, and improved joint control.

It also tends to make you sore, but in the best way.

Most injuries happen during deceleration, not acceleration. Your ability to absorb forces—when stepping off curbs, bounding downhill on rough terrain, or controlling load shifts in a pack—is where longevity and durability are forged.

As famed longevity expert Peter Attia states in his bestselling book, Outlive: “In life, especially as we age, eccentric strength is where many people falter.”

For ruckers, eccentrics are the secret weapon. You just have to step into the effort, not away from it.

Exercises for Everyone

Training for the Downhill

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to overhaul your ruck workouts to build eccentric strength. You probably already do some, without realizing it. But layering intention into your training can drastically improve performance and prevent common injuries, especially around the knees, hips, and ankles.

Try this:

1. Slow Down the Descent

Next time you’re stepping off something—a log, a curb, a rock—pause and take three seconds to lower yourself down. Step off, control the fall, and land softly. This builds ankle, knee, and quad control. Bonus: Do it with a ruck on your back.

2. Controlled Step-Downs or Stairs

Find a sturdy box or step. Hold a light ruck (10–20lbs), step up, and then lower down in 3–5 seconds. Keep your hips square. Down is the focus. Do 3 sets of 6–8 reps per leg, 1–2x/week.

3. Downhill Rucking

Incorporate more downhill movement into your weekly mileage. This can be stairs, trails, or parking garage ramps. The downward pressure forces your posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, calves) to get stronger. Just make sure your knees and ankles can tolerate it before you begin increasing volume.

4. End-of-Ruck Negative Lunges

At the end of a short ruck, try 2–3 sets of slow reverse lunges. Take 3 seconds to drop, 1 second pause at the bottom, then explode up. Your legs will hate you. Your knees will thank you.

These micro-adjustments don’t just improve your leg strength—they bulletproof your joints and teach your nervous system how to control load in unstable environments. And for a rucker, there’s nowhere more useful than that.

Advanced Exercises

Load Absorption is Power

For those looking to push harder or train for events like the GORUCK HTL, selection-level courses, or high-mileage mountain rucks, eccentric capacity should be a key part of your performance programming.

Why?

Because during long evolutions, control matters more than brute strength. You’ll be under load for hours. The ability to stabilize while going downhill, control odd carries, or lower your body from object to object without crashing is the difference between efficiency and early failure.

Here’s how to program eccentric work like a pro:

1. Tempo Rucks

Instead of just adding distance, add control. Set a metronome (or just count in your head) and take 4 “Mississippi” seconds to step down from a curb or stair with each stride. Focus on routes with elevation. It’s surprisingly brutal at even a 10% grade. Alternate with recovery days.

2. Eccentric-Only Sets (Gains with no gear)

Pick a movement like push-ups or pull-ups, and just do the lowering portion. For example: jump to the top of a pull-up, and take 4 to 5 seconds to lower. Rest 10–20 seconds. Do 5–7 reps. Same with push-ups: lower slowly, drop to knees, reset.

These build tendon strength and nervous system adaptation that carry over into heavy rucks and climbs.

3. Weighted Negatives in the Gym

Eccentric squats (5-second lowers), RDLs (Romanian deadlifts), and split squats are gold. Don’t chase max weight. Use a moderate load (about 55–65% of 1RM), emphasize the slow lower, and control every inch of descent. Perform 3–4 sets of 6 reps, 1–2x/week during strength cycles. Trust the process—it yields massive returns over time.

4. Downhill-for-Volume Ruck Days

Quarter your total ruck time and spend it downhill. For a 2-hour ruck, find a quarter-mile descent and go laps down and up, focusing only on controlled descents and relaxed, easy climbs. This teaches load absorption, reduces ground reaction stress, and overrides your brain’s “slam the brakes” command. Start light, and build by 10% each week.

Advanced ruckers often neglect recovery during descent, which is where joints and fascia fatigue fast. Conditioning downhill load matters just as much as uphill grit. It’s where injury hides and where true work begins.

If you want to last for decades under load, train the part no one wants to train.

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